Heavy Rain, Hawaii
- When
- March 27, 5:04 PM HST to 7:03 PM HST
- Where
- Hawaii County, 3.78 mi ENE of Pahala to 3.27 mi NE of Naalehu
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
- Coordinates
- 19.221, -155.426
Heavy Rain in Hawaii, March 27, 2011
Heavy trade wind showers fell along the southeast coast and lower mountain slopes of the Big Island. There was only minor nuisance flooding of roadways and drainage ditches.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.
Heavy trade wind showers fell along the southeast coast and lower mountain slopes of the Big Island. There was only minor nuisance flooding of roadways and drainage ditches. No significant property damage or injuries were reported.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Honolulu, HI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 27, 4:00 PM HST, 1 hour 4 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 27, 4:00 PM HST, 1 hour 4 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 400 PM HST SUN MAR 27 2011 .SYNOPSIS... A TROUGH ALOFT NORTHWEST OF KAUAI WILL KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE A BIT UNSTABLE SO SHOWERS WILL REMAIN ACTIVE THROUGH TOMORROW NIGHT AROUND THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI. HIGH CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH WILL KEEP SKIES A BIT GRAY THROUGH TOMORROW BUT THESE CLOUDS WILL NOT PRODUCE ANY RAIN. THE WEATHER WILL TURN DRIER AND SUNNIER ON TUESDAY AS THE ATMOSPHERE GETS MORE STABLE. A HIGH TO THE NORTHEAST WILL KEEP THE TRADE WINDS BLOWING THROUGH FRIDAY. THE WINDS MAY WEAKEN AND SHIFT OUT OF THE SOUTHEAST NEXT WEEKEND AS A FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NORTHWEST. && .DISCUSSION... WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS A SHARP TROUGH ALOFT RUNNING FROM 450 MILES NORTH OF MAUI TO 60 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI TO A LOW 575 MILES SOUTHWEST OF KAUAI TO 08N180W. THE TROUGH HAS MADE THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE ISLANDS UNSTABLE. THE 200 PM BALLOON SOUNDINGS SHOWED A LIFTED INDEX OF -.7 AT HILO AND -3.1 AT LIHUE. RAINFALL WILL BE SPOTTY FROM NIIHAU TO WEST MAUI THIS EVENING...WITH MORE WIDESPREAD RAIN OVER EAST MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND. PRECIPITATION ON THE BIG ISLAND WILL EXTEND UP TO THE SUMMITS OF MAUNA KEA AND MAUNA LOA WITH OCCASIONAL SLEET THROUGH THIS EVENING. THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE ISLANDS WILL REMAIN UNSTABLE TONIGHT...MOST UNSTABLE NEAR KAUAI AND LESS SO NEAR THE BIG ISLAND. MOISTURE WILL REMAIN HIGHEST NEAR THE BIG ISLAND AND LEAST NEAR KAUAI. I THINK IT WILL REMAIN TOO DRY OVER KAUAI AND OAHU TO SUPPORT WIDESPREAD SHOWERS. THERE WILL BE ENOUGH MOISTURE TO KEEP THE BIG ISLAND AND EAST MAUI QUITE SHOWERY...HOWEVER I THINK THE ATMOSPHERE WILL NOT BE UNSTABLE ENOUGH FOR EXCESSIVE RAINFALL. THE PART OF THE TROUGH ALOFT OVER THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS WILL WEAKEN OVER THE NEXT 48 HOURS AS LOWS DEVELOP NORTHEAST AND SOUTHWEST OF THE ISLANDS...AND AT LOWER LEVELS DRIER AIR WILL SPREAD OVER THE ISLANDS FROM THE NORTHEAST. RAINFALL WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE TOMORROW...AND BY TUESDAY OUR WEATHER SHOULD BECOME QUITE DRY. THE 1026 MB HIGH NOW NORTHEAST OF THE ISLANDS WILL MOVE EAST NORTHEAST SLOWLY WITH A SURFACE RIDGE EXTENDING WEST SOUTHWEST FROM THE HIGH. AS THE HIGH MOVES AWAY...OUR WINDS WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN...BUT MAY REMAIN LOCALLY BREEZY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. THE GLOBAL MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW A FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST NEXT WEEKEND. AS THE SURFACE RIDGE SHIFTS SOUTH AND ERODES FROM THE WEST...WINDS OVER THE ISLANDS WILL SHIFT OUT OF THE SOUTHEAST. THE FRONT COULD APPROACH CLOSE ENOUGH TO PRODUCE RAINY WEATHER EARLY NEXT WEEK...BUT THAT REMAINS UNCERTAIN. && .AVIATION... TERMINALS WILL REMAIN GENERALLY VFR...ALTHOUGH BRIEF PERIODS OF MVFR CONDITIONS DUE TO SHOWERS AND LOWER CEILINGS MAY OCCUR...ESPECIALLY AT PHTO AND PHKO. AN AIRMET REMAINS UP FOR HIGH LEVEL TURBULENCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH ALOFT NEAR THE AREA. && .MARINE... A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MAALAEA BAY... THE WATERS SOUTH OF THE BIG ISLAND...AND THE PAILOLO AND ALENUIHAHA CHANNELS THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE WAVE WATCH III MODEL CONTINUES TO SHOW A LARGE NORTHWEST SWELL ARRIVING WEDNESDAY THAT COULD PRODUCE SURF NEAR WARNING LEVELS ALONG NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE SWELL COULD BE LARGE ENOUGH TO PRODUCE ADVISORY-LEVEL SURF ALONG WEST-FACING SHORES OF THE BIG ISLAND...BUT THAT IS STILL UNCERTAIN. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR MAALAEA BAY... WATERS SOUTH OF THE BIG ISLAND...AND THE PAILOLO AND ALENUIHAHA CHANNELS. && DONALDSON
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Rain
- Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Dense Fog in Texas, March 27, 2011
- Avalanche in Washington, March 27, 2011
- Hail in Arkansas, March 27, 2011
- Debris Flow in Washington, March 27, 2011
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Georgia, March 27, 2011
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Alabama, March 27, 2011
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Carolina, March 27, 2011
- Winter Weather in Virginia, March 27, 2011
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Colorado, March 27 to 29, 2011
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, March 27 to 31, 2011
- Hail in Alabama, March 27, 2011
- Winter Weather in Maryland, March 27, 2011
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, March 2011
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 282881.