Heavy Rain, Maui
- When
- November 22, 7:31 AM HST to 10:15 AM HST
- Where
- Maui County, 2.21 mi NE of Huelo to 1.56 mi N of Waianapanapa Sp
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
- Coordinates
- 20.921, -156.204
Heavy Rain in Hawaii, November 22 to 23, 2012
An upper trough near the islands induced heavy rain and thunderstorms over Maui and Oahu. The heavy downpour with the thunderstorm on Oahu may have contributed to the partial collapse of a roof on a school's old auditorium on Friday, Nov.
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
- 3
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.
An upper trough near the islands induced heavy rain and thunderstorms over Maui and Oahu. The heavy downpour with the thunderstorm on Oahu may have contributed to the partial collapse of a roof on a school's old auditorium on Friday, Nov. 23. The rain caused significant ponding on roadways for a brief time on Oahu, and to a lesser extent Maui; and small stream and drainage ditch flooding. Also, there were several reports of small hail with the thunderstorm on Oahu. No serious injuries were reported. The cost of damages on the school auditorium was not available.
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 Nov 22, 4:00 AM HST, 3 hours 31 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Nov 22, 4:00 AM HST, 3 hours 31 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 400 AM HST THU NOV 22 2012 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH CLOUDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH TONIGHT...THEN DIMINISH FRIDAY. WEAK SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW WILL ALLOW FOR ONSHORE SEA BREEZES DURING THE DAY AND LAND BREEZES AT NIGHT. DAYTIME CLOUDS AND SHOWERS WILL BUILD UP ACROSS THE ISLAND INTERIORS THROUGH THIS WEEKEND...WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF SOME UNSETTLED WEATHER. STRONGER NORTHEAST TRADE WINDS WILL FILL IN BEGINNING SUNDAY NIGHT. && .DISCUSSION... HIGH-BASED LAYERED CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH A JET STREAM OVER THE STATE WILL PERSIST FOR ONE MORE DAY...THEN BEGIN TO BREAK UP ON FRIDAY. THE HIGH CLOUDS WILL OCCASIONALLY BE THICK ENOUGH TO PRECIPITATE DOWN TO THE BIG ISLAND SUMMITS...LIGHT RAIN/SNOW CHANCES REMAIN IN THE FORECAST INTO FRIDAY. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WITH AN AXIS 675 MILES WEST-NORTHWEST OF KAUAI...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. A COLD FRONT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH JUST EAST OF THE AXIS...ABOUT 375 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI. THE TROUGH IS ENHANCING THUNDERSTORMS IN AN AREA ABOUT 300 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LANAI. WHILE THIS CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN SOUTHWEST OF US...DEBRIS CLOUDS PICKED UP BY THE SUBTROPICAL JET WILL HELP TO KEEP THE STATE MOSTLY CLOUDY THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY. AT THE SURFACE...A HIGH IS FAR NORTHEAST OF THE STATE...WITH A RIDGE EXTENDING SOUTHWEST FROM IT AND PASSING ABOUT 150 MILES NORTH OF KAUAI. THE NEARBY RIDGE AND WEAK PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE STATE IS CAUSING WEAK SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW. NIGHTTIME LAND BREEZES AND DAYTIME ONSHORE SEA BREEZES WITH INTERIOR CLOUDS AND SHOWERS SHOULD DOMINATE OVER THE BACKGROUND FLOW INTO THE WEEKEND. AVAILABLE MOISTURE FOR CLOUDS AND SHOWERS OVER THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SHOULD BE HIGHER THAN NORMAL ACROSS THE STATE. THE 12Z HILO SOUNDING SHOWS A FAIRLY SATURATED ATMOSPHERE WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES AT 1.84 INCHES...WITH DRIER CONDITIONS OVER LIHUE THIS MORNING. CURRENT RADAR THIS MORNING SHOWS A BIT OF SHOWERS AROUND THE STATE. SOME OF THESE SHOWERS ARE MODERATE IN INTENSITY. MOST OF THESE SHOWERS ARE OFFSHORE...EXCEPT FOR ALONG THE WINDWARD AND SOUTHEAST BIG ISLAND AND THE EAST COAST OF HALEAKALA. EXPECTING THIS UNSETTLED WEATHER TO CONTINUE INTO THE WEEKEND...WITH THE FOCUS ON THE ISLAND INTERIORS DURING THE DAY AND OFFSHORE AT NIGHT. MODELS HAVE NOT BEEN HANDLING THIS PATTERN VERY WELL IN TERMS OF LOCATION OF QPF. WITH RESPECT TO THE OVERALL PATTERN...THE COLD FRONT NORTHWEST OF THE STATE WILL STALL ABOUT 300-400 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI AS A WEAK LOW DEVELOPS ALONG IT. THIS FRONT WILL SUPPRESS THE RIDGE SOUTHWARD TO NEAR KAUAI. AS A NEW UPPER LEVEL TROUGH DIGS FAR NORTH OF THE STATE...THE LOW WILL STRENGTHEN AND TRACK NORTHEAST AWAY FROM THE AREA BEGINNING SATURDAY...EVENTUALLY BRINGING THE REMAINS OF THE FRONT ACROSS THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT. STRONGER NORTHEAST TRADE WINDS WILL FILL IN MONDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE PUSHES IN BEHIND THE FRONTAL REMNANTS. THE TRADES WILL QUICKLY STRENGTHEN BY MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. && .AVIATION... AIRMET ZULU IS IN EFFECT FOR ICING...LIGHT TO MODERATE RIME...FROM 18K TO 25K FEET FOR ALL THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS EAST OF OAHU. && .MARINE... A NEW NORTH SWELL ARRIVED LAST NIGHT AND WILL PEAK TODAY. THE HILO BUOY IS SHOWING SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHTS 9 TO 10 FEET THIS MORNING... WITH THE MAJORITY OF THE CONTRIBUTION FROM THE 14 SECOND PERIOD SWELL. THESE WAVE HEIGHTS ARE EXCEEDING MODEL GUIDANCE AND THROWS US TO ADVISORY LEVELS ALONG EAST FACING SHORES OF MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND WITH A NORTHERN EXPOSURE. THEREFORE...A HIGH SURF ADVISORY GOES INTO EFFECT FOR THE MENTIONED AREAS UNTIL 600 PM HST TODAY DURING THE SWELL/S PEAK. A MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT FOR HARBOR SURGES INTO KAHULUI AND HILO HARBORS WILL ALSO REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR TODAY. THE SWELL SHOULD BE LOW ENOUGH ALONG EAST SHORES OF OAHU AND KAUAI FOR NO ADVISORY. THE NORTH SWELL WILL DECLINE TONIGHT BUT WILL BOOST UP AGAIN FRIDAY NIGHT / SATURDAY AS ANOTHER REINFORCEMENT SWELL COMES IN FROM THE NORTH. WINDS AND SEAS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. NORTHEAST TRADES WILL BUILD BACK IN SUNDAY NIGHT AND QUICKLY STRENGTHEN TO SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY LEVELS. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST THIS EVENING FOR EAST FACING SHORES WITH A NORTHERN EXPOSURE OF MAUI AND BIG ISLAND. && DISCUSSION/MARINE...FOSTER AVIATION...POWELL
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Rain, Honolulu
- When
- November 23, 2:29 PM HST to 5:08 PM HST
- Where
- Honolulu County, 0.85 mi ESE of Wheeler Afb to 0.89 mi ESE of Pearl City
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
- Coordinates
- 21.477, -158.017
Heavy Rain, Maui
- When
- November 23, 3:45 PM HST to 5:15 PM HST
- Where
- Maui County, 3.7 mi ESE of Makena to 1.95 mi SW of Makena
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
- Coordinates
- 20.659, -156.374
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, November 22, 2012
- High Surf in Florida, November 22 to 23, 2012
- Dense Fog in Illinois, November 22, 2012
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Michigan, November 22 to 24, 2012
- Dense Fog in Kentucky, November 22, 2012
- Dense Fog in Missouri, November 22, 2012
- High Wind in Alaska, November 22, 2012
- Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, November 22 to 23, 2012
- Dense Fog in Indiana, November 22, 2012
- High Surf in Hawaii, November 22, 2012
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, November 2012
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: 416155, 416156, 416157.