Heavy Rain in Hawaii, April 29 to 30, 2013

Name: Heavy Rain in Hawaii, April 29 to 30, 2013
Start: 2013-04-29T20:00
End: 2013-04-30T01:52
Location: Hawaii

April 29 to 30, 2013 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Heavy rain drenched parts of the Big Island of Hawaii, specifically in the North Kona District. The showers caused ponding on roadways, and small stream and drainage ditch flooding.

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

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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 rain drenched parts of the Big Island of Hawaii, specifically in the North Kona District. The showers caused ponding on roadways, and small stream and drainage ditch flooding. No serious 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 Apr 29, 4:00 PM HST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 29, 4:00 PM HST, 4 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
400 PM HST MON APR 29 2013

.SYNOPSIS...
SOUTHERLY WIND FLOW OVER THE ISLANDS WILL CONTINUE LOCAL LAND AND
SEA BREEZES FOR ANOTHER DAY AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES AND THEN
STALLS NORTHWEST OF KAUAI. CLOUDS AND SHOWERS FROM THIS SYSTEM WILL
BE MOST LIKELY OVER KAUAI AND TO A LESSER EXTENT OAHU. A SURFACE
RIDGE WILL BUILD BACK IN TO THE NORTH OF THE ISLANDS...RETURNING
TRADE WINDS TO THE ISLANDS FOR THE MIDDLE PART OF THE WEEK. ANOTHER
FRONTAL SYSTEM AT THE END OF THE WEEK WILL ONCE AGAIN DISRUPT TRADE
WIND FLOW.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
NO CHANGES IN THE FORECAST PHILOSOPHY THIS AFTERNOON. A COLD FRONT
NORTHWEST OF THE ISLANDS IS EXPECTED TO APPROACH KAUAI FROM THE
NORTHWEST TONIGHT. THERE IS GOOD MODEL AGREEMENT WITH THE FRONT
LIFTING TO THE NORTH LATE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW...ALLOWING THE RIDGE
CURRENTLY OVER THE ISLANDS TO LIFT NORTH. THIS WILL BRING A RETURN
TO TRADE WINDS TO THE ISLANDS BY TOMORROW NIGHT...PERSISTING THROUGH
THURSDAY.

THE TRADE WINDS WILL BE SHORT LIVED...HOWEVER THIS IS ALSO WHERE
MORE UNCERTAINTY IS FOUND IN THE FORECAST. THE GFS AND ECMWF BOTH
AGREE WITH ANOTHER FRONT APPROACHING THE ISLANDS FROM THE NORTHWEST
AT THE END OF THE WEEK. THE ECMWF IS MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH BRINGING
THE FRONT CLOSER TO THE ISLANDS...WHICH WOULD SHIFT WINDS TO THE
SOUTHEAST BY THE END OF THE WORK WEEK. THE GFS IS MORE CONSERVATIVE
WITH THE WINDS LIGHTENING AT THE END OF THE WEEK. HAVE NOT MADE ANY
CHANGES TO THE FORECAST FOR THE LONGER RANGE SINCE THE MOST RECENT
MODEL RUNS CONTINUE TO SHOW DIFFERENCES.

THE SOUTHEAST BACKGROUND FLOW TODAY DID BRING SOME SHOWERS TO KAUAI
AND OAHU...AND TO SOUTHEAST FACING SLOPES OF THE BIG ISLAND. EXPECT
SOME CLEARING TONIGHT FOR MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND. KAUAI
BEING CLOSER TO THE MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT COULD
CONTINUE TO SEE SOME SHOWERS. SHOWERS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE OVER
OAHU...BUT EXPECT RAIN TOTALS TO BE LIGHT.

&&

.MARINE...
WINDS AND SEAS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY
LEVELS THROUGH THE WEEK.

&&

.AVIATION...
EXPECTING VFR CONDITIONS TO PREVAIL WITH ISOL MVFR CEILINGS AND
VISIBILITIES POSSIBLE IN SHOWERS FOR AREAS SOUTH AND WEST OF THE
CENTRAL ISLANDS...AND FOR EAST THRU SOUTH SECTIONS OF KAUAI AND THE
BIG ISLAND. LIGHT TO MODERATE SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
THE FORECAST PERIOD.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

DISCUSSION/MARINE...MBALLARD
AVIATION...LUTU-MCMOORE

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Hawaii

When: April 29, 8:00 PM HST to April 30, 1:52 AM HST
Where: Hawaii County, 1.99 mi SSW of Kona Village Resort to 1.57 mi N of Kailua Kona
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 19.804, -155.992

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

Every storm in Hawaii in 2013 Every state in 2013 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, April 2013

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: 438904.