Heavy Rain, Honolulu
- When
- March 24, 3:32 PM HST to 5:56 PM HST
- Where
- Honolulu County, 1.35 mi SE of Punaluu to 0.84 mi NW of Ala Moana Beach Park
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
- Coordinates
- 21.584, -157.888
Heavy Rain in Hawaii, March 24, 2013
A weak surface trough near Molokai, in combination with a northeast-moving upper system, helped trigger heavy rain over parts of Oahu. The showers caused small stream and drainage ditch flooding, and ponding on roadways.
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.
A weak surface trough near Molokai, in combination with a northeast-moving upper system, helped trigger heavy rain over parts of Oahu. The showers caused small stream and drainage ditch flooding, and ponding on roadways. 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 Mar 24, 9:40 AM HST, 5 hours 52 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 24, 9:40 AM HST, 5 hours 52 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 940 AM HST SUN MAR 24 2013 .SYNOPSIS... MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMNANTS OF A COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO LINGER ACROSS THE AREA...ALONG WITH A WET PATTERN REMAINING IN PLACE THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH NEAR THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE ALOHA STATE MAY ALSO HELP IN ENHANCING SHOWERS TODAY. A JET STREAM WILL KEEP BRINGING HIGH AND MID LEVEL CLOUDS...MAINTAINING MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH AT LEAST TONIGHT. && .DISCUSSION... A WEAK SFC TROUGH...ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMNANTS OF A DISSIPATING FRONTAL BOUNDARY...REMAINS LOCATED OVER MAUI COUNTY AND ENHANCING LOCAL SHOWER ACTIVITY...ESPECIALLY OVER THE CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE ISLAND CHAIN. RAINFALL IN GENERAL REMAINS LIGHT. HOWEVER...WITH ENOUGH LINGERING MOISTURE ACROSS THE ISLANDS...THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR SOME LOCALIZED HEAVY SHOWERS THROUGHOUT THE DAY ESPECIALLY OVER MOUNTAIN AREAS. ALSO...A LARGE CANOPY OF HIGH/MID LVL CLOUDS IS STREAMING OVER THE AREA FROM SW TO NE AS THE CORE OF A SUBTROPICAL JET STREAM REMAINS IN PLACE TO THE N/NW OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. THIS WILL KEEP MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES TODAY. THIS CLOUD COVERAGE ALOFT COULD PROVIDE ADDITIONAL STRATIFORM RAIN AT TIMES. LATEST IR/WV SATELLITE DATA DEPICTS AN UPPER LVL TROUGH AROUND THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE ISLAND CHAIN...ADDING INSTABILITY AND POTENTIAL FOR ENHANCED SHOWERS...MAINLY OVER KAUAI AND OAHU TODAY. MEANWHILE...A SFC HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM FAR NW OF KAUAI IS SLOWLY MIGRATING TO THE SE TOWARDS THE ISLANDS AND BRINGING MODERATE NE TRADES FROM KAUAI TO MOLOKAI...WHILE RELATIVELY WEAK AND VARIABLE FLOW IS BEING OBSERVED OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE ISLAND CHAIN DUE TO THE INFLUENCE OF THE SFC TROUGH. THIS SCENARIO WILL GRADUALLY MODIFY DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS THE TROUGH WEAKENS AND THE HIGH MOVES CLOSER TO THE AREA...WITH WINDS VEERING TO A MORE NE/E FLOW ACROSS THE ALOHA STATE. THE RATHER WET PATTERN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE WEEK...WITH THE FOCUS FOR RAINFALL SHIFTING TO WINDWARD AND MOUNTAIN LOCATIONS THROUGH MID WEEK. EVEN FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE WORK WEEK...THE INFLUENCE OF ANOTHER UPPER LVL TROUGH APPROACHING FROM THE WEST COULD BRING UNSTABLE AND WETTER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS ACROSS THE ISLAND CHAIN...ESPECIALLY FOR THE SMALLER ISLANDS. MODELS ALSO SUGGEST THE DEVELOPMENT OF A DEEP SFC LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM FAR N/NE OF THE ISLANDS BY NEXT WEEKEND...BUT ITS OVERALL IMPACTS OVER THE AREA REMAIN HIGHLY UNCERTAIN ATTM. THEREFORE...IT IS REASONABLE TO WAIT FOR UPCOMING MODEL RUNS BEFORE EMBRACING ANY PARTICULAR SOLUTION FOR NEXT WEEKEND. && .AVIATION... MOISTURE FROM THE REMNANTS OF A FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL PRODUCE WIDESPREAD MVFR...AND ISOLATED IFR CONDITIONS FOR THE ISLANDS. AIRMET ZULU FOR MOD RIME ICE WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT THROUGH TODAY FOR THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS AS LAYERED CLOUDS UP TO FL300 FEET STREAM ACROSS THE STATE. AIRMET SIERRA FOR MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION WILL ALSO REMAIN POSTED FOR THE ISLANDS OF KAUAI THROUGH MAUI...WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF EXTENDING IT TO INCLUDE ALL ISLANDS. && .MARINE... A LONG PERIOD NORTHWEST SWELL WILL ARRIVE LATER TODAY AND BRING MODERATE SURF FOR NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OF MOST OF THE SMALLER ISLANDS. EXPECT HEIGHTS TO REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS. THIS SWELL WILL PEAK ON MONDAY...THEN GRADUALLY SUBSIDE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A SMALL SWELL ALONG SOUTH FACING SHORES SHOULD FADE AWAY DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. NO SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE HAWAIIAN COASTAL WATERS THROUGH AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && DISCUSSION/MARINE...REYNES AVIATION...LUTU-MCMOORE
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
- Strong Wind in Arkansas, March 24, 2013
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, March 24, 2013
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, March 24, 2013
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Illinois, March 24 to 25, 2013
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Ohio, March 24 to 25, 2013
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Virginia, March 24 to 25, 2013
- Winter Weather in Virginia, March 24 to 25, 2013
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Indiana, March 24 to 25, 2013
- Winter Storm in Indiana, March 24 to 25, 2013
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Illinois, March 24, 2013
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in West Virginia, March 24 to 26, 2013
- Heavy Snow in Missouri, March 24, 2013
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, March 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: 434622.