Heavy Rain, Hawaii
- When
- September 25, 3:51 PM HST to 5:07 PM HST
- Where
- Hawaii County, 4.85 mi SW of Kona Village Resort to 2.92 mi E of Honaunau National Pk
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
- Coordinates
- 19.772, -156.022
Heavy Rain in Hawaii, September 25, 2013
Instability generated by an upper trough northwest of the Aloha State helped to initiate heavy showers over the leeward slopes of Mauna Loa on the Big Island. The rain 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.
Instability generated by an upper trough northwest of the Aloha State helped to initiate heavy showers over the leeward slopes of Mauna Loa on the Big Island. The rain caused small stream and drainage ditch flooding, and ponding on roadways. 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 Sep 25, 1:18 PM HST, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 25, 1:18 PM HST, 2 hours 33 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 118 PM HST WED SEP 25 2013 .UPDATE... UPPED LEEWARD POPS THIS AFTERNOON TO ACCOUNT FOR HIGHER CHANCES FOR BRIEF CONVECTION. && .SYNOPSIS... A RELATIVELY WET TRADE WIND WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...WITH WINDWARD SHOWERS OCCASIONALLY DRIFTING TO LEEWARD AREAS. FEWER SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE WEEKEND...WITH MODERATE TRADE WINDS CONTINUING THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEK. HIGH CLOUDS WILL PERSIST FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...MAINLY NEAR KAUAI AND OAHU...THEN THIN FOR THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION... EXPECT MODERATE TRADE WINDS THROUGH THE WEEK. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE FAR NORTHEAST OF THE ISLANDS WILL DRIVE TRADE WINDS AT MORE OR LESS CURRENT STRENGTH INTO SATURDAY. THIS HIGH WILL BE REPLACED BY ANOTHER SURFACE HIGH FAR NORTHWEST OF THE STATE LATER IN THE WEEKEND. AS A RESULT...THERE WILL BE ONLY MINOR VARIATIONS IN THE LOCAL WINDS. THROUGH NOT AS EXTENSIVE AS YESTERDAY...SHOWERS WITHIN THE TRADE WIND FLOW WILL BE RELATIVELY ACTIVE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS DUE TO A PAIR OF FACTORS. THE SLUG OF HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER /PW/ VALUES UP TO 2 INCHES THAT AFFECTED THE STATE DURING THE PAST 24 HOURS IS CURRENTLY CLEARING KAUAI TO THE WEST. PW VALUES GRADUALLY TAPER OFF TO NEAR NORMAL VALUES OF ABOUT 1.4 INCHES BY 300 MILES EAST OF THE BIG ISLAND...BUT THERE ARE AMPLE SHOWER-BEARING CUMULUS CLOUDS IN THIS UPWIND TRADE WIND FLOW. IN ADDITION...AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH RUNNING ABOUT 250 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI IS CREATING MODEST INSTABILITY OVER THE STATE...ESPECIALLY THE WESTERN END. OVERNIGHT SOUNDINGS REVEALED AN ELEVATED INVERSION AROUND 14000 FT OVER KAUAI AND 12000 FT OVER THE BIG ISLAND. WITH TOPS THIS HIGH...SHOWERS... SOME LOCALLY HEAVY...WILL BE ABLE TO PASS OVER THE TERRAIN OF THE SMALLER ISLANDS AND AFFECT LEEWARD AREAS FROM TIME TO TIME. AS PW GRADUALLY DIMINISHES AND THE UPPER TROUGH DRIFTS WESTWARD...SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL SLOWLY DECREASE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS. HIGH CLOUDS NEAR THE ISLANDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH FRIDAY BEFORE DISSIPATING OVER THE WEEKEND...THICKEST NEAR KAUAI AND THINNEST NEAR THE BIG ISLAND...DUE TO THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH. A SOMEWHAT TYPICAL SEPTEMBER RAINFALL PATTERN IS IN STORE FOR THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK. RIDGING ALOFT WILL BRIEFLY REBUILD OVERHEAD ON SATURDAY...ONLY TO ERODED BY AN UPPER TROUGH DEVELOPING SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES TO THE NORTHEAST LATER IN THE WEEKEND. AS A RESULT...SHOWERS WILL PERSIST IN THE TRADE WIND FLOW AND MAY BE A BIT ACTIVE AT TIMES EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION... ERLY TRADES WILL FOCUS SHRA/-RA AND OCNL MVFR COND ALG WINDWARD SECTIONS THROUGH THE PD. ISOL TCU TOPS 150-FL200 OVR WINDWARD MT/CSTL SECTIONS. ISOL TS ARE IN PROGRESS JUST W OF LEEWARD KAUAI COASTAL WATERS WITH TOPS FL350. TS SHOULD STAY OUTSIDE THE LOCAL FA. BKN-OVC CI WILL CONTINUE TO STREAM ACRS THE AREA. ELEVATED INSTABILITY COULD PRODUCE SOME LIGHT CHOP AND AREAS OF AC AOA FL200. && .MARINE... WINDS AND SEAS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY LEVELS FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. A SMALL NNW SWELL IS EXPECTED OVER THE WEEKEND...WITH A SMALL WNW SWELL ARRIVING LATE SUNDAY. A SERIES OF SMALL S AND SE SWELLS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. TRADE WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE SHORT PERIOD SURF ALONG E FACING SHORES. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && PUBLIC/MARINE...WROE AVIATION...DEJESUS
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
- Hail in South Dakota, September 25, 2013
- Hail in South Dakota, September 25, 2013
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Montana, September 25 to 26, 2013
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Idaho, September 25 to 26, 2013
- High Wind and Strong Wind in Nevada, September 25, 2013
- Marine Thunderstorm Winds in Gulf of Mexico, September 25, 2013
- Winter Storm in Wyoming, September 25, 2013
- Frost and Freeze in Alaska, September 25, 2013
- High Wind in California, September 25, 2013
- High Wind in Alaska, September 25, 2013
- Marine Thunderstorm Wind in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, September 25, 2013
- Flash Flood in Kentucky, September 25, 2013
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, September 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: 472866.