Heavy Rain in Hawaii, May 15 to 16, 2014

Name: Heavy Rain in Hawaii, May 15 to 16, 2014
Start: 2014-05-15T22:14
End: 2014-05-16T00:07
Location: Hawaii

May 15 to 16, 2014 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Afternoon convection lingered near and over Molokai into the late evening hours. Heavy rain produced 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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Afternoon convection lingered near and over Molokai into the late evening hours. Heavy rain produced small stream and drainage ditch flooding, and ponding on roadways. There were no reports of significant injuries or property damage.

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 May 15, 8:30 PM HST, 1 hour 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 8:30 PM HST, 1 hour 44 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
830 PM HST THU MAY 15 2014

.SYNOPSIS...
WEAK TRADE WINDS WILL VEER OUT OF THE SOUTHEAST THEN SOUTHERLY
DURING THE WEEKEND...LEADING TO AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF DOMINANT LAND
AND SEA BREEZES THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. CLOUDS AND SPOTTY SHOWERS
WILL DEVELOP OVER INTERIOR SECTIONS EACH AFTERNOON FOLLOWED BY
PARTIAL CLEARING AT NIGHT. WEAK TRADE WINDS MAY RETURN MID WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
LINGERING SHOWER ACTIVITY FROM AFTERNOON CONVECTION IS FOCUSED ON
MOLOKAI...WEST MAUI AND LANAI THIS EVENING. THE CONVECTION WAS
TRIGGERED BY THE COMBINATION OF AFTERNOON SEA BREEZES AND ENHANCED
MOISTURE FROM A DISSIPATING CLOUD BAND OVER THE CENTRAL ISLANDS.
EXPECT SHOWER ACTIVITY AND CLOUDS TO TAPER OFF OVERNIGHT AS THE
LAND COOLS...WITH WEAK TRADES MAINTAINING LOW POPS OVER WINDWARD
SLOPES THROUGH THE NIGHT. IN ADDITION...WE WILL BE WATCHING ANOTHER
PORTION OF THE MOISTURE BAND THAT BROKEN OFF AND NOW SITS WEST OF
KAUAI. A SHORTWAVE ALOFT PASSING OVERHEAD IS TRIGGERING ISOLATED
SHOWERS NEAR NIIHAU. THESE SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN OFF TO THE
WEST AND NORTHWEST TONIGHT.

ONE LAST DAY OF RATHER WEAK EAST TO EAST-SOUTHEAST TRADE WINDS IS
DUE ON FRIDAY. SEA BREEZES WILL ONCE AGAIN OVERPOWER THE BACKGROUND
FLOW...LEADING TO AFTERNOON CLOUDS AND SPOTTY SHOWERS OVER THE
ISLANDS. THE MOISTURE BAND WHICH HAS LINGERED OVER PORTIONS OF THE
STATE FOR THE PAST FIVE DAYS WILL FINALLY LIFT TO THE NORTH...SO
ENHANCEMENT OF SHOWERS IS NOT EXPECTED.

BY MAY STANDARDS...AN UNUSUALLY LONG RUN OF DISRUPTED TRADE WINDS IS
STORE HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND. AN UNSEASONABLY LARGE...SLOW-MOVING
LONGWAVE TROUGH OCCUPIES THE CENTRAL NORTH PACIFIC. THIS IS DRIVING
A SURFACE LOW CURRENTLY ABOUT 1200 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE STATE. ITS
ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL ADVANCE TOWARD THE ISLANDS DURING THE
WEEKEND...CAUSING THE LOW LEVEL FLOW OVER THE ISLANDS TO SHIFT
SOUTHEASTERLY THEN POSSIBLY SOUTHERLY SUNDAY AND MONDAY. LIGHT AND
VARIABLE WINDS WILL PREVAIL ON LAND...WHERE DAYTIME SEA BREEZES WILL
PRODUCE AFTERNOON CLOUDS AND ISOLATED SHOWERS FOLLOWED BY CLEARING
AT NIGHT. THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO STALL JUST NORTHWEST OF KAUAI...
SO RAINFALL CHANCES WILL BE SLIGHTLY HIGHER ON THE GARDEN ISLE.
LIGHT TRADES MAY RETURN WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY.

&&

.AVIATION...
A NE TO SW SFC TROUGH JUST N OF THE STATE WILL MOVE NW SLOWLY
OVER THE NEXT DAY OR SO. WEAK SOUTHEAST TO EAST FLOW ACROSS THE
STATE WILL PERSIST INTO FRIDAY. ISOLATED MVFR CIGS AND VIS
EXPECTED ALONG WINDWARD SLOPES...WITH SEA BREEZES LEADING TO
AFTERNOON INTERIOR CLOUDS AND -SHRA. OTHERWISE VFR CONDS WILL
PREVAIL.

&&

.MARINE...
THE FIRST SSW SWELL OF THE SEASON WILL SLOWLY FILL IN TONIGHT...AND
A HIGH SURF ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT BEGINNING FRIDAY. THE LONG PERIOD
SOUTH SWELL WILL PEAK AT 3 TO 4 FT LATER FRIDAY AND SATURDAY THEN
SLOWLY SUBSIDE SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

GENTLE TO LOCALLY MODERATE EASTERLY TRADES WILL HANG ON FRIDAY...
FOLLOWED BY VEERING WINDS DURING THE WEEKEND. A RETURN TO WEAK
TRADES IS FORECAST WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH SURF ADVISORY FROM 6 AM FRIDAY TO 6 PM HST SUNDAY FOR
NIIHAU-KAUAI WINDWARD-KAUAI LEEWARD-OAHU SOUTH SHORE-WAIANAE
COAST-MOLOKAI LEEWARD-LANAI MAKAI-KAHOOLAWE-MAUI LEEWARD WEST-
WINDWARD HALEAKALA-LEEWARD HALEAKALA-KONA-SOUTH BIG ISLAND-BIG
ISLAND NORTH AND EAST.

&&

DISCUSSION/MARINE...WROE
AVIATION...BEDAL

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, Maui

When: May 15, 10:14 PM HST to May 16, 12:07 AM HST
Where: Maui County, 0.93 mi NNW of Kalawao to 2.08 mi WNW of Maunaloa
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 21.192, -156.956

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 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, May 2014

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: 512617.