Heavy Rain, Hawaii
- When
- February 20, 7:42 PM HST to 9:55 PM HST
- Where
- Hawaii County, 0.5 mi SE of Upolu Airport to 2.79 mi SSE of Paauhau
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
- Coordinates
- 20.265, -155.865
Heavy Rain in Hawaii, February 20 to 21, 2015
A cold front approaching the Aloha State helped to initiate heavy showers over the Big Island. The rain 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 cold front approaching the Aloha State helped to initiate heavy showers over the Big Island. The rain caused ponding on roadways, and small stream and drainage ditch flooding. No serious injuries or property damage 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 Feb 20, 4:00 PM HST, 3 hours 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 20, 4:00 PM HST, 3 hours 42 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 400 PM HST FRI FEB 20 2015 .SYNOPSIS... A FRONT THAT HAS BEEN PRODUCING CLOUDS AND SHOWERS FROM OAHU TO MAUI...WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST THROUGH TONIGHT...THEN STALL OVER MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND SATURDAY. A TROUGH ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO BRING STRONG WINDS TO THE BIG ISLAND SUMMITS. A HIGH NORTHWEST OF THE AREA WILL MOVE EAST AND PRODUCE DRIER TRADE-WIND WEATHER THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. A FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST MAY BRING UNSETTLED WEATHER BY LATE IN THE WEEK. && .DISCUSSION... SATELLITE AND RADAR LOOP SHOW AN EAST NORTHEAST TO WEST SOUTHWEST FRONTAL BAND OVER THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. THE SOUTH EDGE OF THE BAND IS OVER MAUI AND THE NORTHWEST EDGE IS IN THE KAUAI CHANNEL. THIS BAND WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST SLOWLY OVERNIGHT...THEN STALL OVER MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND SATURDAY. A 1017 MB SURFACE HIGH ABOUT 730 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF KAUAI NEAR 26N171W WILL MOVE EAST NORTHEAST BEHIND THE FRONT. AS THE HIGH MOVES NORTH OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SATURDAY IT WILL PRODUCE GENTLE TO FRESH TRADES OVER THE ISLANDS. THE TRADES WILL PUSH REMNANTS OF THE FRONT OVER WINDWARD AREAS OF THE ISLANDS THROUGH SUNDAY. A SURFACE RIDGE EXTENDING SOUTHWEST FROM THE HIGH WILL MAINTAIN TRADE WINDS OVER THE ISLANDS THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK BUT THE TRADE WINDS WILL HAVE A SOUTHERLY COMPONENT AT TIMES AROUND KAUAI AND OAHU. THE TRADES WILL BRING SOME SHOWERS TO WINDWARD AREAS... WITH THE BIG ISLANDS GETTING THE MOST RAINFALL...BUT RAINFAL AMOUNTS WILL BE LIGHT SINCE A RIDGE ALOFT WILL KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE STABLE. THE GLOBAL MODELS SHOW A DEEP TROUGH AND AN ASSOCIATED SURFACE TROUGH APPROACHING THE ISLANDS FROM THE NORTHWEST DURING THE SECOND HALF OF NEXT WEEK. IT IS NOT YET CLEAR HOW MUCH OF AN IMPACT THIS PATTERN WILL HAVE ON THE ISLANDS. && .AVIATION... THE FRONT NEAR MOLOKAI CONTINUES TO PRODUCE MVFR CIGS AND REDUCED VIS IN SHOWERS. EXPECT AREAS OF MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION TO CONTINUE TONIGHT. AIRMET SIERRA REMAINS POSTED FOR OAHU...MOLOKAI...LANAI AND MAUI AND MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED TO PARTS OF THE BIG ISLAND LATER TONIGHT. AIRMET TANGO IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR TURB ASSOCIATED WITH THE STRONGER SHOWERS ALONG THE FRONT. CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BEGIN IMPROVING OVER OAHU LATER TONIGHT AS DRIER AIR FILTERS INTO THE AREA. && .MARINE... A LARGE WEST-NORTHWEST SWELL IN THE ISLANDS WILL MAINTAIN SURF HEIGHTS AT ADVISORY LEVELS ALONG NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. THE SWELL WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. A LONG FETCH OF STRONG TRADE WINDS TO THE EAST OF THE AREA COULD PRODUCE SOME ROUGH SURF ALONG EAST FACING SHORES BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW THE 25 KT SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THRESHOLD FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. HOWEVER...A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS UP FOR SEAS ABOVE 10 FEET DUE TO THE NORTHWEST SWELL. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 600 PM SATURDAY FOR THE SUMMITS OF MAUNA KEA AND MAUNA LOA. HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 600 PM SATURDAY FOR NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OF NIIHAU KAUAI OAHU AND MOLOKAI...FOR NORTH FACING SHORES OF MAUI...AND FOR WEST FACING SHORES OF THE BIG ISLAND. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 600 AM SATURDAY FOR KAUAI NORTHWEST WATERS-KAUAI WINDWARD WATERS-KAUAI LEEWARD WATERS-KAUAI CHANNEL- OAHU WINDWARD WATERS-KAIWI CHANNEL-MAUI COUNTY WINDWARD WATERS. && DONALDSON
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Rain, Hawaii
- When
- February 21, 8:14 PM HST to 11:13 PM HST
- Where
- Hawaii County, 1.65 mi N of Papaikou to 3.02 mi W of Kapoho
- Reported by
- Official NWS Observations
- Coordinates
- 19.804, -155.101
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
- Winter Storm in Tennessee, February 20 to 21, 2015
- Winter Weather in Mississippi, February 20 to 21, 2015
- Winter Storm and Flooding in Tennessee, February 20 to 21, 2015
- Winter Storm and Flood in Kentucky, February 20 to 25, 2015
- Ice Storm and Winter Weather in Tennessee, February 20 to 21, 2015
- Winter Weather in Arkansas, February 20, 2015
- Winter Storm and Heavy Rain in Missouri, February 20 to 21, 2015
- Winter Storm in Illinois, February 20 to 21, 2015
- Winter Storm and Heavy Rain in Indiana, February 20 to 21, 2015
- Ice Storm and Winter Storm in Kentucky, February 20 to 22, 2015
- Winter Weather in Ohio, February 20, 2015
- Winter Weather in Alabama, February 20, 2015
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, February 2015
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: 555452, 555453.