High Surf, Kauai
- When
- May 6, 8:00 AM HST to 8:00 PM HST
- Where
- Kauai forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 22.011, -159.705 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Surf in Hawaii, May 6, 2001
A trade wind swell caused surf of 4 to 6 feet along the east shores of Kauai.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 trade wind swell caused surf of 4 to 6 feet along the east shores of Kauai.
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 6, 4:37 AM HST, 3 hours 23 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 6, 4:37 AM HST, 3 hours 23 minutes before
NARRATIVE SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION FOR WAKE ISLAND ...MONDAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...WAKE TIME... YOUR WEATHER WILL REMAIN MOSTLY FAIR WITH EAST WINDS AT 5 TO 15 KNOTS. NO SIGNIFICANT SWELL IS EXPECTED.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- High Surf
- Large waves breaking on the shore that caused damage, erosion or casualties.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flooding in Puerto Rico, May 6 to 7, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, May 6, 2001
- Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, May 6, 2001
- Hail in Oklahoma, May 6, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Arkansas, May 6, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Minnesota, May 6, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, May 6, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, May 6, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, May 6, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 6, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, May 6, 2001
- Hail in Kansas, May 6, 2001
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, May 2001
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: 5244177.