Name: High Surf in Hawaii, September 14, 2001
Start: 2001-09-14T08:00
End: 2001-09-14T18:00
Location: Hawaii

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
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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 generated surf of 4 to 6 feet along the east-facing 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 Sep 14, 6:15 AM HST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 14, 6:15 AM HST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
615 AM HST FRI SEP 14 2001

...UPDATED FOR AREAS OF MOISTURE MAUI COUNTY AND APPROACHING FROM
THE SOUTHEAST...

SUMMARY...WINDS HAVE BECOME LIGHT AND VARIABLE AS THE REMAINS OF
EX-HURRICANE GIL PASS BY TO OUR NORTH. SOME AREAS OF RAINFALL HAVE
BROKEN OUT OVER MAUI COUNTY THIS MORNING IN THE MID-LEVEL FLOW OF
MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTHEAST. MORE SHOWERS AND WARM AND HUMID WEATHER
WITH LIGHT WIND CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...WITH TRADE
WINDS RETURNING ON SUNDAY.

DISCUSSION...THE CENTER OF THE CIRCULATION THAT WAS HURRICANE GIL
SOME DAYS AGO IS NOW LOCATED NEAR 25N 152W SLOWLY DRIFTING NORTHWEST.
THE VORTEX APPEARS TO BE PULLED NORTHWARD AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT NOT
FAR TO THE NORTHWEST. THIS COLD FRONT AND ITS ASSOCIATED UPPER
LEVEL TROUGH HAVE TURNED LOW TO MID-LEVEL WINDS SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST
AND THIS APPEARS TO BE PULLING MOISTURE UP FROM THE TROPICS. SOME OF
THIS MOISTURE HAS ALREADY WORKED INTO THE MAUI COUNTY AREA WITH
LIGHT RAIN REPORTED AT KAHULUI AND SEEN ON SATELLITE AND DOPPLER
RADAR ELSEWHERE. THE LEADING EDGE OF AN AREA OF BROKEN LOW CLOUDS IS
NOW ONLY ABOUT 60 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE KAU COAST OF THE BIG ISLAND
AND APPEARS TO BE MOVING NORTHWESTWARD TOWARD THE ISLANDS. THIS MAY
WELL BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS TO PARTS OF THE STATE LATER TODAY.
INCREASING INSTABILITY MAY ALSO SET OFF SOME DEEPER CONVECTION WITH
THE HEATING OF THE DAY...POSSIBLY BRINGING SOME HEAVIER SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS TO PARTS OF THE STATE...MOST NOTABLY MAUI AND THE BIG
ISLAND THIS AFTERNOON. FORECAST CHARTS SHOW THIS MOISTURE MOVING
SLOWLY NORTHWEST BUT MISSING THE ISLANDS. HOWEVER...THESE MODEL
FORECAST CHARTS MISSED THIS MOISTURE ENTIRELY YESTERDAY...AND THUS
HAVE NOT BEEN TOO RELIABLE WITH THIS PATTERN SO FAR. THUS IT IS
POSSIBLE THAT THE ISLANDS MAY INDEED SEE MORE RAINFALL THAN
PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED LATER TODAY AND INTO THE COMING WEEKEND.

THE SURF SITUATION IS GETTING ACTIVE AS SWELL. A STORM FORMED FROM
EX-TYPHOON DANAS IS STRENGTHENING JUST SOUTH OF THE CENTRAL
ALEUTIANS THIS MORNING...WITH A NARROW AREA OF STRONG NORTHWESTERLY
WINDS ON ITS WESTERN SIDE POINTING A FETCH DIRECTLY AT HAWAII. THE
SWELL GENERATED FROM THIS FETCH WILL AFFECT THE ISLANDS SUNDAY OR
SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY WITH POSSIBLE HIGH SURF OVER SUNDAY NIGHT
INTO MONDAY. ANOTHER STORM FAR TO OUR SOUTH HAS GENERATED A SWELL
POINTED NORTHWARD...AND THIS SWELL WILL ALSO REACH OUR SOUTH SHORES
ABOUT SUNDAY...AND CONTINUE INTO MONDAY. FARRELL

.PHFO......WARNINGS.....NONE
.          WATCHES......NONE
.          ADVISORIES...NONE

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.

High Surf, Kauai

When: September 14, 8:00 AM HST to 6:00 PM HST
Where: Kauai forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 22.011, -159.705 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

More

Every storm in Hawaii in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, September 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: 5266114.