Name: High Wind in Hawaii, December 27 to 28, 2002
Start: 2002-12-27T22:00
End: 2002-12-28T16:00
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 strong high pressure cell to the north and northeast of the state produced enhanced trade winds over the Big Island of Hawaii. These winds especially impacted the South Kohala District, from Waimea to Kawaihae. Sustained winds were 30 to 40 mph, with gusts that occasionally approached 60 mph. No serious injuries or property damage were reported, however.

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 Dec 27, 8:30 PM HST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 27, 8:30 PM HST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
830 PM HST FRI DEC 27 2002

SUMMARY...SHOWERS FROM A WEAK SHEARLINE WILL ARRIVE TONIGHT AND LAST
THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING. THE SHOWERS WILL LINGER OVER THE WINDWARD
SIDE OF BIG ISLAND UNTIL SUNDAY MORNING. TRADE WINDS WILL BE GUSTY
THROUGH THE WEEKEND...BUT WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH THEREAFTER.

DISCUSSION...ZONAL WESTERLIES WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE MID-LATITUDE
NORTH PACIFIC. THE STORM TRACK WILL BE FROM JAPAN...SOUTH OF THE
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS...AND INTO THE GULF OF ALASKA.

THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE WILL BE NORTH OF HAWAII MOST OF THE TIME...
PLACING THE ISLANDS IN THE TRADE WIND BELT. THE RIDGE WILL...ON
OCCASION...BE DISPLACED SOUTHWARD NEARER TO THE STATE BY PASSING
LOWS AND TRAILING COLD FRONTS/SHEARLINES TO THE NORTH. WHEN THAT
OCCURS...LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS OR LIGHT TRADES WILL BLOW. THE
RIDGE WILL SLOPE TO THE SOUTH WITH HEIGHT...AND BE OVERHEAD FROM
ABOUT 500 MB UPWARDS. THIS WILL KEEP HAWAII UNDER A SUBSIDENCE
INVERSION AND A STABLE AIRMASS.

IF THERE IS TO BE ANY FRONTAL PASSAGE...IT WILL BE IN THE FORM OF
WEAK SHEARLINES. ONE WILL SAG SOUTHWARD TONIGHT AND SATURDAY...
BRINGING SHOWERS TO THE ISLANDS. MODELS SUGGEST THAT ANOTHER WILL
DROP DOWN NEXT WEEK THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. CRAIG.

.HFO...WARNINGS.....NONE
.      WATCHES......NONE
.      ADVISORIES...SMALL CRAFT

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 wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, West Hawaii

When: December 27, 10:00 PM HST to December 28, 4:00 PM HST
Where: West Hawaii forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 21.455, -157.961 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Hawaii in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, December 2002

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: 5325319.