High Wind, Maui
- When
- January 14, 12:00 PM HST to January 16, 12:00 PM HST
- Where
- Maui forecast zone
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 22.011, -159.705 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in Hawaii, January 14 to 16, 2003
Southwest to west winds ahead of a cold front/upper trough gusted to 70 mph at low and high elevations on the Big Island of Hawaii and at high elevations in Maui. The winds were strong at the lower elevations in the Puna District on the Big Island, and near the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
- 3
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.
Southwest to west winds ahead of a cold front/upper trough gusted to 70 mph at low and high elevations on the Big Island of Hawaii and at high elevations in Maui. The winds were strong at the lower elevations in the Puna District on the Big Island, and near the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. In the Valley Isle, strong winds occurred near the summit of Haleakala in East Maui. There were brief power outages and some trees were blown down on the Big Island. Although winds gusted to only about 50 mph on Oahu, some power outages and the downing of trees occurred there as well. 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 Jan 14, 10:00 AM HST, 2 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 14, 10:00 AM HST, 2 hours before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 10 AM HST TUE JAN 14 2003 SUMMARY...A COLD FRONT IS APPROACHING THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FROM THE NORTHWEST. THE FRONT IS LOCATED ABOUT 400 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI MOVING SOUTHEAST 15 MPH TO ARRIVE AT KAUAI WEDNESDAY MORNING. AHEAD OF THE FRONT...SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL BE BLOWING WARMER AND MORE MOIST AIR IN OVER THE STATE. COOLER AND DRIER AIR WILL OVERSPREAD THE STATE FROM THE NORTHWEST ON THURSDAY BEHIND THE FRONT. DISCUSSION...AN AREA OF LOW CLOUDS OF A PREFRONTAL NATURE NEAR OAHU AND MOLOKAI CONTINUES TO MOVE NORTH-NORTHEAST 10 TO 15 MPH...PRODUCING ISOLATED SHOWERS OVER OAHU AND MOLOKAI. SOME GOOD RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF NEAR .50 INCH WERE REPORTED AT LEE AREA STATIONS ON OAHU DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. PRESENTLY BIG ISLAND AND MAUI ARE UNDER A SHARPLY ANTICYCLONICALLY CURVED LOW LEVEL FLOW AND ARE NOT AFFECTED BY THIS CLOUD PATCH. THE PERSISTANT MOVEMENT OF THE NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST ORIENTED FRONTAL CLOUD BAND FAR NORTHWEST OF OAHU WILL BRING ANOTHER EVENT OF ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS OVER KAUAI AND OAHU EARLY WEDNESDAY. WINDS OVER KAUAI AND OAHU WILL INCREASE TO 15 TO 30 MPH FROM THE SOUTHWEST AND BECOME QUITE GUSTY BY WEDNESDAY MORNING AND THEN SWING AROUND TO THE WEST AND NORTHWEST LATER IN THE DAY. COOLER AND DRIER AIR WILL OVERSPREAD THE STATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY AS THE FOLLOWING HIGH PRESSURE CELL MOVES TOWARD THE ISLANDS FROM THE WEST AND NORTHWEST. THIS HIGH WILL AGAIN MOVE DIRECTLY OVER THE ISLANDS GIVING US LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS WITH COOL NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURES THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. ALREADY ON FRIDAY THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL BE RETURNING TO OUR AREA AS A NEW TROUGH IN THE UPPER WESTERLIES PASSES BY TO THE NORTH OF THE STATE. THEN ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL DROP DOWN FROM THE NORTHWEST LATE SATURDAY AND ON SUNDAY AS THE CYCLE REPEATS ITSELF. MAAFALA/ROSENDAL .HFO...WATCHES......NONE . WARNINGS.....NONE . ADVISORIES...NONE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, North and East Hawaii
- When
- January 14, 12:00 PM HST to January 16, 12:00 PM HST
- Where
- North and East Hawaii forecast zone
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 22.011, -159.705 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, South Hawaii
- When
- January 14, 12:00 PM HST to January 16, 12:00 PM HST
- Where
- South Hawaii forecast zone
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph) measured gust
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
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
- Cold in Pennsylvania, January 14 to 29, 2003
- Cold in New Jersey, January 14 to 29, 2003
- Cold in West Virginia, January 14 to 28, 2003
- Dense Fog in Oklahoma, January 14, 2003
- Winter Weather in Virginia, January 14 to 15, 2003
- Cold in Ohio, January 14 to 28, 2003
- Dense Fog in Texas, January 14, 2003
- Winter Storm in Montana, January 14, 2003
- Cold in Maryland, January 14 to 28, 2003
- Cold in Delaware, January 14 to 29, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, January 14 to 15, 2003
- Cold in Kentucky, January 14 to 28, 2003
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, January 2003
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: 5328443, 5328444, 5328445.