Tornado, Honolulu
- When
- June 7, 3:01 PM HST to 3:10 PM HST
- Where
- Honolulu County, 3 mi NE of Mililani Town
- Rating
- F0
- Path width
- 10 yd
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 21.455, -157.961 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Tornado in Hawaii, June 7, 2003
A weak tornado was seen by a National Weather Service spotter over the Koolau mountain range above Mililani, in central Oahu. The feature began to move southward toward Pearl City and dissipated before being able to do any property damage or cause any injuries.
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 weak tornado was seen by a National Weather Service spotter over the Koolau mountain range above Mililani, in central Oahu. The feature began to move southward toward Pearl City and dissipated before being able to do any property damage or cause any injuries.
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 Jun 7, 10:00 AM HST, 5 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 7, 10:00 AM HST, 5 hours 1 minute before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 10 AM HST SAT JUN 7 2003 SUMMARY...A TROUGH PASSING THROUGH THE STATE FROM THE NORTHWEST WILL SET OFF SOME CONVECTIVE SHOWERS MAINLY ON KAUAI...MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND TODAY. SOME LOCALLY HEAVY SHOWERS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE ON THE OTHER ISLANDS. A RETURN OF TRADE WINDS IS EXPECTED BY MONDAY...WITH MOST SHOWERS THEN CONFINED TO WINDWARD AND MAUKA SECTIONS. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING NORTH OF THE ISLANDS SHOULD STRENGTHEN THOSE TRADE WINDS THROUGH THE COMING WEEK. SATELLITE...AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WAS EVIDENT IN WATER VAPOR IMAGERY NORTH AND NORTHWST OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS THIS MORNING. AN ASSOCIATED LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE BAND CONTAINED TOWERING CUMULUS WITH TOPS TO 19 THOUSAND FEET...WITH A 200 MILE WIDE BAND OF BROKEN TO OVERCAST MULTI-LAYERED CLOUDS CONTAINING EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS IN THIS BAND FARTHER NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. THIS BAND OF CLOUDS INCREASED IN COVERAGE AND PROPAGATED SOUTHEASTWARD AT ALMOST 25 MPH DURING THE PAST 6 HOURS. THE TOPS OF THE EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS... WHICH WERE MORE THAN 170 MILES NORTHEAST OF LIHUE...WERE UP TO NEAR 39 THOUSAND FEET. DISCUSSION...HIGH PRESSURE OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA WILL GRADUALLY BUILD BACK SOUTHWESTWARD TO BRING A RETURN OF THE TRADES THIS WEEK. RESIDUAL INSTABILITY MAY STILL SPAWN A FEW HEAVY SHOWERS...EVEN A THUNDERSTORM OVER KAUAI...MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND TODAY...WITH A CHANCE FOR LOCALLY HEAVY SHOWERS ON THE OTHER ISLANDS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE DECREASING ON SUNDAY HOWEVER. MODELS FORECAST THE BUILDING OF A 1030 MB HIGH NORTH OF THE STATE BY WEDNESDAY...SO EXPECT TRADES TO REACH MODERATE TO OCCASIONALLY FRESH SPEEDS BY MIDWEEK...AND REMAIN MODERATE THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND. OTHER THAN THE LOCALLY HEAVY CONVECTIVE SHOWERS THIS AFTERNOON...THE STATE WILL SEE A RETURN OF TRADE SHOWERS...MAINLY WINDWARD AND MAUKA... BEGINNING MONDAY...BUT LIKELY BECOMING MORE PREDOMINANT MIDWEEK. SOUTH SWELL EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THE HIGH SURF ALONG SOUTH SHORES STATEWIDE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. SURF WILL DECREASE THROUGH THE COMING WEEK. FARRELL .HFO...HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR SOUTH SHORES.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, June 7 to 8, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in North Carolina, June 7, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, June 7, 2003
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in North Carolina, June 7, 2003
- Heavy Rain in District of Columbia, June 7, 2003
- Flash Flooding in Georgia, June 7, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Maryland, June 7 to 9, 2003
- Heavy Rain in New Jersey, June 7, 2003
- High Surf in Hawaii, June 7 to 8, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, June 7, 2003
- Heavy Rain in West Virginia, June 7, 2003
- Heavy Rain in Delaware, June 7, 2003
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Hawaii, 2003Warnings in Hawaii, June 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: 5327606.