Southwest to west winds sustained at 80 mph buffeted areas at and near the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii. There were no reports of serious injuries or property damage.
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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.
The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.
Southwest to west winds sustained at 80 mph buffeted areas at and near the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii. There were no reports of serious injuries or property damage.
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 12, 3:30 AM HST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 330 AM HST MON JAN 12 2004 .SYNOPSIS...THE FIRST IN A NEW SERIES OF COLD FRONTS HAS REACHED KAUAI THIS MORNING. OTHERS WILL FOLLOW WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY. EACH PASSAGE WILL INCREASE CLOUDS AND SHOWERS FOLLOWED BY STRETCHES OF CLEARER AND DRIER WEATHER. BRISK WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL BECOME LIGHTER SOUTHERLIES AFTER MIDWEEK AS HIGH PRESSURE SETS UP TO OUR EAST. && .DISCUSSION...THE FIRST COLD FRONT ARRIVED ON SCHEDULE OVER KAUAI THIS MORNING...BRINGING CLOUDS AND SHOWERS WITHIN A 90 MILE WIDE BAND. THIS FRONT WILL REACH THE BIG ISLAND BY TONIGHT AND BEGIN TO WASH OUT AS THE SECOND COLD FRONT ARRIVES ON KAUAI EARLY WEDNESDAY. BETWEEN FRONTS...WE WILL SEE CLEARER AND DRIER WEATHER...BUT NO RETURN TO TRADES IS EXPECTED SINCE THE RIDGE WILL REMAIN TO OUR SOUTH FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. SINCE EACH FRONT RESIDES WITHIN A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE...THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL STEEPEN AS THEY APPROACH...INCREASING THE SPEED OF PREFRONTAL SOUTHWEST WINDS. MODELS SHOW STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT EXPECTED TO REACH THE MAIN ISLANDS WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL LIKELY POSE A PROBLEM FOR THE NORMALLY WINDWARD SECTIONS OF THE ISLANDS...ESPECIALLY KAUAI AND OAHU...AS ALREADY STRONG WINDS ARE ACCELERATED FURTHER DOWNSLOPE. WE HAVE ISSUED A SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT DESCRIBING THE POTENTIAL FOR 35 TO 40 MPH WINDS...WITH HIGHER GUSTS...BEGINNING SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY MORNING. AFTER WEDNESDAY...WINDS WILL DECREASE AND BECOME EITHER LIGHT AND VARIABLE OR SOUTHERLY AS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE SETS UP TO OUR EAST...THEN EXTENDS WEST OVER THE ISLANDS. ASSOCIATED SUBSIDENCE SHOULD KEEP OUR WEATHER RATHER DRY DURING THIS TIME. THE FORECAST PERIOD ENDS WITH THE THIRD COLD FRONT REACHING KAUAI SUNDAY MORNING. && .SURF...THE SECOND IN A SERIES OF LARGE SWELLS WILL ARRIVE IN THE ISLANDS LATER TODAY...WITH 20 TO 30 FEET SURF HEIGHTS EXPECTED ALONG NORTH AND WEST SHORES AFTER ABOUT 9 PM TONIGHT. AS A RESULT...THE HIGH SURF ADVISORY IS UPGRADED TO A HIGH SURF WARNING AS OF 4 AM HST. ANOTHER SWELL IS EXPECTED LATER IN THE WEEK...POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST SWELL OF THE SEASON. && .HNL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH SURF WARNING....ALL NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES AS OF 4 AM HST SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...DUE TO LARGE SWELLS SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT....FOR POTENTIAL HIGH WINDS WEDNESDAY && POWELL
HIZ001-008-130200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 400 AM HST MON JAN 12 2004 ...HIGH WINDS ARE POSSIBLE FOR THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS BY EARLY WEDNESDAY... STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE FORECAST AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WHICH WILL PASS THROUGH THE STATE WEDNESDAY...WITH THE ONSET OF STRONG WINDS EXPECTED SOON AFTER MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY MORNING. WINDS OF 35 TO 40 MPH MAY OCCUR ALONG SOUTH AND WEST FACING EXPOSURES...BUT STRONGER GUSTS MAY OCCUR OVER NORMALLY WINDWARD AREAS OF THE ISLANDS...ESPECIALLY KAUAI AND OAHU...AS DOWNSLOPE ACCELERATION OCCURS. WINDS ARE FORECAST TO DECREASE BY WEDNESDAY EVENING. AN UPDATE ON THIS POTENTIAL HIGH WIND EVENT WILL BE ISSUED AT 4 PM HST THIS AFTERNOON OR SOONER IF NEEDED. POWELL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 608 AM HST MON JAN 12 2004 HIZ001>008-130200- KAUAI-OAHU-MOLOKAI-LANAI-MAUI-NORTH AND EAST HAWAII-SOUTH HAWAII- WEST HAWAII- 608 AM HST MON JAN 12 2004 ...HIGH WINDS ARE POSSIBLE FOR THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS BY EARLY WEDNESDAY... STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS ARE FORECAST AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WHICH WILL PASS THROUGH THE STATE WEDNESDAY...WITH THE ONSET OF STRONG WINDS EXPECTED SOON AFTER MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY MORNING. WINDS OF 35 TO 40 MPH MAY OCCUR ALONG SOUTH AND WEST FACING EXPOSURES...BUT STRONGER GUSTS MAY OCCUR OVER NORMALLY WINDWARD AREAS OF THE ISLANDS...ESPECIALLY KAUAI AND OAHU...AS DOWNSLOPE ACCELERATION OCCURS. WINDS ARE FORECAST TO DECREASE BY WEDNESDAY EVENING. AN UPDATE ON THIS POTENTIAL HIGH WIND EVENT WILL BE ISSUED AT 4 PM HST THIS AFTERNOON OR SOONER IF NEEDED. POWELL/farrell
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Hawaii in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, January 2004
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: 5432257, 5432319, 5432320.