Tornado in Hawaii, January 25, 2004

Name: Tornado in Hawaii, January 25, 2004
Start: 2004-01-25T13:45
End: 2004-01-25T13:50
Location: Hawaii

January 25, 2004 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A tornado touched down about 1 mile northwest of Royal Kunia, or 3 miles northwest of Waipahu, on the island of Oahu. However, no serious injuries or property damage were reported.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 tornado touched down about 1 mile northwest of Royal Kunia, or 3 miles northwest of Waipahu, on the island of Oahu. However, no serious injuries or property damage were reported.

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 25, 11:00 AM HST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 25, 11:00 AM HST, 2 hours 45 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU
11 AM HST SUN JAN 25 2004

UPDATED TO INCLUDE KAUAI AND OAHU TO THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH AREA

.SYNOPSIS...
LINGERING INSTABILITY AND INCREASING MOISTURE WILL PROLONG THE
THREAT OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INTO MONDAY AND POSSIBLY
TUESDAY. DRIER TRADE WIND WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO RETURN WEDNESDAY.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
AN UPPER TROUGH JUST WEST OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS THIS MORNING
WILL MOVE SOUTHEASTWARD...DEEPEN...AND POSSIBLY CUT OFF INTO AN
UPPER LOW JUST SOUTHWEST OF OAHU OVER THE NEXT 48 HOURS. THIS WILL
KEEP THE AIRMASS OVER US UNSTABLE AND PLACE US BENEATH THE
UPLIFT...CONVECTION-INDUCING...PORTION OF THIS FEATURE. OVERNIGHT
SOUNDINGS SHOW THAT THE ATMOSPHERE IS ALREADY QUITE UNSTABLE...WITH
A LIFTED INDEX OF MINUS 9.2 NOTED AT HILO. MOISTURE IS ON THE
INCREASE AS WELL...WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES RISING AT BOTH
ENDS OF THE ISLAND CHAIN. ITS ALSO QUITE COLD ALOFT...WITH
TEMPERATURES OF MINUS 17 DEGREES C AT 500 MB ABOVE LIHUE. SATELLITE
LOOPS CORROBORATE THE INSTABILITY NOTED IN THE SOUNDING DATA...WITH
SHOWERY LOW CLOUDS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS SLOWLY WORKING THEIR
WAY WESTWARD ACROSS LOCAL WATERS EAST OF OAHU WITHIN SLUGGISH LOW
LEVEL FLOW. A COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST HAS A SECOND
AREA OF HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WHICH WILL AFFECT THE
ISLANDS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. ANOTHER SURFACE
FEATURE IS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WHICH EXTENDS WEST ALONG ABOUT
28N...INDUCING A STEEP ENOUGH PRESSURE GRADIENT TO PRODUCE THE WEAK
TRADES WHICH ARE BRINGING MOISTURE BACK INTO OUR WEATHER PICTURE.

IT IS THIS COMBINATION OF INSTABILITY AND INCREASING MOISTURE THAT
WILL LIKELY TRIGGER HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MAIN
ISLANDS LATER TODAY. THE ADDITIONAL FLOOD THREAT POSED BY THE
APPROACHING COLD FRONT PROMPTED AND EXPANSION OF THE FLOOD WATCH
AREA TO INCLUDE ALL OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS AS OF 1045 AM HST.

BY WEDNESDAY...THE UPPER TROUGH WILL MOVE EAST OF THE BIG ISLAND AND
BEGIN TO FILL. THE SURFACE RIDGE WILL STRENGTHEN AT THE SAME
TIME...INDUCING DRIER MODERATE TRADE WIND FLOW.

&&

.SURF...
NO CHANGE IS EXPECTED IN THE SURF SITUATION WHERE THE SURF IS
EXPECTED TO REMAIN AT BORDERLINE ADVISORY LEVEL OF 15 FEET TODAY.

&&

.HNL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FLASH FLOOD WATCH......ALL HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
HIGH SURF ADVISORY.....NORTH AND WEST SHORES KAUAI OAHU MAUI
                       MOLOKAI AND LANAI
                       WEST FACING SHORES OF THE BIG ISLAND

&&

POWELL

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Honolulu

When: January 25, 1:45 PM HST to 1:50 PM HST
Where: Honolulu County, 3 mi NW of Waipahu
Rating: F0
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 25 yd
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 21.417, -158.033

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

Every storm in Hawaii in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Hawaii, 2004 Warnings in Hawaii, January 2004

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: 5432479.