High Surf in Hawaii, February 3 to 7, 2005

Name: High Surf in Hawaii, February 3 to 7, 2005
Start: 2005-02-03T14:00
End: 2005-02-07T02:00
Location: Hawaii

February 3 to 7, 2005 · NWS HFO · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A trade wind swell generated surf of 6 to 12 feet along the east-facing shores of the Big Island of Hawaii. No serious property damage or injuries were reported.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 trade wind swell generated surf of 6 to 12 feet along the east-facing shores of the Big Island of Hawaii. No serious property damage or injuries 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 Feb 3, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 3, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1000 AM HST THU FEB 3 2005

.SYNOPSIS...
A TROUGH OVER THE ISLANDS WILL SLOWLY WEAKEN THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
CLOUD COVER AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF HEAVY SHOWERS WILL GRADUALLY
DECREASE AS THE TROUGH WEAKENS. THE TROUGH IS ALSO KEEPING WINDS
LIGHT OVER THE ISLANDS. AS THE TROUGH WEAKENS...TRADE WINDS WILL
RETURN BY EARLY NEXT WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
A NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST TROUGH...AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT...REMAINS
OVER THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. WITH THE TROUGH OVER THE ISLANDS...
THE ATMOSPHERE CONTINUES TO BE SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE. RAIN GAGES ON
KAUAI AND OAHU HAVE RECORDED LOCALLY HEAVY SHOWERS THIS MORNING.
RADAR IMAGERY ALSO SHOWS LINES OF HEAVY SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS
SOUTHEAST OF THE BIG ISLAND.

EARLY MORNING REPORTS FROM MAUNA KEA AND MAUNA LOA SHOWED THAT WINDS
HAD DROPPED AND NO SIGNIFICANT SNOW WAS FALLING SO WE CANCELLED THE
WINTER STORM WARNING. IT APPEARS THAT A RAPIDLY MOVING SHORT WAVE
TROUGH BOOSTED THE WINDS OVERNIGHT...THEN MOVED RAPIDLY OFF TO THE
NORTH.

WITH THE TROUGH OVER THE ISLANDS...SURFACE WINDS ARE FROM THE
SOUTHEAST EAST OF THE BIG ISLAND...FROM THE NORTHEAST WEST OF KAUAI
AND LIGHT AND VARIABLE OVER THE ISLANDS. SATELLITE DATA AND SURFACE
REPORTS SHOW A LOW SOUTHWEST OF THE ISLANDS AND SUGGEST THERE MAY
ALSO BE A LOW NORTHEAST OF THE ISLANDS.

THE COMPUTER MODELS ALL SHOW A TROUGH REMAINING OVER THE ISLANDS
AND GRADUALLY WEAKENING...BUT THE MODELS CONTINUE TO DIFFER ON THE
DETAILS. THE CLOUDS AND RAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH WILL
GENERALLY BE MOVING SOUTHEAST AND WEAKENING BUT BOTH THE GFS AND NAM
MODELS SHOW A NEW LOW DEVELOPING NEAR THE ISLANDS AND MOVING
NORTHWEST. THAT MAY CAUSE THE CLOUDS AND SHOWERS TO TEMPORARILY
SHIFT BACK NORTHWESTWARD SATURDAY.

MOST OF THE CLOUDS AND WEATHER ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH SHOULD
DISSIPATE BY SUNDAY EVENING. A SURFACE RIDGE WILL BUILD NORTH OF THE
ISLANDS EARLY NEXT WEEK BRINGING A RETURN OF TRADE WINDS. THE
MEDIUM-RANGE VERSION OF THE GFS...THE GFS150...SHOWS TRADES
PERSISTING THROUGH NEXT WEEK.

THE COMPUTER MODELS HAVE NOT BEEN PERFORMING TOO WELL LATELY SO IT
WOULD BE NO SURPRISE IF THE FORECASTS REQUIRE MORE CHANGES OVER THE
NEXT FEW DAYS.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL ISLANDS THROUGH TODAY.

&&

DONALDSON

Event by event

2 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.

High Surf, Big Island North and East

When: February 3, 2:00 PM HST to February 7, 2:00 AM HST
Where: Big Island North and East forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

High Surf, South Big Island

When: February 3, 2:00 PM HST to February 7, 2:00 AM HST
Where: South Big Island forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

High Surf: Large waves breaking on the shore that caused damage, erosion or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Hawaii in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, February 2005

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: 5441528, 5441529.