High Wind, South Big Island
- When
- January 13, 2:40 PM HST to 11:35 PM HST
- Where
- South Big Island forecast zone
- Measured
- 35 kt (40 mph) estimated sustained
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
High Wind in Hawaii, January 13, 2005
Southwest winds occasionally in excess of 50 mph damaged roofs and a dog kennel, and toppled trees, in and around Pahala in the Kau District on the Big Island of Hawaii. There were no reports of serious injuries.
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.
Southwest winds occasionally in excess of 50 mph damaged roofs and a dog kennel, and toppled trees, in and around Pahala in the Kau District on the Big Island of Hawaii. There were no reports of serious injuries. Damage estimates were not available.
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 13, 8:25 AM HST, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 13, 8:25 AM HST, 6 hours 15 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 825 AM HST THU JAN 13 2005 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL INCREASE CLOUDS AND SHOWERS ACROSS KAUAI AND OAHU TODAY...WHILE THE REMAINING ISLANDS WILL SEE INCREASED CLOUDS AND SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON DURING MAXIMUM HEATING. ANOTHER FRONT WILL BRUSH THE WESTERN ISLANDS MONDAY. WINDS WILL BE SOUTHWESTERLIES. && .DISCUSSION... A COLD FRONT LIES APPROXIMATELY 200 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI... MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST AT ABOUT 15 MPH. CLOUDS AND SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FRONT ARE PUSHING EAST-SOUTHEAST AND WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS KAUAI AND OAHU OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. HAVE UPDATED THE GRIDS TO REFLECT MORE CLOUDS AND HIGHER POPS FOR THE REST OF THE MORNING. THE PHLI SOUNDING SHOWS A 500 MB TEMP OF -11C AND A K-INDEX OF 30. THE FRONT IS LACKING GOOD UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT... AS THE ISLANDS ARE UNDER THE CONVERGENT QUADRANT OF AN UPPER LEVEL JET STREAK AND MOST OF THE SHORTWAVE ENERGY IS SHEARING OFF TO THE NORTH AND NORTHEAST OF THE ISLANDS. HOWEVER...THE KAUAI RADAR HAS BEEN SHOWING MAX REFLECTIVITIES IN THE 55 TO 60 DBZ RANGE...SO HAVE UPDATED TO INCLUDE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF A THUNDERSTORM AROUND KAUAI. A QUIKSCAT PASS FROM EARLIER SUGGESTED THAT AT LEAST THE MARINE WINDS AROUND OAHU MIGHT BE A TAD LOW...SO HAVE UPDATED THE WINDS AND EXPANDED THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY EASTWARD TO INCLUDE THE KAIWI CHANNEL. WIND DATA FROM THE MAUNA KEA SUMMIT OBSERVATORIES SHOW WINDS ARE STILL ABOVE WARNING CRITERIA THERE. THE GFS AND ETA 600 MB WINDS SUGGEST THAT THE WINDS WILL REMAIN ABOVE WARNING CRITERIA FOR THE REST OF TODAY...BUT WILL BEGIN TO EASE UP TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY AS A MID-LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS JUST SOUTH OF THE ISLANDS. NO OTHER CHANGES TO THE FORECAST AT THIS TIME. RELEVANT PORTION OF PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOLLOWS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... GFS AND NOGAPS REMAIN IN GENERAL AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE PAIR OF FRONTAL ENCOUNTERS EXPECTED FOR THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS OVER THE COMING WEEK. A BETTER DEVELOPED FRONT WILL AFFECT KAUAI AND OAHU MONDAY ACCORDING TO GFS...OR TUESDAY ACCORDING TO NOGAPS. THE GFS RUN IS A BIT NEWER...SO WE WILL GO WITH THAT SOLUTION. WITH THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE PUSHED SOUTH OF THE ISLANDS...WE CAN EXPECT SOUTHWESTERLY WIND FLOW FOR THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS...VARYING IN STRENGTH THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE EXPECTED COLD FRONTS WILL NOT PENETRATE FAR INTO THE CHAIN...YET THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE WILL NOT REBOUND NORTHWARD BETWEEN FRONTAL ENCOUNTERS...SO OUR WINDS WILL BE STUCK IN A WEEKLONG PREFRONTAL PATTERN. AFTER THE FRONT NOW NEAR KAUAI WASHES OUT...IT LOOKS LIKE THESE SOUTHWESTERLIES WILL BE RATHER DRY. THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE MAY BE DEPRESSED SOUTHWARD...BUT THROUGH ASSOCIATED SUBSIDENCE IT WILL KEEP RAINFALL TO A MINIMUM. THE SECOND FRONT...THE ONE EXPECTED MONDAY...WILL BE BETTER DEVELOPED WITH A DEEPER ASSOCIATED SURFACE TROUGH. THIS WILL STEEPEN THE PRESSURE GRADIENT...MAKING WINDS SATURDAY AND SUNDAY THE STRONGEST IN THE FORECAST PERIOD. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING FOR MAUNA KEA AND MAUNA LOA SUMMITS. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES FOR HAWAIIAN WATERS AROUND KAUAI AND OAHU. && R BALLARD
Event by event
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Tornadoes in Georgia, January 13, 2005
- Tornado in South Carolina, January 13, 2005
- Flash Flood and Hail in Mississippi, January 13, 2005
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, January 13, 2005
- Flash Flooding in North Carolina, January 13 to 14, 2005
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Illinois, January 13, 2005
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, January 13, 2005
- Damaging Winds in Louisiana, January 13, 2005
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, January 13, 2005
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, January 13, 2005
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, January 13, 2005
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, January 13, 2005
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, January 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: 5435260.