An upper trough moving across the state from west to east brought west winds of 30 to 50 mph, with gusts over 70 mph, to the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii, and to the summit of Haleakala in East Maui. Ice and snow, in combination with the strong winds, forced workers to close the access road to the summit of Mauna Kea for a time.
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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.
An upper trough moving across the state from west to east brought west winds of 30 to 50 mph, with gusts over 70 mph, to the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii, and to the summit of Haleakala in East Maui. Ice and snow, in combination with the strong winds, forced workers to close the access road to the summit of Mauna Kea for a time. High winds and icy conditions also caused power outages on the summit of Haleakala, which interrupted broadcast transmissions from public and commercial radio and television stations on the 15th. There were no reports of serious property damage or injuries, however.
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 Mar 12, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1000 AM HST SAT MAR 12 2005 SYNOPSIS... BANDS OF SHOWERS ROTATING AROUND A LOW NORTH OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS WILL OCCASIONALLY AFFECT US THROUGH TUESDAY. DRY WEATHER WILL OCCUR BETWEEN SHOWER BANDS. THE LOW WILL MOVE AWAY FROM THE ISLANDS TOWARDS THE NORTH WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...INTRODUCING DRIER WEATHER ON THOSE DAYS. A FRONT WILL APPROACH THE ISLANDS FROM THE NORTHWEST FRIDAY...STALLING BEFORE REACHING KAUAI BUT DRAGGING AN AREA OF PREFRONTAL SHOWERS ACROSS THE STATE OVER THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION... THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FROM OAHU EASTWARD LIE WITHIN A RELATIVELY DRY AND CLEAR SLOT BETWEEN A RECENTLY DEPARTED SHOWER BAND EAST OF THE BIG ISLAND AND A SECONDARY BAND OF SHOWERY LOW CLOUDS NOW IN THE KAUAI CHANNEL AND WEST OAHU. THE ATMOSPHERE HAS STABILIZED SINCE THE PASSAGE OF THE SHOWER BAND ACROSS THE STATE YESTERDAY...RESULTING IN LIGHTER SHOWERS OVER KAUAI AND OAHU. SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW PATCHY BROKEN LOW CLOUDS NORTH OF THIS SECONDARY SHOWER BAND AS WELL AS HEALTHY NORTH TO SOUTH CLOUD MOVEMENT...INDICATING A SWELL FETCH POINTED RIGHT AT THE MAIN ISLANDS. LATEST GFS75 SHOWS A HIGH AMPLITUDE TROUGH WILL CUT OFF INTO A DEEP LOW 900 TO 1000 MILES NORTH OF HAWAII THIS AFTERNOON...THEN MOVE SOUTH TO A POINT 400 TO 500 MILES NORTH OF THE ISLANDS MONDAY AFTERNOON. AFTER STOPPING BRIEFLY LATE MONDAY...THE LOW WILL BEGIN MOVING BACK NORTHWARD AS THE MIDLATITUDE STORM TRACK DIGS IT OUT. THIS SETS UP A SERIES OF SHOWER BANDS...DEPICTED IN MODELS AS A PINWHEEL PATTERN...ROTATING COUNTERCLOCKWISE AROUND THE LOW AND PASSING ACROSS THE MAIN ISLANDS THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY. THE BAND OF CLOUDS OVER KAUAI AND OAHU IS THE FIRST OF THESE. THE PINWHEELS WILL NO LONGER REACH THE ISLANDS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...RESULTING IN DRIER WEATHER ON THOSE DAYS. WITH A DEEP LOW TO OUR NORTH...PREVAILING LOW LEVEL WINDS WILL BE WESTERLIES TO NORTHWESTERLIES THROUGH MUCH OF THE COMING WEEK. WESTERLY WINDS ALOFT ARE STRONG ENOUGH FOR CONTINUED ISSUANCE OF HIGH WIND WARNINGS FOR THE BIG ISLAND SUMMITS. WIND ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED FOR THE SUMMIT OF HALEAKALA BEGINNING TONIGHT. WIND SPEEDS AT THE SUMMITS MAY RANGE FROM 70 TO AS MUCH AS 100 MPH MONDAY INTO AND TUESDAY. WINDS WILL BEGIN TO DECREASE LATE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AS THE LOW BEGINS TO MOVE AWAY. && .MARINE... THERE WILL BE A SERIES OF LARGE NORTHWEST SWELLS AFFECTING THE ISLANDS OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. THE CURRENT NORTHWEST SWELL WILL LIKELY PEAK TODAY. ANOTHER LARGE NORTHWEST SWELL WILL LIKELY BOOST THE SURF TO NEAR WARNING LEVELS EARLY TUESDAY. SURF WILL BE LARGE AND DISORGANIZED SINCE THIS WILL BE A SHORT PERIOD SWELL DUE TO THE NEARNESS OF THE FETCH AND WESTERLY WINDS. SOME RUNUP OF SURF OVER NORTH AND NORTHWEST FACING BEACHES IS LIKELY. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THE BIG ISLAND SUMMITS. HIGH SURF ADVISORY FOR NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OF KAUAI OAHU AND MOLOKAI...AND NORTH FACING SHORES OF MAUI. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY KAUAI NORTHWEST WATERS...KAUAI WINDWARD WATERS AND OAHU WINDWARD WATERS. && POWELL/HOAG
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Hawaii in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, March 2005
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: 5439588, 5439589.