Hail in Hawaii, March 24, 2006

Name: Hail in Hawaii, March 24, 2006
Start: 2006-03-24T09:35
End: 2006-03-24T09:50
Location: Hawaii

March 24, 2006 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Law enforcement personnel and a bank employee in Kealakekua, a town just north of Captain Cook in the South Kona District on the Big Island of Hawaii, reported quarter-sized hail from a passing thunderstorm. 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.

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 Mar 24, 4:00 AM HST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 24, 4:00 AM HST, 5 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
400 AM HST FRI MAR 24 2006

.SYNOPSIS...
A DEEP TROUGH WEST OF KAUAI WILL MAINTAIN KONA WEATHER OVER THE
ISLANDS THROUGH AT LEAST EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE TROUGH WILL KEEP
TROPICAL MOISTURE STREAMING OVER THE ISLANDS. IMPULSES MOVING OVER
THE ISLANDS FROM THE SOUTHWEST WILL KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE UNSTABLE
ENOUGH FOR HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
SATELLITE IMAGERY AND UPPER AIR ANALYSES SHOW A DEEP NORTH NORTHEAST
TO SOUTH SOUTHWEST TROUGH NEARLY STATIONARY WEST OF KAUAI. A SERIES
OF IMPULSES KEEP DROPPING INTO THE TROUGH FROM THE NORTHWEST...
SWINGING AROUND THE TROUGH AXIS AND MOVING NORTHEASTWARD JUST WEST
OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS AN AREA OF LAYERED CLOUDS WITH
EMBEDDED HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER MAUI COUNTY. OVER THE
PAST 6 HOURS...THIS AREA HAS BEEN SHIFTING TOWARDS THE EAST SOUTHEAST
AROUND 20 MPH AND IT HAS INTENSIFIED. ISOLATED HEAVY SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALSO BEEN FORMING OVER WATER AROUND OAHU AND
KAUAI. AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A VORTICITY CENTER
WEST NORTHWEST OF KAUAI HAS BEEN MOVING TOWARDS THE EAST SOUTHEAST
AT 25 MPH AND INTENSIFYING. THE CLOSEST THUNDERSTORMS ARE 60 MILES
NORTHWEST OF KAUAI.

SINCE THE HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OVER MAUI COUNTY CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST
SOUTHEAST WE EXTENDED THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH TO INCLUDE THE BIG
ISLAND. SHOWER ACTIVITY HAS TEMPORARILY DECREASED AROUND OAHU AND
KAUAI BUT MAY INCREASE AGAIN LATER TODAY AS THE SYSTEM NORTHWEST OF
KAUAI MOVES EAST SOUTHEAST.

WINDS REMAIN STRONG OVER THE BIG ISLAND SUMMITS SO THE WIND ADVISORY
CONTINUES. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY OR WARNING MAY BE NEEDED LATER
TODAY.

WEATHER OVER THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS WILL REMAIN UNSETTLED AS LONG
AS THE TROUGH REMAINS NORTHWEST OF KAUAI. THE COMPUTER MODELS ARE
CONSISTENT IN IN KEEPING THE TROUGH THERE THROUGH NEXT MONDAY. AFTER
THAT...THE MODELS DIVERGE SIGNIFICANTLY. UNTIL THE MODELS BECOME
MORE CONSISTENT WE WILL LOOK FOR THE TROUGH TO REMAIN IN PLACE FOR
THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH LATE SATURDAY NIGHT FOR ALL ISLANDS.
WIND ADVISORY BIG ISLAND SUMMITS THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY.

&&

DONALDSON

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 24, 8:13 AM HST, 1 hour 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
813 AM HST FRI MAR 24 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0935 PM     TORNADO          KAUMALAPAU HARBOR       20.79N 156.99W
03/23/2006                   MAUI               HI   EMERGENCY MNGR

            TORNADO AT KAUMALAPAU HARBOR ON LANAI. DAMAGED THE LANAI
            OIL BUILDING AND A 10X10 TRAILER ADJACENT TO BUILDING. NO
            INJURIES.

&&

NASH

Local storm report, Mar 24, 9:22 AM HST, 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
922 AM HST FRI MAR 24 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0935 PM     TORNADO          KAUMALAPAU HARBOR       20.79N 156.99W
03/23/2006                   MAUI               HI   EMERGENCY MNGR

            TORNADO AT KAUMALAPAU HARBOR ON LANAI. DAMAGED A BUILDING
            AND A 10X10 TRAILER ADJACENT TO BUILDING. NO INJURIES.
            CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS LSR...WAS NOT THE LANAI OIL
            BUILDING.

&&

NASH

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Hawaii

When: March 24, 9:35 AM HST to 9:50 AM HST
Where: Hawaii County, Kealakekua
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 19.533, -155.917

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Hawaii in 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, March 2006

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: 5495610.