Hawaii, 2010

High Surf in Hawaii, March 20 to 22, 2010

March 20 to 22, 2010 · NWS HFO · 15 events in 15 counties and zones

A swell from the southern hemisphere produced surf of 6 to 10 feet along the south-facing shores of all the Hawaiian Islands. No serious injuries or property damage were reported.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
15

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 swell from the southern hemisphere produced surf of 6 to 10 feet along the south-facing shores of all the Hawaiian Islands. 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 Mar 20, 4:00 AM HST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 4:00 AM HST, 5 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
400 AM HST SAT MAR 20 2010

.SYNOPSIS...
MODERATE TRADE WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY. CLOUDS AND
SHOWERS CARRIED BY THE WINDS WILL AFFECT MAINLY WINDWARD AND
MOUNTAIN AREAS. A FEW SHOWERS MAY REACH THE LEEWARD AREAS ON THE
SMALLER ISLANDS. WINDS WILL DECREASE LATE SUNDAY AND MONDAY AS A
TROUGH DEVELOPS NEAR THE ISLANDS...WITH AN INCREASING CHANCE OF MORE
WIDESPREAD RAINFALL MONDAY AND TUESDAY. TRADE WIND WEATHER WILL
RETURN BY THE LATER HALF OF NEXT WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
COOL AND BREEZY TRADE WINDS CONTINUE OVER THE ISLANDS THIS
MORNING...AS HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS FAR NORTH OF THE AREA. LOW
CLOUDS CARRIED BY THE WINDS ARE AFFECTING THE ISLANDS AT
TIMES...ESPECIALLY WINDWARD AND MOUNTAIN SECTIONS. LATEST SOUNDINGS
STILL REVEAL A STABLE AIR MASS IN THE AREA...THOUGH HILO SOUNDING
INDICATED THE STRONG TRADE WIND INVERSION HAS WEAKENED A BIT...WITH
LOW LEVEL MOISTURE STILL EXTENDING TO ABOUT 9 THOUSAND FEET.
OVERNIGHT RAINFALL TOTALS FROM GAGES AROUND THE STATE REMAIN ON THE
LOWER SIDE...WITH HIGHEST AMOUNT STILL LESS THAN A QUARTER OF AN
INCH FOR THE PAST 12 HOURS. HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST
IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...AND WILL MAINTAIN MODERATE TRADE WINDS
AS WELL AS TRADE WIND WEATHER TO THE ISLANDS. LOOK FOR PASSING
CLOUDS AND SHOWERS TO AFFECT MAINLY THE WINDWARD AND MOUNTAIN
SECTIONS...WHILE A FEW SHOWERS MAY REACH LEEWARD AREAS ON THE
SMALLER ISLANDS.

CHANGES IN WEATHER ARE COMING BY EARLY NEXT WEEK AS A FRONT
PASSES NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT OVER THE AREA
WILL RELAX IN RESPONSE...RESULTING IN A DECREASE OF WIND. LATEST
FORECAST CHARTS STILL INDICATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WEAK SURFACE
TROUGH NEAR THE ISLANDS. FORECAST CHARTS ALSO INDICATE LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE WILL LINGER IN THE ISLAND VICINITY WHILE A MID LEVEL
TROUGH WILL DEVELOP WEST OF THE ISLANDS. THUS CONDITIONS WILL BECOME
FAVORABLE FOR HEAVIER RAINFALL TO DEVELOP MONDAY AND TUESDAY.

THE POTENTIAL UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL BE SHORT LIVED...AS THE MID
LEVEL TROUGH IS FORECAST TO WEAKEN BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. A
SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL STAY FAR NORTH OF THE
ISLANDS...BRINGING MORE TYPICAL TRADE WINDS AS WELL AS TRADE WIND
WEATHER TO THE ISLANDS FOR THE LATER PART OF NEXT WEEK.

&&

.MARINE...
LATEST READINGS FROM KILO NALU BUOY SOUTH OF OAHU SHOWED THE SOUTH
SWELL HAS REACHED THE ISLANDS THIS MORNING. EXPECT THIS ELEVATED
SURF EPISODE TO LAST AT LEAST A COUPLE OF DAYS. A HIGH SURF ADVISORY
IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTH FACING SHORES OF ALL ISLANDS THROUGH SUNDAY
EVENING.

ELEVATED SWELLS AND THE WAVES DRIVEN BY FRESH TRADE WINDS WILL
KEEP COMBINED SEAS ABOVE 10 FEET FOR MOST COASTAL WATERS TODAY
A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF THE COASTAL
WATERS...EXCEPT MAALAEA BAY.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST SATURDAY FOR ALL COASTAL
WATERS EXCEPT MAALAEA BAY.

HIGH SURF ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM HST SUNDAY FOR SOUTH
FACING SHORES OF ALL ISLANDS.

&&

HUI

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

15 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.

High Surf, Niihau

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Niihau forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
22.011, -159.705 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Surf, Kauai Windward

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Kauai Windward forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter

High Surf, Kauai Leeward

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Kauai Leeward forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
22.011, -159.705 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Surf, Oahu South Shore

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Oahu South Shore forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter

High Surf, Waianae Coast

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Waianae Coast forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
21.455, -157.961 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Surf, Molokai Windward

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Molokai Windward forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter

High Surf, Molokai Leeward

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Molokai Leeward forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter

High Surf, Lanai Makai

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Lanai Makai forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter

High Surf, Kahoolawe

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Kahoolawe forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
21.027, -156.788 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Surf, Maui Leeward West

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Maui Leeward West forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
21.027, -156.788 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Surf, Maui Central Valley

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Maui Central Valley forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter

High Surf, Leeward Haleakala

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Leeward Haleakala forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter

High Surf, Kona

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Kona forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
19.602, -155.523 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Surf, South Big Island

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
South Big Island forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter

High Surf, Big Island North and East

When
March 20, 9:00 AM HST to March 22, 11:00 AM HST
Where
Big Island North and East 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

More

Every storm in Hawaii in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, March 2010

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: 214302, 214303, 214304, 214305, 214306, 214307, 214308, 214309, 214310, 214311, 214312, 214313, 214314, 214315, 214316.