High Surf in Hawaii, March 30 to 31, 2010

Name: High Surf in Hawaii, March 30 to 31, 2010
Start: 2010-03-30T12:00
End: 2010-03-31T23:59
Location: Hawaii

March 30 to 31, 2010 · NWS HFO · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

A trade wind swell produced surf of 6 to 9 feet along the east-facing shores of all islands except Lanai. There were no reports of serious property damage or injuries.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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: 8

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 produced surf of 6 to 9 feet along the east-facing shores of all islands except Lanai. There were no reports of serious property damage or injuries.

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 30, 10:00 AM HST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 30, 10:00 AM HST, 2 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1000 AM HST TUE MAR 30 2010

.SYNOPSIS...
BREEZY TO STRONG TRADE WINDS WILL PERSIST THROUGH NEXT WEEK AS
STRONG HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS FAR NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. SHOWERS WILL
FOCUS OVER WINDWARD AND MOUNTAIN SLOPES...WITH THE STRONG WINDS
BLOWING SOME SHOWERS TO LEEWARD AREAS. AN INCREASE IN SHOWERS IS
POSSIBLE THIS WEEKEND AND NEXT WEEK DUE TO SOME INSTABILITY.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
A HIGH IS CURRENTLY ABOUT 600 MILES NORTHEAST OF THE STATE AND IS
PRODUCING STRONG AND GUSTY TRADE WINDS THIS MORNING. A WIND ADVISORY
REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE AS A RESULT. THE HIGH WILL REMAIN
NEARLY STATIONARY THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON...WHICH MEANS THAT THE
WINDY CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST. THEN...A FRONT FAR TO THE NORTH WILL
START TO WEAKEN THE HIGH...DECREASING WINDS SLIGHTLY THURSDAY NIGHT
AND MOST OF FRIDAY. LATE FRIDAY...ANOTHER STRONG HIGH WILL MOVE IN
FAR NORTH OF THE ISLANDS...BRINGING STRONG AND GUSTY TRADES ONCE
AGAIN. TRADES WILL WEAKEN MONDAY MORNING AS THE HIGH WEAKENS AND
STRETCHES OUT...BUT THEN ANOTHER STRONG HIGH MOVES IN. THUS...THE
ISLANDS WILL SEE CONTINUED BREEZY TO STRONG TRADE WINDS THROUGH NEXT
WEEK.

OVERCAST TO BROKEN LOW CLOUDS ARE MOVING WITH THE TRADE WIND FLOW
OVER KAUAI AND OAHU THIS MORNING. RADAR IMAGERY REVEALS THAT THE
SOUTHERN EDGE OF THESE LOW CLOUDS CONTAINS A BAND OF SHOWERS
ORIENTED EAST TO WEST. THESE SHOWERS HAVE PRODUCED LIGHT RAINFALL
ACCUMULATIONS OVER SOUTHEAST OAHU AND NORTHERN MOLOKAI OVER THE PAST
FEW HOURS. SHOWERS WILL LIKELY DISSIPATE LATER THIS MORNING AS
SUNSHINE WARMS THE CLOUD TOPS. UPPER LEVEL RIDGING IS CAUSING
SUBSIDENCE OVER THE ISLANDS...RESULTING IN A STABLE ATMOSPHERE AS
SEEN IN THE 12Z SOUNDING AT LIHUE. THE SOUNDING SHOWS A STRONG LOW
LEVEL INVERSION AT ABOUT 5000 FT LIMITING THE VERTICAL EXTENT OF
SHOWERS THAT FORM...LEADING TO LIGHT RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS. THE
INVERSION WILL LIFT SOMEWHAT THIS WEEKEND AND NEXT WEEK AS UPPER
LEVEL TROUGHING MOVES OVER THE STATE...RESULTING IN INCREASED SHOWER
ACTIVITY. THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PERIOD SHOWERS WILL FOCUS OVER
WINDWARD AND MOUNTAIN SLOPES...WITH A FEW SHOWERS REACHING LEEWARD
AREAS WITH THE STRONG TRADES.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
WITH A KBDI VALUE ABOVE 600...AND STRONG TRADE WINDS A CERTAINTY...
THE ONLY QUESTIONABLE VARIABLE FOR ISSUING A RED FLAG WARNING IS
WHETHER THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY WILL REACH OR GO BELOW 45 PERCENT. IT
DOES NOT APPEAR LIKELY THAT WE WILL MEET THAT CRITERION FOR ANY
SIGNIFICANT PERIOD OF TIME TODAY...PARTLY BECAUSE THE LOWEST
RELATIVE HUMIDITY YESTERDAY AT THE HONOLULU INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
WAS 54...AND ALSO BECAUSE A BAND OF SHOWERS THIS MORNING IN SOUTH
OAHU MAY INCREASE THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY. THE WATCH MAY NEED TO BE
RE-ISSUED LATER TODAY FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF RED FLAG CONDITIONS
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

&&

.MARINE...
A GALE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR BOTH THE PAILOLO AND ALENUIHAHA
CHANNELS...AND WATERS SOUTH AND WEST OF THE BIG ISLAND...WHERE THE
TRADES ARE MOST ACCELERATED DUE TO ISLAND TERRAIN. A SMALL CRAFT
ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE REMAINING HAWAIIAN WATERS...DUE TO
WINDS AND WAVES. THE STRONG WINDS WILL ALSO PRODUCE ROUGH AND CHOPPY
SURF ALONG EAST FACING SHORES...WHERE A HIGH SURF ADVISORY IS IN
EFFECT.

A LARGE NORTH NORTHWEST SWELL CONTINUES TO PRODUCE HIGH SURF ALONG
NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES AND WILL REMAIN ELEVATED THROUGH
WEDNESDAY. A HIGH SURF ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR EXPOSED NORTH AND
WEST FACING SHORES. HARBOR SURGES MAY ALSO OCCUR AT KAHULUI AND HILO
HARBORS BECAUSE OF THE SWELL...SO A MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT HAS
BEEN ISSUED.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST WEDNESDAY FOR ALL ISLANDS.

HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST WEDNESDAY FOR NORTH AND WEST
FACING SHORES OF NIIHAU...KAUAI...OAHU AND MOLOKAI...NORTH FACING
SHORES OF MAUI...AND EAST FACING SHORES OF
NIIHAU...KAUAI...OAHU...MOLOKAI...MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND.

GALE WARNING UNTIL 6 AM HST WEDNESDAY FOR THE PAILOLO
CHANNEL...ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL...BIG ISLAND LEEWARD WATERS AND BIG
ISLAND SOUTHEAST WATERS.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM HST THURSDAY FOR ALL OTHER COASTAL
WATERS.

&&

HARRISON/MORRISON

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.

High Surf, Niihau

When: March 30, 12:00 PM HST to March 31, 11:59 PM 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 30, 12:00 PM HST to March 31, 11:59 PM HST
Where: Kauai Windward forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Surf, Oahu Koolau

When: March 30, 12:00 PM HST to March 31, 11:59 PM HST
Where: Oahu Koolau forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Surf, Olomana

When: March 30, 12:00 PM HST to March 31, 11:59 PM HST
Where: Olomana 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 30, 12:00 PM HST to March 31, 11:59 PM HST
Where: Molokai Windward forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Surf, Maui Windward West

When: March 30, 12:00 PM HST to March 31, 11:59 PM HST
Where: Maui Windward West forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 21.027, -156.788 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Surf, Windward Haleakala

When: March 30, 12:00 PM HST to March 31, 11:59 PM HST
Where: Windward Haleakala forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Surf, Big Island North and East

When: March 30, 12:00 PM HST to March 31, 11:59 PM 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

Every storm in Hawaii in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 214342, 214343, 214344, 214345, 214347, 214348, 214349, 214350.