Gusty trade winds toppled power lines and trees, and tore off portions of buildings in and around Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Costs of damages were not available.
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.
Gusty trade winds toppled power lines and trees, and tore off portions of buildings in and around Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Costs of damages were not available. Six individuals were injured by falling objects.
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 16, 10:00 AM HST, 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1000 AM HST WED MAR 16 2011 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE NORTH OF THE AREA WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY STRONG TRADE WINDS THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING...AND BREEZY TRADE WINDS THROUGH THE WEEK. RIDGING ALOFT WILL KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE DRY AND STABLE...SO RAINFALL WILL BE LIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. A CLOUD BAND SAGGING SOUTH OVER THE ISLANDS MAY BRING AN INCREASE IN SHOWERS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. DRIER WEATHER SHOULD RETURN EARLY NEXT WEEK AND THE TRADE WINDS MAY BECOME STRONG AGAIN BY NEXT WEDNESDAY. && .DISCUSSION... THE PRELIMINARY 800 AM SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS A 1035 MB SURFACE HIGH ABOUT 900 MILES NORTH OF THE AREA WITH LOCALLY STRONG TRADE WINDS OVER THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW SCATTERED TO BROKEN LOW CLOUDS UPSTREAM OF THE ISLANDS. RADARS SHOW SCATTERED LIGHT TO MODERATE SHOWERS FALLING FROM THESE CLOUDS. RIDGING ALOFT IS PRODUCING STRONG SUBSIDENCE NEAR THE ISLANDS...WITH THE 200 AM BALLOON SOUNDINGS SHOWING A STRONG INVERSION NEAR 6400 FEET AT LIHUE AND ONE NEAR 7200 FEET AT HILO. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL REMAIN STABLE FOR SEVERAL DAYS. THE GLOBAL MODELS REMAIN IN GOOD AGREEMENT SHOWING THE SURFACE HIGH MOVING SOUTHEAST AND GRADUALLY WEAKENING. THE STRONG HIGH NORTH OF THE AREA WILL PRODUCE WIDESPREAD BREEZY CONDITIONS OVER LAND. WITH THE STRONG INVERSIONS WINDS WILL ACCELERATE DOWNSLOPE SO SOME OF THE STRONGEST GUSTS WILL BE OVER LEEWARD...SOUTHWEST...SLOPES. A WIND ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR THESE STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS. AS THE HIGH MOVES FARTHER EAST..THE WINDS OVER THE ISLANDS WILL SUBSIDE BUT SHOWERS ARE LIKELY TO INCREASE. THE TRAILING END OF A FRONTAL BAND WILL SAG SOUTH AND SHOULD REACH THE ISLANDS BY FRIDAY EVENING. THE WEATHER WILL BE MORE SHOWERY FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY AS THIS BAND SHIFTS SOUTH OVER THE ISLANDS. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL REMAIN STABLE...SO EXCESSIVE RAINFALL IS UNLIKELY. DRIER WEATHER SHOULD RETURN EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE GLOBAL MODELS SHOW A NEW STRONG HIGH MOVING INTO POSITION NORTH OF THE ISLANDS BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THAT IS LIKELY TO PRODUCE MORE WINDY WEATHER. && .MARINE... AS THE NORTH-NORTHWEST SWELL ROLLING THROUGH HAWAIIAN WATERS CONTINUES TO SUBSIDE...IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO DROP THE ADVISORY FOR THE NORTHWEST SWELL BY THIS EVENING. AS STRONG TRADE WINDS CONTINUE...SURF WILL RISE ALONG EAST-FACING SHORES...LIKELY REQUIRING A HIGH SURF ADVISORY LATER TODAY. STRONG TRADE WINDS...AND ROUGH SEAS...WILL CONTINUE TO REQUIRE A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR MOST OF THE COASTAL WATERS. WHILE WE DO NOT EXPECT TO ISSUE A GALE WARNING ONE MIGHT BE REQUIRED IF WINDS STRENGTHEN MORE THAN EXPECTED. THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING...BUT IS LIKELY TO BE EXTENDED FOR MANY AREAS. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY THROUGH 600 AM HST THURSDAY FOR ALL AREAS EXCEPT THE BIG ISLAND SUMMITS FOR STRONG AND GUSTY EAST WINDS. HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL THIS EVENING FOR NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OF NIIHAU KAUAI AND OAHU...NORTH FACING SHORES OF WINDWARD OAHU AND AND NORTH FACING SHORES OF MOLOKAI MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST THURSDAY FOR ALL HAWAIIAN WATERS. && DONALDSON
2 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind gusts just downwind from the crest of the Pali Highway downed a 60-foot ironwood tree. The tree struck a city bus and a car. The driver of the bus was seriously injured, and four bus passengers were also hurt.
Gusty winds blew off a portion of siding on a downtown office building on Bethel Street. The flying debris struck a man, who apparently was not too seriously injured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Hawaii in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, March 2011
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: 282826, 282831.