High Surf, Niihau
- When
- January 7, 5:00 AM HST to January 9, 7:00 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 in Hawaii, January 7 to 9, 2012
A swell from a strong low far northwest of the Aloha State produced surf of 15 to 25 feet along the north- and west-facing shores of Niihau and Kauai, and the north-facing shores of Oahu, Molokai, and Maui; 10 to 15 feet along the west-facing shores of Oahu and Molokai; and 5 to 8 feet along the west-facing shores of the Big Island of Hawaii. There were no reports of significant injuries or…
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 11
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 a strong low far northwest of the Aloha State produced surf of 15 to 25 feet along the north- and west-facing shores of Niihau and Kauai, and the north-facing shores of Oahu, Molokai, and Maui; 10 to 15 feet along the west-facing shores of Oahu and Molokai; and 5 to 8 feet along the west-facing shores of the Big Island of Hawaii. There were no reports of significant injuries or property damage.
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 Jan 7, 4:57 AM HST, 3 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 7, 4:57 AM HST, 3 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 457 AM HST SAT JAN 7 2012 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE NORTHEAST OF THE ISLANDS WILL PRODUCE GENTLE TO MODERATE TRADE WINDS THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. MOSTLY DRY WEATHER WILL PREVAIL...WITH THE TRADES DELIVERING A FEW BRIEF SHOWERS MAINLY ALONG WINDWARD SLOPES. && .DISCUSSION... SHORTWAVE INFRARED SATELLITE SHOWS STABLE LOW CLOUDS MOVING GENERALLY EAST TO WEST ACROSS THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS THIS MORNING AIDED BY GENTLE TO MODERATE TRADE WIND FLOW. THIS DENSE CLOUD BAND IS PUSHING ACROSS WINDWARD MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND...WITH A BIT MORE SPREAD OUT CLOUD COVER ELSEWHERE. THESE CLOUDS CONTAIN LIMITED LIGHT SHOWERS WHICH COULD IMPACT WINDWARD SLOPES OF THE ISLANDS AT TIMES TODAY. LEEWARD AREAS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN DRY INTO SUNDAY. THE LACK OF RAIN SHOWERS CARRIED IN ON TRADES IS BEING CAUSED BY VERY DRY AIR UPSTREAM AND STRONG SUBSIDENCE ALOFT AS AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS ACROSS THE STATE. THE WINDWARD BIG ISLAND COULD GET A LITTLE BIT MORE SHOWERS TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING DUE TO A SUBTLE INCREASE IN MOISTURE...BUT OTHERWISE IT IS LOOKING LIKE A VERY NICE WEEKEND. THE GENTLE TO MODERATE TRADE WINDS ARE DRIVEN BY A SURFACE HIGH FAR NORTHEAST OF HAWAII...AND A RIDGE EXTENDS TOWARDS THE WEST-SOUTHWEST PASSING WITHIN 150 MILES NORTH OF KAUAI. A COLD FRONT CURRENTLY ABOUT 700 MILES NORTH-NORTHWEST KAUAI WILL PASS TO THE NORTH OF HAWAII OVER THE NEXT 36 HOURS...WHICH WILL KEEP THE RIDGE AXIS NEAR THE STATE. THE TRADE WINDS WILL BOOST SLIGHTLY TO A SOLID MODERATE BREEZE BEGINNING SUNDAY NIGHT ONCE THE SYSTEM TO THE NORTH PASSES AND THE RIDGE AXIS SLIDES NORTH. MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY OF NEXT WEEK LOOK TO CONTINUE THE STABLE TREND WITH THE RIDGE ALOFT...BUT A BIT MORE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BLOW OVER THE ISLANDS FROM UPSTREAM. MODERATE TRADES WILL KEEP MOST OF THE ASSOCIATED SHOWERS TO WINDWARD AND MAUKA AREA...BUT COULD POSSIBLY GET AN OCCASIONAL SHOWER AT NIGHT OR EARLY MORNING FOR LEEWARD LOCATIONS. THE UPPER RIDGE WILL MOVE OFF THE ISLANDS TO THE EAST ON WEDNESDAY AND THE WEATHER SITUATION BECOMES A LITTLE MORE UNCERTAIN GIVEN THE BAD MODEL CONSISTENCY BETWEEN THE GFS AND ECMWF IN THE LONG RANGE. THE ECMWF BRINGS A SHORTWAVE UPPER TROUGH OVER THE ISLANDS ON THURSDAY WITH A SHEAR LINE AT THE SURFACE. MEANWHILE THE GFS KEEPS A VERY WEAK TROUGH...ALMOST ZONAL FLOW OVER THE ISLANDS AT THE SAME TIME. BY THE TIME THE GFS DOES DEVELOP THE LOW ON FRIDAY...IT HAS ALREADY PASSED THE BIG ISLAND...THOUGH IT DOES KEEP A SHEAR LINE FEATURE JUST NORTHEAST OF THE STATE. THE TRADES IN BOTH SITUATIONS WOULD BLOW MOISTURE FROM THE SHEAR LINE ACROSS THE STATE LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY...BUT THE KEY IS THE PLACEMENT OF THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR FUTURE MODELS RUNS AS THE TIME GETS CLOSER...BUT FOR NOW HAVE TRENDED WITH A SLIGHTLY WETTER CLIMATOLOGICAL RAIN DISTRIBUTION. && .AVIATION... MOSTLY VFR CONDITIONS SHOULD PREVAIL FOR ALL TERMINALS TODAY...THOUGH AN AREA OF LOW CLOUDS OVER THE WINDWARD BIG ISLAND EARLY THIS MORNING WILL PROBABLY SPREAD TO THE REST OF THE ISLANDS LATER TODAY...BRINGING BRIEF MVFR CEILINGS TO THE WINDWARD AREAS. EARLY MORNING LIHUE AND HILO SOUNDINGS CONTINUE TO DEPICT A STABLE AIR MASS WITH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE EXTENDING TO ABOUT 6K FEET AND 10 KNOTS OR LESS WINDS BELOW 10 THOUSAND FEET. NO AIRMET IS POSTED. && .MARINE... THE LARGE WEST-NORTHWEST SWELL THAT BUILT OVERNIGHT WILL PRODUCE HAZARDOUS SURF ALONG NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OF MOST OF THE SMALLER HAWAIIAN ISLANDS TODAY. A HIGH SURF ADVISORY IS POSTED FOR THOSE AFFECTED AREAS AND THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF EXTENDING THIS INTO TONIGHT IF CONDITIONS PREVAIL. THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY /SCA/ IS CANCELLED FOR ALL HAWAIIAN WATERS. THE BUILDING WEST-NORTHWEST SWELL WILL LIKELY PUSH COMBINED SEAS TO SCA LEVELS BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON...IN WHICH CASE IT ANOTHER ADVISORY WOULD THEN GO INTO EFFECT. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST THIS EVENING FOR NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OF NIIHAU KAUAI OAHU AND NORTH FACING SHORES OF MOLOKAI AND MAUI. && DISCUSSION/MARINE...FOSTER AVIATION...HUI
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
11 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.
High Surf, Kauai Windward
- When
- January 7, 5:00 AM HST to January 9, 7:00 AM HST
- Where
- Kauai Windward forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
High Surf, Kauai Leeward
- When
- January 7, 5:00 AM HST to January 9, 7:00 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, Waianae Coast
- When
- January 7, 5:00 AM HST to January 9, 7:00 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, Oahu North Shore
- When
- January 7, 5:00 AM HST to January 9, 7:00 AM HST
- Where
- Oahu North Shore forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 21.455, -157.961 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Surf, Oahu Koolau
- When
- January 7, 5:00 AM HST to January 9, 7:00 AM HST
- Where
- Oahu Koolau forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
High Surf, Molokai Windward
- When
- January 7, 5:00 AM HST to January 9, 7:00 AM HST
- Where
- Molokai Windward forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
High Surf, Molokai Leeward
- When
- January 7, 5:00 AM HST to January 9, 7:00 AM HST
- Where
- Molokai Leeward forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
High Surf, Maui Windward West
- When
- January 7, 5:00 AM HST to January 9, 7:00 AM 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
- January 7, 5:00 AM HST to January 9, 7:00 AM HST
- Where
- Windward Haleakala forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
High Surf, Kona
- When
- January 7, 5:00 AM HST to January 9, 7:00 AM HST
- Where
- Kona forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 19.602, -155.523 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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
- Cold in Nevada, January 7, 2012
- High Wind in California, January 7 to 8, 2012
- Winter Weather in Colorado, January 7 to 8, 2012
- Blizzard in Alaska, January 7, 2012
- High Wind in California, January 7 to 8, 2012
- Winter Storm in Alaska, January 7 to 8, 2012
- Winter Weather in Utah, January 7, 2012
- Winter Weather in Colorado, January 7 to 8, 2012
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, January 2012
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: 357394, 357395, 357396, 357397, 357398, 357399, 357400, 357401, 357402, 357403, 357404.