High Surf in Hawaii, August 21 to 23, 2014

Name: High Surf in Hawaii, August 21 to 23, 2014
Start: 2014-08-21T07:00
End: 2014-08-23T02:00
Location: Hawaii

August 21 to 23, 2014 · NWS HFO · 14 events in 14 counties and zones

A swell from the southern hemisphere produced surf of 6 to 8 feet along the south-facing shores of all the islands. No significant injuries or property damage were reported.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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: 14

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 8 feet along the south-facing shores of all the islands. No significant 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 Aug 21, 6:25 AM HST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 6:25 AM HST, 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
625 AM HST THU AUG 21 2014

CORRECTED WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES SECTION

.UPDATE...
UPDATED THE FORECAST TO BETTER REFLECT THE ONGOING SHOWER ACTIVITY
OVER MAUI COUNTY THIS MORNING.

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
TRADE WINDS WILL CONTINUE WITH MINOR CHANGES IN SPEED THROUGH THE
WEEKEND. A BATCH OF SHOWERS MOVING IN FROM THE EAST DAMPENED MAUI
AND HAWAII COUNTIES OVERNIGHT...AND WILL CROSS THE REST OF THE STATE
INTO FRIDAY. GENERALLY LIGHTER SHOWERS THEN WILL PREVAIL OVER LEE
SLOPES OF THE BIG ISLAND EACH AFTERNOON...AND WINDWARD SLOPES ACROSS
THE STATE ALL DAY.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
A MASS OF NIMBOSTRATUS PRESSED ASHORE ALONG EAST SLOPES OF THE BIG
ISLAND AND MAUI OVERNIGHT...DROPPING RAIN THAT BRIEFLY APPROACHED
RATES OF ONE INCH AN HOUR IN PLACES. HOWEVER...MOST GAUGES RECORDED
SIX-HOUR ACCUMULATION LESS THAN TWO INCHES. THIS FEATURE LIKELY
CONSISTED OF MOISTURE DRAWN UP FROM THE DEEP TROPICS BY THE
DISTURBANCES NEAR 140W EARLIER IN THE WEEK...BUT IT NO LONGER
SPAWNED MANY TOWERING CUMULI...AND APPEARED LESS ORGANIZED THAN IT
DID ON TUESDAY EVENING. GUIDANCE REALLY EMPHASIZED THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THIS SHOWER CLUSTER EARLY ON...BUT MORE RECENT SOLUTIONS
GENERALLY HAVE DOWNPLAYED ITS SIGNIFICANCE. IN ANY CASE...THIS
SHOWER CLUSTER WILL SPREAD ENHANCED RAINFALL FURTHER WEST ACROSS THE
STATE TODAY...TONIGHT...AND INTO FRIDAY. POPS AND ASSOCIATED GRIDS
HAVE BEEN ADJUSTED ACCORDINGLY.

OTHERWISE...GUIDANCE PREDICTED THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE TO THE NORTH TO
REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD...KEEPING THE TRADE
WINDS BLOWING OVER THE ISLANDS. RIDGING ALOFT WILL VARY IN STRENGTH
ALMOST RANDOMLY WITH TIME...AND THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE WILL REACT
ACCORDINGLY...BUT THE OSCILLATIONS SHOULD REMAIN CLOSE TO
CLIMATOLOGY.

SIMILARLY...AFTER THE PATCH OF NIMBOSTRATUS MOVES WEST OF THE
STATE...PRECIPITATION WILL FOCUS OVER SLOPES WHERE OROGRAPHIC
FORCING IS STRONGEST. CHANGES FROM DAY TO DAY WILL AFFECT MAINLY THE
AMOUNT OF ACCUMULATION...AND LIKELY WILL BE SMALLER IN AMPLITUDE
THAN THE MODELS SUGGEST. A BLEND OF MODEL OUTPUT PREDICTED THAT
PRECIPITABLE WATER WILL PEAK FROM SUNDAY INTO MONDAY...AND SHOWER
ACTIVITY PROBABLY WILL FOLLOW THIS TREND AS WELL...IN ACCUMULATION
IF NOT IN AREAL COVERAGE.

&&

.AVIATION...
AN AREA OF ENHANCED TROPICAL MOISTURE MOVING ACROSS THE EASTERN
AND CENTRAL PARTS OF THE STATE WILL PRODUCE INCREASED SHOWERS AND
CLOUDS TODAY INTO TONIGHT. AIRMET SIERRA REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE
WINDWARD SECTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI...WHERE MOUNTAIN
OBSCURATION AND PERIODS OF MVFR CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY. PHTO
TERMINAL WILL ALSO SEE PERIODS OF MVFR THROUGH THIS MORNING...WITH
BRIEF IFR POSSIBLE. FURTHER WEST...INCREASED WINDWARD SHOWERS WILL
AFFECT OAHU AND POSSIBLY KAUAI AS WELL LATER TODAY INTO TONIGHT...
AND AIRMET SIERRA MAY BECOME NECESSARY.

VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL ACROSS LEEWARD AREAS THROUGH THE
PERIOD...WITH BRIEF MVFR POSSIBLE IN PASSING SHOWERS.

&&

.MARINE...
WINDS LIKELY WILL PERSIST JUST BELOW THE THRESHOLD FOR A SMALL CRAFT
ADVISORY THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK.

A NEW S SWELL ARRIVING THIS MORNING LOOKS LIKE IT WILL PRODUCE SURF
JUST A BIT OVER THE CRITERION FOR A HIGH SURF ADVISORY OVER MOST
SOUTH-FACING SHORES INTO FRIDAY. A SERIES OF SOUTH SWELLS WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK...BUT SHOULD REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY
LEVELS. SHORT-PERIOD TRADE-WIND SWELL WILL CONTINUE ALONG
EAST-FACING SHORES. NO SIGNIFICANT NORTHWEST SWELL IS EXPECTED
THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST FRIDAY FOR SOUTH FACING SHORES OF
ALL ISLANDS.

&&

UPDATE...M BALLARD
DISCUSSION/MARINE...RYSHKO
AVIATION...JACOBSON

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

14 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.

High Surf, Niihau

When: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 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: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 AM HST
Where: Kauai Windward forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Surf, Kauai Leeward

When: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 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: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 AM HST
Where: Oahu South Shore forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Surf, Waianae Coast

When: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 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 Leeward

When: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 AM HST
Where: Molokai Leeward forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Surf, Lanai Makai

When: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 AM HST
Where: Lanai Makai forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Surf, Kahoolawe

When: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 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: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 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: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 AM HST
Where: Maui Central Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Surf, Leeward Haleakala

When: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 AM HST
Where: Leeward Haleakala forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Surf, Kona

When: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 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: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 AM HST
Where: South Big Island forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

High Surf, Kohala

When: August 21, 7:00 AM HST to August 23, 2:00 AM HST
Where: Kohala 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

Every storm in Hawaii in 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, August 2014

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: 533926, 533927, 533928, 533929, 533930, 533931, 533932, 533933, 533934, 533935, 533936, 533937, 533938, 533939.