A surface front and upper trough, with a strong jet stream, triggered heavy snow and high winds over the volcano summits on the Big Island of Hawaii. There were no reports of serious property damage or injuries.
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.
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.
A surface front and upper trough, with a strong jet stream, triggered heavy snow and high winds over the volcano summits on the Big Island of Hawaii. There were no reports of serious property damage or injuries.
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 Feb 28, 8:15 PM HST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 815 PM HST FRI FEB 28 2014 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT IS APPROACHING THE ISLANDS FROM THE NORTHWEST AND SHOULD REACH KAUAI COUNTY LATER TONIGHT. THE FRONT WILL MOVE DOWN THE ISLAND CHAIN DURING THE WEEKEND...BRINGING SOUTHERLY AND SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS ALONG WITH INCREASING CLOUD COVER AND SHOWER ACTIVITY ACROSS THE ALOHA STATE. THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL IS HIGHEST ON SUNDAY WHEN THE FRONT WILL REACH THE EASTERN ISLANDS. HIGH PRESSURE WILL RETURN TO THE AREA IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT...BRINGING NORTHEASTERLY WINDS AND DRIER WEATHER EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION... LATEST SFC ANALYSIS DATA SHOWS A STRONG DEEP LOW MOVING ACROSS THE N-CPAC AND PUSHING A COLD FRONT BOUNDARY TOWARDS THE ISLAND CHAIN. THE FRONT IS LOCATED AROUND 150 MILES NW OF KAUAI...WHICH IS KEEPING WINDS FROM THE S AND SW ACROSS THE ISLANDS. MODELS SHOW FAIR AGREEMENT IN TERMS OF THE TIMING OF THIS FRONT...WHICH SHOULD REACH THE W EDGE OF THE ISLAND CHAIN LATER TONIGHT AND BRING INCREASING CLOUD COVER AND SHOWER ACTIVITY OVER KAUAI COUNTY. LINES OF PREFRONTAL CLOUDS ARE ALSO MOVING INTO OAHU AND MAUI FROM THE S...BRINGING PERIODS OF CLOUDY SKIES AND SOME SHOWERS. AS THE FRONT EDGES CLOSER TO THE ALOHA STATE...MORE LOW CLOUDS AND SHOWERS MAY DEVELOP OVER OAHU AND MAUI COUNTY TONIGHT. AS THE AIR MASS SLOWLY BECOMES MORE UNSTABLE IN THE ISLAND VICINITY...HEAVIER SHOWERS MAY DEVELOP AS WELL. LATEST MODEL SOLUTIONS...MAINLY GFS AND ECMWF...REMAIN IN FAIR AGREEMENT DESCRIBING THE OVERALL EVOLUTION OF THE FROPA WHICH REACHES KAUAI COUNTY LATER TONIGHT THEN MOVING DOWN THE ISLAND CHAIN THROUGH SUN. THE FRONT MOVEMENT WILL SLOW SOMEWHAT OVER THE E HALF OF THE ISLAND CHAIN AS THE PARENT LOW FAR N WILL BE LIFTING NE. THIS WILL KEEP THE BEST DYNAMIC SUPPORT WELL N OF THE ISLANDS. THE LOWER MOTION OF THE FROPA WILL INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF RAIN...ESPECIALLY THE E ISLANDS...WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE AT TIMES. THE FRONT WILL THEN GRADUALLY DISSIPATE EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH HIGH PRESSURE DEVELOPING IN ITS WAKE. N/NE WINDS WILL RETURNING OVER THE AREA...WHICH WILL COMBINE WITH THE LINGERING MOISTURE FROM THE DISSIPATED FRONT TO GENERATE SHOWERS OVER MAINLY WINDWARD AND MOUNTAIN AREAS. EXPECT A MORE TYPICAL TRADE WINDS WEATHER PATTERN TO ESTABLISH BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THEN ANOTHER POTENTIAL LOW/FRONT SYSTEM MAY BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF UNSETTLED WEATHER FOR THE END OF NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION... A WEATHER FRONT APPROACHING THE STATE FROM THE NORTHWEST WILL PASS OVER KAUAI LATE TONIGHT THEN WEAKEN AS IT CONTINUES SLOWLY EASTWARD. THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO REACH OAHU SATURDAY MORNING AND THE BIG ISLAND BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. GUSTY SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL BE REPLACED BY WEAKER SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE. A FEW SUNNY BREAKS ARE STILL POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY OVER THE BIG ISLAND...BUT WIDESPREAD VFR CLOUDINESS WILL PREVAIL ALL AREAS THROUGH TOMORROW AFTERNOON. MVFR CEILINGS IN SCATTERED SHOWERS ON KAUAI LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY MORNING WILL LIKELY NECESSITATE AN AIRMET FOR MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION. && .MARINE... A VERY LARGE WNW SWELL IS NOW EXPECTED TO ARRIVE SAT MORNING ALONG N AND W FACING SHORES OF NIIHAU KAUAI AND OAHU...SPREADING INTO MOLOKAI AND MAUI BY MIDDAY SAT...AND REACHING THE LEEWARD BIG ISLAND SHORES BY SAT EVENING. SURF HEIGHTS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH WARNING LEVELS FOR THE N AND W FACING SHORES OF THE SMALLER ISLANDS...AND ADVISORY LEVELS ALONG THE LEEWARD BIG ISLAND SHORES. THIS SWELL WILL PEAK OVERNIGHT SAT INTO SUN AND IS LIKELY TO REMAIN NEAR ADVISORY LEVELS THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE LEEWARD SHORES OF THE BIG ISLAND MAY ALSO APPROACH WARNING LEVELS ON SUN. ALTHOUGH THE INCREASING WINDS WILL BRING LOCALLY BREEZY CONDITIONS OVER THE COAST WATERS...THE STRENGTH OF THE WINDS WILL STAY BELOW SMALL CRAFT LEVEL. ON THE OTHER HAND...THE LARGE WNW SWELL WILL BRING SEAS OVER 10 FEET FOR THE AREAS EXPOSED TO THE WNW SWELL. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH SURF WARNING FROM 6 AM SATURDAY TO 6 AM HST MONDAY FOR NIIHAU-KAUAI WINDWARD-KAUAI LEEWARD-WAIANAE COAST-OAHU NORTH SHORE-OAHU KOOLAU-OLOMANA-MOLOKAI-MAUI WINDWARD WEST-MAUI CENTRAL VALLEY-WINDWARD HALEAKALA. HIGH SURF ADVISORY FROM 6 PM SATURDAY TO 6 AM HST MONDAY FOR KONA-KOHALA. HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 6 AM HST SATURDAY FOR BIG ISLAND SUMMITS. && DISCUSSION/MARINE...REYNES AVIATION...RYSHKO
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Report of 8 inches of snow on road below the Mauna Kea summit.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Hawaii in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, March 2014
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: 499441, 499442, 499443.