Gusty winds wreaked havoc in parts of Oahu as strong high pressure built far northeast of the the islands. Trees were downed and roofs were blown off some homes, including in Kailua and Kaimuki.
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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 winds wreaked havoc in parts of Oahu as strong high pressure built far northeast of the the islands. Trees were downed and roofs were blown off some homes, including in Kailua and Kaimuki. Other neighborhoods that suffered damages were Ewa Beach, Palolo, Wahiawa, Mililani, Kapolei, Pearl City, Manoa, and downtown Honolulu. Most of the high wind problems occurred on the 19th and 20th of the month. There were no reports of serious injuries, however.
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 Dec 19, 12:55 AM HST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1255 AM HST SUN DEC 19 2015 .UPDATE... A HIGH WIND WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR LEEWARD KOHALA ON THE BIG ISLAND AND FOR THE HALEAKALA SUMMIT ON MAUI. THE PRESSURE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PHTO AND PHKO IS NEAR 5 MB...AND THIS HAS HISTORICALLY LED TO DAMAGING WINDS IN LEEWARD KOHALA. THUS DAMAGING WINDS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING OVER THE LEEWARD KOHALA DISTRICT ON THE BIG ISLAND. AS FAR AS THE SUMMIT OF HALEAKALA...WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE LATER TODAY...WITH WIND GUSTS EXCEEDING 70 MPH. && .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE NORTH-NORTHEAST OF THE ISLANDS WILL SUPPORT TRADE WINDS OVER THE ISLANDS FOR MOST OF THE NEXT WEEK. WINDS WILL BE ESPECIALLY STRONG AND GUSTY THROUGH MONDAY...AND A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE STATE. AN UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCE COMBINED WITH MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH AN OLD FRONT WILL CAUSE THE TRADE WIND FLOW TO BE ESPECIALLY WET STATEWIDE TONIGHT. AS THE DISTURBANCE MOVES SOUTH OF THE BIG ISLAND...SHOWERS WILL BE ESPECIALLY ACTIVE OVER WINDWARD BIG ISLAND SUNDAY. ANOTHER BOUT OF ACTIVE TRADE WIND SHOWERS IS EXPECTED STATEWIDE FROM SUNDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY AS THE DISTURBANCE MOVES NORTH. WEAKER TRADE WINDS AND FEWER SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE WEEK. && .DISCUSSION... NEARLY STATIONARY STRONG HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED ABOUT 900 MILES NE OF THE ISLANDS IS SUPPLYING STRONG AND GUSTY TRADE WINDS. A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT STATEWIDE...DUE TO WIND GUSTS NEAR 50 MPH. CONCURRENTLY...ENHANCED MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH AN OLD FRONT IS ORIENTED E-W ACROSS THE ISLAND CHAIN WHILE A SHARPENING E-W ORIENTED TROUGH ALOFT IS STRADDLING THE ISLAND CHAIN. THIS COMBINATION IS LEADING TO LOCALLY HEAVY TRADE SHOWERS THAT ARE EASILY SPREADING LEEWARD ON THE SMALLER ISLANDS...WITH RADAR WIND PROFILES INDICATING 30 TO 40 MPH E WINDS EXTENDING AS HIGH AS 12 THOUSAND FEET. COLD MID-LEVEL TEMPERATURES ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROUGH HAVE ERODED THE INVERSION TO THE EXTENT THAT THUNDERSTORMS WERE OBSERVED JUST N OF KAUAI AND OAHU WITHIN THE MOISTURE BAND EARLIER TODAY. THE ONGOING FORECAST INDICATES A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER KAUAI AND OAHU AND ADJACENT WATERS THIS EVENING. HOWEVER THE MOVEMENT OF THE TROUGH AND MOISTURE POOL IS SUCH THAT THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS APPEARS TO BE SHIFTING S TOWARD THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI FOR LATER TONIGHT AND SUNDAY...WHILE SHOWERS WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH OVER THE ISLANDS FROM KAUAI TO MOLOKAI. A FORECAST UPDATE WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY TO INDICATE THIS POTENTIAL...AND TO INCLUDE INCREASED PRECIPITATION CHANCES OVER BIG ISLAND SUMMITS TONIGHT AND TOMORROW. WITH TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING ON THE BIG ISLAND SUMMITS...CHANCES OF FREEZING RAIN APPEARS TO BE GREAT ENOUGH TO WARRANT THE RE-ISSUANCE OF A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. WINDS OVER THE SUMMITS OF THE BIG ISLAND AND HALEAKALA ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE THROUGH SUNDAY...AND REMAIN STRONG THROUGH MONDAY. WINDS MAY POTENTIALLY REACH WARNING LEVELS...AS THE TROUGH ALOFT BECOMES A CLOSED LOW S OF THE BIG ISLAND...AND A STRONG HIGH ALOFT REMAINS DUE N OF THE ISLANDS. WINDS OVER THE BIG ISLAND SUMMITS HAVE ALREADY INCREASED TO THE POINT THAT THE WIND ADVISORY WILL BE EXPANDED SHORTLY TO INCLUDE THIS ZONE. THE MOISTURE BAND IS FORECAST TO SHIFT S TO NEAR THE BIG ISLAND ON SUNDAY AS THE CUT OFF LOW DEVELOPS JUST TO THE S. THIS IS EXPECTED TO FUEL LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS ON THE BIG ISLAND THROUGH SUNDAY... WHILE THE SMALLER ISLANDS SEE A REDUCTION IS SHOWERS AS A SLIGHTLY COOLER AND DRIER AIR MASS PREVAILS IN THE WAKE OF THE REMNANT FRONTAL BAND. THIS MODEST DRYING IS FORECAST TO BE SHORT-LIVED... WITH THE ENHANCED MOISTURE BAND FORECAST TO SPREAD BACK UP TOWARD THE SMALLER ISLANDS EARLY MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AS THE DISTURBANCE ALOFT ALSO SHIFTS SLIGHTLY N. THE TROUGH ALOFT WILL WEAKEN AND LIFT NE AS THE WEEK PROGRESSES... WITH THE SURFACE HIGH TO THE NE DOING THE SAME. THIS IS EXPECTED TO LEAD TO A WEAKER TRADE WIND REGIME FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE UPCOMING WEEK...WITH FEWER SHOWERS. FOR CHRISTMAS DAY...A FAIRLY TYPICAL TRADE WIND WEATHER PATTERN IS EXPECTED. ALTHOUGH TOO EARLY FOR MUCH CONFIDENCE...LATEST GFS FORECAST DEPICTS A SHARP TROUGH ALOFT DRIVING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SURFACE TROUGH NEAR THE ISLANDS FOR NEXT WEEKEND. && .AVIATION... THE GUSTY LOW-LEVEL TRADE WINDS FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY. AS A RESULT...AIRMET TANGO REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR STRONG SUSTAINED WINDS OVER MOUNTAIN RIDGES...THROUGH VALLEYS AND ACROSS THE ADJACENT WATERS OF ALL ISLANDS. ALSO...EXPECT MODERATE LOW-LEVEL TURBULENCE BELOW 10 KFT SOUTHWEST OF THE HIGHER TERRAIN ON ALL ISLANDS. A BAND OF LOW CLOUDS AND SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH A FORMER FRONT IS BEING TRANSPORTED OVER THE ISLANDS BY THE TRADES. THIS BAND IS PRODUCING MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES MAINLY OVER HIGHER TERRAIN ON THE WINDWARD SIDES OF MOST ISLANDS. THEREFORE... AIRMET SIERRA FOR TEMPO MTN OBSC REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR KAUAI... OAHU...MOLOKAI...AND MAUI. THIS AIRMET MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED TO THE WINDWARD SIDES OF THE BIG ISLAND LATER TONIGHT. && .MARINE... A STATEWIDE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY /SCA/...WITH GALE WARNINGS IN THE WINDIER AREAS...REMAINS IN EFFECT DUE TO THE ONGOING STRONG TRADE WIND EVENT. THE STRONG SURFACE HIGH RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY NNE OF THE ISLANDS WITH LITTLE CHANGE IN STRENGTH OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. THEREFORE THE EXPECTATION IS THAT COMBINED SEAS WILL REMAIN HIGH...RUNNING ABOUT 11 TO 13 FEET IN EXPOSED WINDWARD AREAS...AND EVEN HIGHER IN THE CHANNELS... THROUGH MONDAY. GRADUAL WEAKENING OF THE HIGH IS EXPECTED TUESDAY... AND THEN AS THE HIGH WEAKENS FURTHER AND LIFTS N AROUND THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK...WINDS AND SEAS WILL DROP BELOW SCA LEVELS IN MOST AREAS EXCEPT FOR THE WINDIER AREAS AROUND MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND. THE ROUGH SEAS DRIVEN TOWARD THE ISLANDS BY THE PERSISTENT HIGH WILL MAINTAIN HIGH SURF ALONG E FACING SHORES OF THE ISLANDS...LIKELY THROUGH TUESDAY...AND A HIGH SURF ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT. OTHER SURF SOURCES INCLUDE SMALL NW SWELLS AROUND TUESDAY AND THURSDAY... WITH PEAK SURF HEIGHTS EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS ALONG N AND W FACING SHORES. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 6 PM HST THIS EVENING FOR HALEAKALA SUMMIT-KOHALA. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST THIS EVENING FOR ALL OTHER AREAS. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL NOON HST TODAY FOR BIG ISLAND SUMMITS. HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST MONDAY FOR EAST FACING SHORES OF NIIHAU KAUAI OAHU MOLOKAI MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND. GALE WARNING UNTIL 6 PM HST MONDAY FOR ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL. GALE WARNING UNTIL 6 PM HST TODAY FOR PAILOLO CHANNEL-BIG ISLAND LEEWARD WATERS-BIG ISLAND SOUTHEAST WATERS. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST MONDAY FOR KAUAI NORTHWEST WATERS-KAUAI WINDWARD WATERS-KAUAI LEEWARD WATERS-KAUAI CHANNEL- OAHU WINDWARD WATERS-OAHU LEEWARD WATERS-KAIWI CHANNEL-MAUI COUNTY WINDWARD WATERS-MAUI COUNTY LEEWARD WATERS-MAALAEA BAY- BIG ISLAND WINDWARD WATERS. && SYNOPSIS/DISCUSSION/MARINE...BIRCHARD AVIATION...HOUSTON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Roof blown off home in Kailua.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Hawaii in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, December 2015
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: 607927.