An extended period of very strong winds with snowfall hit Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa above 11000 feet, creating dangerous whiteout conditions in blowing and drifting snow and low wind chills.
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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.
An extended period of very strong winds with snowfall hit Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa above 11000 feet, creating dangerous whiteout conditions in blowing and drifting snow and low wind chills.
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 2, 3:25 PM HST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 325 PM HST FRI JAN 2 2015 .SYNOPSIS... A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP RAPIDLY DOWN THE ISLAND CHAIN TONIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY BRINGING BANDS OF SHOWERS...LOCALLY STRONG KONA WINDS...AND A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO NORTHWEST AND SHOWERS WILL DIMINISH AFTER THE FRONT PUSHES THROUGH. COOL AND DRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED BEHIND THE FRONT ON SUNDAY...WITH A RELATIVELY DRY TRADE WIND PATTERN RESUMING EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION... A COMPLEX AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ALONG A FRONT ABOUT 200 MILES OR SO WNW OF KAUAI IS EXPECTED TO SCOOT EASTWARD OVERNIGHT AND SLOWLY DEEPEN. THE LOW WILL PULL AN ACTIVE COLD FRONT THROUGH THE ISLAND CHAIN. THE DEEPENING LOW WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR INCREASING KONA WINDS AHEAD OF THE FRONT...AND WE ARE ALREADY SEEING WINDS INCREASE ON KAUAI. THE HIGHEST RISK FOR STRONG WINDS WILL BE IN FAVORED DOWNSLOPE AREAS TO THE NE OF THE MOUNTAINS AS WELL AS WITH ANY CONVECTION THAT DEVELOPS. STILL EXPECTING TO SEE AN ACTIVE SQUALL LINE/QLCS DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT IN LIGHT OF STRONG FORCING AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT. THANKS TO LIHUE AND HILO FOR PROVIDING US WITH 18Z SOUNDINGS TODAY...WHICH SHOWED THAT SOME MOISTURE RETURN IS WELL UNDERWAY. THE BOUNDARY LAYER IS A LITTLE LESS MOIST THAN OPTIMUM FOR THUNDERSTORMS...WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE LOW TO MID 60S...WHICH IS LIMITING THE INSTABILITY. THUS HAVE SCALED BACK THUNDERSTORM CHANCES TO SLIGHT CHANCE FOR TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH SHOWERS COULD BE INTENSE BRIEFLY ALONG THE FRONT...THE PRESENT THINKING IS THAT THE FAST MOTION OF THE FRONT SHOULD GREATLY LIMIT THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING...ALTHOUGH WE CAN/T COMPLETELY RULE IT OUT. AS THE FRONTAL BAND GETS TO THE BIG ISLAND LATE TONIGHT OR EARLY SAT...EXPECTING TO SEE BLIZZARD CONDITIONS THERE ABOVE 11000 FEET. MOST OF THE GUIDANCE CLEARS THE FRONT PAST THE BIG ISLAND SAT MORNING. WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE FROM W TO E ON SAT AS A DRIER AIRMASS BUILDS INTO THE STATE ON NW WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT. DRY AND COOL NORTHERLY FLOW WILL PREVAIL ON SUNDAY. RELATIVELY DRY TRADE WIND CONDITIONS SHOULD RESUME ON MONDAY AND PREVAIL THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS SLOWLY EASTWARD TO THE NORTH OF THE STATE. A WEAK FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST MAY ALLOW THE TRADES TO WEAKEN AND VEER SLIGHTLY BY NEXT THURSDAY OR FRIDAY...BUT NO MAJOR WEATHER CHANGES ARE EXPECTED. && .AVIATION... SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW A FRONT NORTHWEST OF KAUAI MOVING ESE AROUND 25 KT. STRONG SSW WINDS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE AREA AHEAD OF THE FRONT SO AIRMET TANGO REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR BOTH STRONG SURFACE WINDS AND TURBULENCE TO THE LEE...NNE...OF THE MOUNTAINS. WEATHER WILL REMAIN GENERALLY VFR AHEAD OF THE FRONT BUT LOCALIZED MVFR IS POSSIBLE... MAINLY FOR SOUTHWEST SLOPES...IN PREFRONTAL CONVERGENCE LINES. A BAND OF SHOWERY CLOUDS ALONG THE FRONT WILL BRING MVFR/LOCAL IFR CEILINGS AND VSBY AS IT MOVES SE OVER THE ISLANDS. THE BAND WILL PROBABLY WEAKEN AS IT MOVES FROM KAUAI TO THE BIG ISLAND. THE BAND IS EXPECTED TO BE OVER KAUAI BETWEEN 03 AND 12Z...OVER OAHU BETWEEN 07 AND 14Z...OVER MAUI BETWEEN 12Z AND 18Z AND OVER THE BIG ISLAND BETWEEN 16 AND 21Z. AIRMETS FOR MTN OBSC WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED FOR ALL ISLANDS AS THE FRONTAL BAND MOVES BY. THE FRONT IS ASSOCIATED WITH A SHARP TROUGH ALOFT WHICH WILL ALSO BE MOVING SOUTHEAST OVER THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. THIS TROUGH WILL DROP THE FREEZING LEVEL TO AROUND 11000 FT AND ICING WILL BE POSSIBLE IN LAYERED CLOUDS ALONG THE FRONT. THE TROUGH MAY ALSO PRODUCE TURBULENCE ALOFT. CLOUDS AND SHOWERS WILL DIMINISH RAPIDLY AND WINDS WILL SWING OUT OF THE NORTHWEST BEHIND THE FRONT. && .MARINE... MOST OF THE HIGH RESOLUTION GUIDANCE IS POINTING TOWARD LOCALIZED GALES NEAR THE FRONT AS IT GOES THROUGH...PARTICULARY IN AREAS THAT ARE PRONE TO ACCELERATION IN THE VARIOUS WIND DIRECTIONS. NEEDLESS TO SAY...THE COMBINATION OF STRONG...SHIFTING WINDS AND A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE AREAS PASSING NEARBY N OF THE ISLANDS WILL CONTINUE TO CREATE A COMBINATION OF HAZARDOUS MIXED SWELL AND STEEP WIND WAVES. SHORT TO MODERATE PERIOD N AND NW SWELLS WILL CONTINUE TO DOMINATE THE SURF THROUGH THE WEEKEND. A SHORT PERIOD NNW SWELL IS FORECAST TO BUILD TONIGHT AND CONTINUE SAT THROUGH SUN. RESULTING SURF ON N FACING SHORES SHOULD REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM HST SATURDAY FOR NIIHAU-KAUAI-OAHU-BIG ISLAND INTERIOR. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM HST SATURDAY FOR MOLOKAI-LANAI- KAHOOLAWE-MAUI-KONA-SOUTH BIG ISLAND-BIG ISLAND NORTH AND EAST- KOHALA. HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 6 PM HST SATURDAY FOR BIG ISLAND SUMMITS. BLIZZARD WARNING UNTIL 6 PM HST SATURDAY FOR BIG ISLAND SUMMITS. GALE WARNING UNTIL NOON HST SATURDAY FOR OAHU LEEWARD WATERS- KAIWI CHANNEL-MAUI COUNTY WINDWARD WATERS-MAUI COUNTY LEEWARD WATERS-MAALAEA BAY-PAILOLO CHANNEL-ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL-BIG ISLAND WINDWARD WATERS-BIG ISLAND LEEWARD WATERS-BIG ISLAND SOUTHEAST WATERS. GALE WARNING UNTIL 6 AM HST SATURDAY FOR KAUAI NORTHWEST WATERS- KAUAI WINDWARD WATERS-KAUAI LEEWARD WATERS-KAUAI CHANNEL-OAHU WINDWARD WATERS. && DISCUSSION/MARINE...R BALLARD AVIATION...DONALDSON
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1124 AM HST FRI JAN 02 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1029 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 13 ESE WAIKII 19.83N 155.47W
01/02/2015 M130 MPH HAWAII HI MESONET
MEASURED BY CANADA FRANCE HAWAII TELESCOPE/GEMINI
OBSERVATORY ANEMOMETER ON MAUNA KEA.
&&
RBALLARDThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong wind gusts over 75 mph with snowfall. Snow drifts over the summit road up to 2 feet deep in many spots.
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, January 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: 557962.