A strong winter jet stream brought a period of high winds, reaching over 100 mph to the Mauna Kea summit.
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The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.
A strong winter jet stream brought a period of high winds, reaching over 100 mph to the Mauna Kea summit.
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 15, 10:11 AM HST, 2 hours 19 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Honolulu HI 1011 AM HST Thu Dec 15 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A cold front approaching from the northwest will reach Kauai early this morning and move down the island chain through Friday night, bringing rain and the possibility of a few thunderstorms. Winter weather may occur at the highest elevations Friday through Saturday as a deep low associated with the front approaches, then moves over the western portion of the state. && .DISCUSSION... Visible satellite shows a weak cold front oriented northeast to southwest over Oahu late this morning. The front is characterized narrow band of clouds and showers moving towards the southeast at 15 mph. To the east, a prefrontal convergence band is triggering some clouds with light to moderate showers around Maui and the Big Island. Behind the front to the northwest, scattered to broken stratocumulus clouds are impacting Kauai, but producing little if any rainfall. The sensible weather for the rest of the day and tonight will hinge on drier air funneling in with northwest winds resulting in lower humidity for the western half of the state. Clouds and showers will likely continue across the Big Island as the moisture interacts with the typical afternoon sea breezes. The front should reach the Big Island tonight and stall just east of the Big Island on Friday. A Wind Advisory is in effect for the Big Island summits due to strong west to northwest winds aloft as an approaching upper level low. The advisory will likely be upgraded to a High Wind Warning at some point in the next 24 hours as winds are likely to only increase through the weekend. The forecast becomes a bit more complicated on Friday as a cold upper low approaches Hawaii from the north. Currently the low is near 30N159W, or about 530 miles north of Kauai. Models are in good agreement with the intrusion of the cold pool moving onto the island chain on Friday morning for the western end of the island chain and then building eastward through the day. Models show 500 mb temperatures of -13 to -15 celsius, which are some of the coldest temperatures based on climatology. This will bring a slight chance for thunderstorms to the smaller islands Friday and Saturday. Lightning detection and infrared satellite within the upper low core has produced a few strikes and enhanced tops, but the coverage of thunderstorms at this point has been very isolated. Precipitable water values will be average to below average on Friday as the islands will likely sit in a dry slot. For the sensible weather, expect breezy westerly winds, a few showers, and slight chance for thunderstorms on Friday. The cold temperatures aloft will certainly lower temperatures and snow levels on the Big Island summits tomorrow, but it remains to be seen if any deep layered moisture will make it over the Big Island for actual snowfall to occur. Friday night or Saturday looks to be a slightly looks like a little bit better chance, but confidence is not high enough for any winter highlights at this time. If thunderstorms do eventually fire up over the Big Island Friday night or this weekend and track over the summits, this would be a setup for snow. For now, just going to keep chances for snow in the forecast. The low will track towards the southwest on Saturday and Saturday night. Temperatures aloft will warm slightly, but will have a bit more moisture to work with. Chances for thunderstorms will continue. Sunday and Monday look to be potentially the wettest days as the low tracks away to the west. The low will drag layered moisture onto the islands from the east with trade winds building back in early next week. As a reminder that the Molokai Radar is not available at this time. Technicians are expected on site today, so hoping to have a return to service before the end of the day. Sorry for the inconvenience. && .AVIATION... A cold front over western Oahu this morning will continue to move east through the period. Winds on Kauai have backed to the north/ northwest behind the front, with PHBK reporting 34020KT at 1856Z and PHLI reporting 33011KT at 1853Z. PHNL was still reporting 29003KT at 1853Z. Clouds and showers will predominately favor north and west facing slopes, introducing some periods of MVFR CIGS/VIS. At this time, cloud and shower coverage is not wide spread enough to warrant the need of AIRMET SIERRA for mountain obscuration. This will be monitored throughout the day, and issued as needed. A patch of enhanced moisture along the Kona side of the Big Island and adjacent waters could provide for brief MVFR CIGS/VIS. An upper level trough over the western islands will produce tempo moderate turbulence between FL250/FL450. AIRMET TANGO for upper level turbulence is posted. Expect upper level turb to stick around into the next few days the upper level low drops south over the state. && .MARINE... A Small Craft Advisory has been posted for the coastal waters around Kauai as well as the waters North of Oahu due to a combination of building seas along with strengthening winds behind a cold front moving across the area. The Small Craft Advisory will likely be expanded later today for other coastal waters exposed to large northwest swells. A High Surf Advisory remains posted along east facing shores but the current north northeast swell will continue to decline today and tonight. A new large northwest swell has reached buoy 51001. Surf along north and west facing shores will slowly build later today and tonight. Also a short period north northwest swell produced by a developing low just north of the area will begin to affect exposed shorelines. Surf heights will exceed advisory levels later tonight and could reach low end warning levels during the peak of the swell. The combination of these two swells along with westerly winds across most of the area will cause surf to be very rough and confused in many locations. Also tides are still running rather high due to the full moon tide cycle, so higher than normal coastal runup may also occur. Both of these swells will lower gradually over the weekend. Later this weekend and on into early next week, a series of long period northwest swells are expected. Surf heights during the peak of the swells may approach low end advisory levels. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Surf Advisory until 6 PM HST this evening for east facing shores of Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and the Big Island. Wind Advisory until 6 PM HST Friday for Big Island Summits. Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM HST Saturday for Kauai Northwest Waters-Kauai Windward Waters-Kauai Leeward Waters-Kauai Channel- Oahu Windward Waters. && DISCUSSION...Foster AVIATION...Eaton MARINE...Burke
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
CFHT anemometer on Mauna Kea measured sustained winds of 55 to 85 mph for much of the duration of this multiple day high wind event.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Hawaii in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, December 2016
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: 665806.