West winds reached hurricane force strength at the summit of Mauna Kea.
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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.
West winds reached hurricane force strength at the summit of Mauna Kea.
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 Mar 28, 9:43 AM HST, 3 hours 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 943 AM HST MON MAR 28 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A WEAKENING COLD FRONT NORTHWEST OF THE ISLANDS WILL BRING SOME SHOWERS TO THE ISLANDS TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE OVER THE ISLANDS MIDWEEK...AND THEN LIFT NORTH TOWARDS THE END OF THE WEEK...BRINGING A RETURN TO TRADES FOR THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION... A WEAK SURFACE TROUGH WAS ANALYZED JUST WEST OF KAUAI AT 2AM...WITH A COLD FRONT ABOUT 400 MILES TO THE NORTHWEST OF THE GARDEN ISLE. THE TROUGH NEAR THE ISLANDS HAS A LOOSE BAND OF CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH IT BRINGING A FEW SHOWERS TO KAUAI THIS MORNING. THE LEADING EDGE OF CLOUDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT WERE ABOUT 275 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI AT 9 AM. THE CLOUD BAND WITH THE FRONT IS ABOUT 100 MILES ACROSS. THE GFS AND ECMWF ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH DEPICTING THE SURFACE TROUGH MOVING DOWN THE ISLAND CHAIN OVERNIGHT. THE FRONT WEAKENS AS IT APPROACHES KAUAI TONIGHT...AND THEN MOVES DOWN THE CHAIN...CONTINUING TO WEAKEN...AND BY THE END OF TOMORROW WHAT REMAINS OF THE FRONT WILL HAVE MERGED WITH THE TROUGH NEAR THE BIG ISLAND. BOTH MODELS AGREE THERE WILL BE SOME SHOWER ACTIVITY WITH THE FRONT...BUT NOT EXPECTING A LOT OF RAIN. THE MODELS SHOW AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH TO THE EAST OF THE ISLANDS THIS MORNING...AND A JET STREAM NORTHWEST OF THE ISLANDS. THIS UPPER LEVEL FEATURE EXPECTED TO DIG IN JUST NORTH OF THE ISLANDS OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS...AND IS FACTORING IN TO THE ELEVATED WINDS BEING EXPERIENCED ON THE BIG ISLAND SUMMITS THIS MORNING. WINDS AT 600 MB...ROUGHLY THE HEIGHT OF THE SUMMITS...REACHED ADVISORY CRITERIA DURING THE PRE-DAWN HOURS. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN STEADY THROUGH TONIGHT...BUT AS THE UPPER LEVEL FEATURE DIGS IN CLOSER TO THE ISLANDS...WINDS WILL LIKELY INCREASE. CURRENTLY HAVE THE WIND ADVISORY OUT THROUGH 6 PM TUESDAY...BUT THIS MAY HAVE TO BE UPGRADED TO A WARNING SHOULD THE INCREASE IN WINDS PAN OUT. BEHIND THE FRONT...AN AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE MOVES OVER THE ISLANDS FROM THE WEST...AS A SURFACE LOW REMAINS NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. THE HIGH THEN MOVES THE NORTHEAST...WITH A SURFACE RIDGE SHIFTING NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. THIS WILL HELP SOME TRADES TO BUILD BACK INTO THE ISLANDS THIS WEEKEND...PERSISTING INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION... NO AIRMETS IN EFFECT AT THIS TIME. VFR CONDITIONS SHOULD PREVAIL THROUGH TODAY. WITH THE FRONT MOVING OVER THE ISLANDS TONIGHT AND TOMORROW...THERE COULD BE SOME BRIEF MVFR CONDITIONS WITH CLOUDS AND SHOWERS. && .MARINE... A LARGE NORTHWEST SWELL IS EXPECT TO BUILD TUESDAY...PEAKING TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING...BRINGING WARNING LEVEL SURF TO NORTH AND WEST FACING SHOWERS. THE SWELL IS THEN EXPECTED TO SLOWLY SUBSIDE THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. A SMALL SOUTH SWELL WILL ARRIVE TUESDAY THEN LINGER THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE INCOMING NORTHWEST SWELL WILL BRING SEAS IN EXCESS OF 10 FT TO MANY LOCATIONS...WHICH WILL LEAD TO A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY /SCA/. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN JUST BELOW SCA CRITERIA THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST TUESDAY FOR BIG ISLAND SUMMITS. && M BALLARD
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sustained westerly winds remained at 55 to 75 mph with gusts to 86 mph for much of the event. There was a brief window when winds dipped below 55 mph late on the 28th until early on the 29th.
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, March 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: 619087.