Strong West-Northwest winds were measured at the summit of the Big Island.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
Strong West-Northwest winds were measured at the summit of the Big Island.
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 8, 8:55 PM HST, 2 hours 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 855 PM HST TUE MAR 8 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE BIG ISLAND TONIGHT. STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BUILD NORTH OF THE ISLAND CHAIN THROUGH THE WEEKEND...WITH BREEZY TRADE WINDS HELPING TO FOCUS SHOWERS PRIMARILY OVER WINDWARD AND MAUKA LOCATIONS. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH FROM THE NORTHWEST EARLY NEXT WEEK...WEAKENING THE TRADE WIND FLOW ACROSS THE STATE. && .DISCUSSION... CURRENTLY AT THE SURFACE...A COLD FRONT IS PUSHING SOUTHWARD INTO NORTHERN SECTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND. MEANWHILE...A 1032 MB AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE IS LOCATED AROUND 1500 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI. INFRARED SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS CLOUDY SKIES ALONG AND BEHIND THE FRONT...WITH DECREASING CLOUDINESS ACROSS KAUAI AND INCREASING CLOUDINESS ACROSS THE BIG ISLAND. MEANWHILE...RADAR IMAGERY SHOWS WIDESPREAD SHOWER ACTIVITY ALONG AND BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...PARTICULARLY ACROSS WINDWARD AND MAUKA AREAS. MAIN SHORT TERM CONCERN FOR TONIGHT REVOLVES AROUND RAIN CHANCES. TONIGHT... THE COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE BIG ISLAND...CLEARING SOUTH POINT BY DAYBREAK WEDNESDAY. MIMIC TOTAL PRECIPITABLE WATER /PW/ IMAGERY INDICATES PLENTY OF MOISTURE ALONG THE FRONT...WITH PW VALUES BETWEEN 1.2 AND 1.6 INCHES. MEANWHILE UPSTREAM OF KAUAI...A VERY DRY AIRMASS IS MOVING IN...WITH PW VALUES LESS THAN 0.5 INCHES. AS A RESULT...SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ON THE DECREASE ACROSS KAUAI AND OAHU OVERNIGHT...WHILE RATHER WET CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST ACROSS WINDWARD SECTIONS OF MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND. BREEZY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE AS THE GRADIENT REMAINS STRONG BETWEEN THE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WELL NORTHWEST OF THE STATE AND THE COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE ISLANDS. WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL SLOWLY SHIFT EASTWARD ALONG 30 DEGREES NORTH LATITUDE...WHILE THE REMNANTS OF THE FRONT REMAIN TO THE SOUTH OF THE BIG ISLAND. AS A RESULT...EXPECT MODERATE TO BREEZY TRADE WINDS TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH CLOUDS AND SHOWERS FAVORING WINDWARD AND MAUKA LOCALES. GIVEN THE BREEZY TRADES HOWEVER...SOME SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL PERIODICALLY DRIFT INTO LEEWARD AREAS OF THE SMALLER ISLANDS AS WELL. MONDAY THROUGH NEXT TUESDAY... BOTH THE 00Z GFS AND 00Z ECMWF SHOW AN AMPLIFYING UPPER LEVEL TROUGH TO THE WEST OF THE ISLAND CHAIN...PUSHING A SURFACE COLD FRONT EASTWARD TOWARDS THE STATE. THERE REMAINS SIGNIFICANT TIMING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE TWO MODELS...SO WILL KEEP THE FORECAST RATHER GENERIC...UTILIZING A BLEND OF THE TWO. AS A RESULT...WE WILL EXPECT THE TRADE WINDS TO BREAK DOWN AS THE GRADIENT WEAKENS IN ADVANCE OF THE APPROACHING FRONT...WITH SHOWERS FAVORING THE INTERIOR OF THE ISLANDS PRIMARILY DURING THE AFTERNOON/EVENING HOURS. && .AVIATION... A COLD FRONT PASSING MAUI COUNTY EARLIER WILL CONTINUE MOVING SOUTHEAST WHILE GRADUALLY WEAKENING. IT WILL WILL REACH THE BIG ISLAND OVERNIGHT AND WILL BE EAST OF THE STATE BY EARLY WEDNESDAY. FRONTAL CLOUD BAND WILL BRING NUMEROUS MVFR AS WELL AS ISOL IFR CEILINGS MAINLY ALONG THE SOUTHEAST LEADING EDGE OF THE BAND. CONDITIONS WILL SLOWLY IMPROVE BEHIND THE BAND. THEREFORE AIRMET MTN OBSCURATION FOR MOLOKAI LANAI AND MAUI WILL CONTINUE BUT WILL PROBABLY BE TAKEN DOWN EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR OAHU. AIRMET FOR LOW LEVEL TURBULENCE WILL CONTINUE FOR ALL ISLANDS DUE TO THE STRONG WINDS. && .MARINE... STRONG HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING NORTH OF THE STATE THROUGH THE WEEK...WILL KEEP MODERATE TO BREEZY TRADE WINDS IN PLACE ACROSS THE MARINE AREA THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WORK WEEK AND INTO THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL WATERS THROUGH THURSDAY DUE TO WINDS/SEAS OR A COMBINATION OF THE TWO. A GALE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR SOME OF THE WINDIER LOCATIONS BEGINNING WEDNESDAY AND CONTINUING THROUGH THURSDAY. SMALL CRAFT CONDITIONS MAY PERSIST ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE MARINE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND...AND THE CURRENT HEADLINES WILL LIKELY NEED TO BE EXTENDED IN TIME. UPSTREAM BUOY OBSERVATIONS INDICATE THAT THE RELATIVELY SHORT- PERIOD...NNW SWELL WILL BRING ADVISORY LEVEL ROUGH SURF TO NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OF MOST SMALLER ISLANDS THROUGH WEDNESDAY. AS A RESULT...A HIGH SURF ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED THROUGH 6 PM WEDNESDAY. A MODERATE SOUTH-SOUTHWEST SWELL IS EXPECTED TO BRING JUST BELOW ADVISORY LEVEL SURF FOR SOUTH FACING SHORES THROUGH TONIGHT. THIS SWELL WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH THROUGH THURSDAY. FRESH TO STRONG TRADE WINDS WILL GENERATE ROUGH AND CHOPPY SURF ALONG THE EAST FACING SHORES LATER THIS WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND...BUT THE SURF IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS. ANOTHER A NORTH-NORTHWEST SWELL IS ANTICIPATED LATER THIS WEEKEND...BRINGING POSSIBLE ANOTHER ADVISORY LEVEL SURF EVENT TO NORTH FACING SHORES. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST WEDNESDAY FOR NIIHAU-KAUAI WINDWARD-KAUAI LEEWARD-WAIANAE COAST-OAHU NORTH SHORE-OAHU KOOLAU-MOLOKAI-MAUI WINDWARD WEST-MAUI CENTRAL VALLEY-WINDWARD HALEAKALA. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST WEDNESDAY FOR BIG ISLAND SUMMITS. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST THURSDAY 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-BIG ISLAND LEEWARD WATERS. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM HST WEDNESDAY FOR MAALAEA BAY- PAILOLO CHANNEL-ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL-BIG ISLAND WINDWARD WATERS- BIG ISLAND SOUTHEAST WATERS. GALE WARNING FROM 6 AM WEDNESDAY TO 6 PM HST THURSDAY FOR MAALAEA BAY-PAILOLO CHANNEL-ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL-BIG ISLAND WINDWARD WATERS-BIG ISLAND SOUTHEAST WATERS. && DISCUSSION/MARINE...JELSEMA AVIATION...HUI
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
849 PM HST TUE MAR 08 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0808 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG WAIANAE 21.45N 158.18W
03/08/2016 HONOLULU HI EMERGENCY MNGR
LARGE MONKEY POD TREE DOWN AT 85-716 KAULOKALANI ROAD
BLOCKING FARRINGTON HIGHWAY. CREW AT SCENE ASSISTING
CLEAN UP.
0808 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG WAIANAE 21.45N 158.18W
03/08/2016 HONOLULU HI EMERGENCY MNGR
TREES DOWN ON WAIANAE VALLEY ROAD NEAR MCARTHUR STREET.
0808 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG HAWAII KAI 21.28N 157.70W
03/08/2016 HONOLULU HI EMERGENCY MNGR
ROOFS BLOWN OFF FROM BUILDINGS AT KOKO HEAD FIRING RANGE.
&&
NHUIThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sustained winds reached 55 to 65 mph for the duration of the event. Maximum gusts reached 74 mph.
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: 619080.