Winds from the southwest reached high wind criteria near the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii. No serious property damage or injuries were reported.
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The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.
Winds from the southwest reached high wind criteria near the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii. No serious property damage or injuries were reported.
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 16, 10:29 AM HST, 10 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Honolulu HI 1029 AM HST Sat Dec 16 2017 .SYNOPSIS... A low pressure area northeast of the islands will begin to weaken and move westward. This low will keep the airmass unstable, and with light winds, locally heavy afternoon showers or thundershowers will be possible today. Quieter weather is expected for most areas Sunday into Monday. A strong upper level disturbance and increasing moisture over the southern end of the chain may lead to episodes of heavy showers or thundershowers for Maui county and the Big Island Monday night through about Wednesday. && .DISCUSSION... A nearly vertically stacked low is located just NE of Oahu this morning. This low has destablized our airmass, but has only limited moisture to work with. The UW-CIMSS MIMIC total precipitable water shows anywhere from an inch and a third to an inch and a half of PW over the smaller islands, with a wedge of drier air spiralling into the eastern semicircle of the low, extending across the Big Island. The surface reflection of the low is rather broad and weak, so the slack pressure gradient over the islands is keeping winds light, and many areas are starting the day with lots of sunshine. Most of the significant weather with the low for now is remaining over the NE offshore waters, with a weak zone of moisture convergence extending south across Maui county and the adjacent waters, for a few more showers there. The available high resolution guidance shows that things should get fairly active again this afternoon with convection blowing up over the smaller islands, particularly over parts of Maui county in the vicinity of the low level convergence. Updated the grids earlier to quiet PoPs and Weather down for the morning but leaving them alone for now for the afternoon for all but the Big Island, which should remain less active in the drier wedge. By tonight, the surface and upper air reflections of the low will become increasingly decoupled, with the upper level feature beginning to pull toward the NE, and the surface- and mid-level low edging slowly W. Overall the mid and upper level support will be diminishing, but the lingering low level convergence may still keep some showers around, especially in the evening, for Oahu and Maui county. Relatively light winds may allow some land areas to clear out again after midnight (especially away from the convergence band). At this point it looks like PoPs overall may be overdone for the overnight period and will likely be making some adjustments. As the mid-level low pushes toward the W, a belt of strong southerlies on the eastern periphery is expected to affect the Big Island summits this afternoon into tonight, then diminish on Sunday. A High Wind Warning has thus been issued for the summits of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea until noon Sunday. On Sunday, the surface low should have weakened to a broad, weak trough that will be located over Kauai. The pressure gradient over the islands will remain quite slack, with the background flow temporarily becoming gentle kona winds. The dry slot currently over and SE of the islands is expected to pull NW over Maui, with the lingering moisture band now over Maui county pushing NW to Kauai and Oahu, bringing a few showers. Deeper moisture lurking a few hundred SE of the Big Island is expected to reach the Big Island during the day, which could lead to an increase in afternoon showers there if it arrives soon enough. The surface trough will be just NW of the islands Sunday night and should weaken, leaving the state in a very slack pressure gradient once again. With weak mid-level ridging temporarily taking over and limited moisture, expecting most areas to clear out once again from land breezes. Some parts of the Big Island might have a tougher time clearing due to the increased moisture there. On Monday, the remnants of the surface trough will push back toward the SE over the islands, with light winds continuing. By then, the models show plenty of PW and lingering mid-level cool air for quite a bit of afternoon convection over the Big Island. Maui county will be on the edge of this moisture, and drier air is expected over Kauai and Oahu to limit afternoon clouds and showers there. A diffuse cold front approaching the islands from the NW Monday night into Tue will begin to turn our flow back to northerlies. The front may increase clouds and showers on Kauai later in the day, though timing right now is rather uncertain. More importantly, the front will be accompanied by a sharp mid level trough which is expected to activate the band of deeper moisture near Maui and the Big Island, which could lead to some heavy showers or thunderstorms developing especially for the southern half of the chain. Another, even stronger mid-level trough drops in over the islands on Wednesday, maintaining the threat for heavy showers and thunderstorms near Maui or the Big Island through midweek. Will likely need to make adjustments to PoP and weather for this time period as well after taking a closer look at the latest guidance. && .AVIATION... With an upper low north of the islands and the presence of low level moisture, a chance for heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms remains a possibility over the state, especially west of the Big Island. Thus MVFR conditions in lower ceilings and visibilities will likely occur from time to time, and also a chance of isolated IFR weather. AIRMETs are currently posted for mountain obscuration for all the main isles except the Big Island. && .MARINE... A weak surface low just northeast of Oahu will continue to drift west today. Winds will remain light across most of the coastal waters into early next week. Then a fronts is forecast to pass northwest to southeast across the state Tuesday and Wednesday. All marine advisories have been cancelled this morning. PacIOOS nearshore buoys are reporting seas just under 10 ft and should continue to lower today as the current small north-northeast swell subsides. The current small north-northwest swell will gradually decline today with a small, moderate period (4-5 ft, 14 sec) reinforcing west-northwest swell filling in late tonight and peaking Sunday night. Surf will remain below advisory levels. Another slightly larger north-northwest swell is then forecast to build Monday night and peak Tuesday night near 8 ft, 11-12 sec. Surf may near advisory levels along north facing shores. Small, moderate to long period south-southwest swells are forecast for Monday night through Thursday night, providing a small bump to surf along south facing shores. Heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms will be possible across parts of the coastal and offshore waters today and tonight due to a nearby upper level trough. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning for Big Island summits until noon Sunday. && R Ballard/Kinel/EATON
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Hawaii in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, December 2017
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: 727086.