Strong westerly winds began the afternoon of Feb. 5th and continued through the afternoon of Feb.
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The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.
Strong westerly winds began the afternoon of Feb. 5th and continued through the afternoon of Feb. 11th. Winds were strongest early in the morning of Feb 8th and Feb 11th.
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 Feb 5, 9:39 AM HST, 4 hours 21 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Honolulu HI 939 AM HST Sun Feb 5 2017 .SYNOPSIS... Southwesterly winds will increase as a front approaches the main island chain from the northwest, becoming breezy to windy this afternoon through Monday. The front will reach Kauai tonight, then move southeastward down the chain through Tuesday, spreading heavy showers and possibly triggering a thunderstorm or two as it goes. High pressure and drier conditions will then overspread the state Tuesday night through Thursday night, with another cold front expected to push down the island chain late in the week. && .DISCUSSION... A ridge of high pressure across the main Hawaiian islands is drifting eastward as a cold front approaches from the northwest. The leading edge of the overcast layered cloud band marking this front is about 200 miles northwest of Kauai at this hour and appears to be moving southeastward at about 15 MPH. We expect this front will reach Kauai tonight. Satellite loop shows southwesterly flow along the western flank of the ridge and ahead of the front is beginning to take hold across all local waters west of Molokai. We expect this flow will increase through today and into Monday, possibly reaching Wind Advisory conditions across Kauai and Oahu by this afternoon. The area of strong winds will move with the front, so Wind Advisory conditions may spread eastward to the islands of Maui county and to the Big Island by Monday night. A Wind Advisory is in effect for Kauai and Oahu from noon today through tonight, but we will hold off on expanding the advisory area eastward until additional model guidance is received later today. Winds will decrease and shift to the west and northwest following frontal passage. The cold front will reach Kauai tonight, then steadily push eastward through the island chain Monday through Tuesday. The front is expected to move through Oahu late Monday afternoon into early Monday evening, Maui County Monday night, and the Big Island during the day on Tuesday. A band of heavy showers with gusty winds is expected to accompany the front as it moves through the islands, with thunderstorms not entirely out of the question. We expect showers will be moving fast enough to limit the potential for significant flooding, although some ponding of water and some minor flooding of poor drainage areas may be possible. Moisture will be deep enough and temperatures cold enough to allow for snowfall on the Big Island summits late Monday night through early Tuesday evening as the front moves through. A few inches of snow is certainly not out of the question, and a Winter Weather Advisory may eventually be needed. After frontal passage, drier weather will return, with the best chances for rain expected across windward sections of the Big Island where some lingering moisture from the old front will remain. Models show another cold front moving through the islands late in the work week and into the upcoming weekend. && .AVIATION... A cold front will approach the state today from the northwest and will result in southwest low-level winds both strengthening and spreading eastward today. AIRMET Tango is in effect for tempo moderate turbulence north through east of Kauai and Oahu. This AIRMET will likely spread to the eastern portion of the state as the winds boost up later today or tonight. It is possible that pockets of isolated severe turbulence may eventually develop this afternoon or tonight. Clouds and showers associated with the front will increase for Kauai and spread eastward tonight. MVFR / IFR conditions and mountain obscurations will trigger AIRMET Sierra at some point today or tonight depending upon how much pre-frontal showers fill in. && .MARINE... An active pattern across the northern Pacific is expected to persist through the week, which will lead to significant impacts across the Hawaiian waters. A cold front is approaching the northwest coastal waters and is tied into a large and complex low far to the north and northwest of the state. Strengthening southwest winds ahead of the front will lead to small craft conditions for an increasing portion of the coastal waters today/tonight. The strongest winds are expected ahead of the front, with speeds dropping off a bit following frontal passage Monday/Tuesday. These winds ahead of the front will raise a choppy short-period surf along south and west facing shores. Right now guidance shows surf remaining below advisory levels for south shores, but will approach it on Monday. Farther to the northwest, the past several ASCAT passes have shown a large swath of strong to gale-force winds aimed at the state. Wavewatch guidance shows the swell generated by this fetch area arriving at buoy 51001 today, initially building through Monday, then receiving another reinforcement to reach a peak near 15 feet/14 seconds on Tuesday. The operational Wavewatch and the European wave model are similar with this peak, though the Wavewatch ensemble mean is a few feet higher. With the given timing, surf would reach advisory levels for north and west facing shores on Monday, then reach warning levels for Tuesday and Wednesday before diminishing. Another advisory-level swell is possible from Friday through the weekend. The combination of strong winds ahead of the front and building northwest swell will lead to small craft advisory conditions for much of the coastal waters. Areas that are blocked from the building swell are susceptible to strong winds. Therefore, the advisory will eventually expand across all the coastal waters. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory from noon today to 6 PM HST Monday for Kauai-Oahu. Small Craft Advisory until 4 AM HST Monday 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-Pailolo Channel-Alenuihaha Channel. && DISCUSSION...Powell AVIATION...Foster MARINE...Bravender
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The winds reached High Wind Warning threshold at 2 PM on the 5th, and continued at Warning levels through 5 PM on the 11th. The peak measured wind gust was 99 mph at 2 AM HST on the 8th.
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, February 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: 682563.