A short period of warning level easterly winds were experienced on the Mauna Kea summit between 9 AM and 9 PM on the 16th.
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The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.
A short period of warning level easterly winds were experienced on the Mauna Kea summit between 9 AM and 9 PM on the 16th.
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 Jan 16, 4:15 AM HST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Honolulu HI 415 AM HST Mon Jan 16 2017 .SYNOPSIS... A trade wind weather pattern will continue to build slowly across the islands as the ridge of high pressure inches northward away from the islands through Tuesday. A mainly dry pattern is expected for most of the week with just a few light showers favoring the windward and mountain areas of the larger islands. A change in the weather is coming on Saturday where a front will usher in a period of showery and strong and gusty trades. && .DISCUSSION... A ridge of high pressure located about a hundred miles north of Kauai will maintain light trades across the western part of the island chain through tonight while locally strong trades persist over the Big island and some of the adjacent waters. This ridge will be far enough by Tuesday night so that deeper and stronger trades can move in. This process should be completed by daybreak Wednesday and continue through Friday. As for today, the trades will be light enough to favor daytime seabreezes along the lee shores and interior areas of Oahu, Kauai, and may be Molokai and Lanai. The 06z GFE run suggest some weakness, and a delay until Wednesday for the stronger trades to reach Kauai. The models paint a generally dry trade pattern during this stretch with showers favoring the windward and mountain areas as strong low level inversion lingers at around 55 hundred feet. All lee areas will be dry. We are monitoring closely the Big Island summit winds where it is blowing at around 33 mph this hour. Models have the winds trending higher through today reaching wind advisory criteria of 45 mph as early as this afternoon. A change in the weather comes on Saturday with a front reaching Kauai around mid-morning, Oahu around mid-afternoon, Maui County early Saturday evening, then lastly, the Big Island, late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Strong gusty showery trade follows in behind the front generated by a modestly strong surface high of 1032 mb that will be passing some 800 miles north of the islands Sunday. Should the models maintain this high of 1033 mb or so, we may need a Wind Advisory for the lower elevations sensitive to the strong and gusty trades such as the Kawaihae, Waimea Saddle, and Lanai. This is quite a distance out, and things will change. So stay tune. && .AVIATION... We expect predominantly VFR conditions at the terminals this morning. However, MVFR conditions may occur in scant showers across east and southeast sections of the Big Island and Maui. Sporadic reports of moderate turbulence just north of our local waters, combined with a digging subtropical jetstream over the state, prompts us to continue SIGMET tango for occasional moderate turbulence in the FL200/FL350 layer. This will persist through today. Otherwise, no other AIRMETs are expected for the next few days. && .MARINE... An ASCAT pass on Monday noted Small Craft Advisory (SCA) level winds in the Alenuihaha Channel, so an SCA was issued for that channel, and also waters south of the Big Island. An overnight pass missed the islands so we left things unchanged. We do not at this time see an expansion of the SCA until or Tuesday when the trades starts picking up. A moderate size west-northwest swell will continue into Tuesday, then reinforced by a large west-northwest swell expected to arrive late Tuesday night. This swell will peak late Wednesday then subside to advisory level surf by Thursday night. This swell will likely warrant a warning for the north and west facing shores, and due to its westerly component, the lee shores of the Big Island. Another large swell is likely over the weekend, this time from a northerly direction. An SCA is need for waters affected by the elevated seas of 10 ft or higher, if not by the winds. Alluding to the blustery trades on tap for this coming weekend, should subsequent model run maintain at least a 1033 mb value with the surface high, a Gale Warning may be needed for especially the channel waters, and SCA for the remaining waters. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM HST Tuesday for the Alenuihaha Channel, waters south of the Big Island. && Discussion/Marine...Lau Aviation...Powell
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
CHFT telescope wind sensor measured sustained winds 55 to 70 mph between 9 AM and 9 PM on the 16th. The peak wind gust was 78 mph at about 2 PM on the 16th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
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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: 677456.