An upper trough moving north of the islands produced southwest to west winds over the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa that gusted near 70 knots. No serious injuries or property damage were reported.
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The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.
An upper trough moving north of the islands produced southwest to west winds over the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa that gusted near 70 knots. No serious injuries or property damage 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 Mar 11, 3:51 AM HST, 3 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Honolulu HI 351 AM HST Wed Mar 11 2020 .SYNOPSIS... Light large scale winds will allow local scale land and sea breezes to develop over each island through Friday. A cold front approaching Hawaii from the northwest will complicate the weather picture from Thursday onward with increasing clouds and showers as it arrives over Kauai by Thursday morning. The forward motion on the front will stall out over Oahu and Molokai on Friday. Deeper tropical moisture will move up into the islands from the south starting on Saturday creating numerous showers, heavy at times, including some thunderstorms across the region. A strong upper level trough will drop into the islands from the northwest on Sunday and Monday producing a cut off low situation that may turn into a kona low weather event for the first half of next week. && .DISCUSSION... Satellite imagery shows a weakening cold front roughly 300 miles northwest of Kauai with more stable looking stratocumulus and cumulus clouds east of the island chain. Light large scale winds today will allow land and sea breezes to set up across the Hawaiian Islands. Converging sea breezes today will produce clouds over interior sections of each island from late morning into the early evening hours with isolated to scattered showers. Our weather pattern will trend wetter from Thursday onward as a weakening cold front moves into the islands from the northwest. Thursday and Friday...Big changes are afoot as wet weather regime moves into the western Hawaiian Islands on Thursday. A weakening cold front will move over Kauai around sunrise Thursday morning. Clouds and showers along this frontal zone will spread eastward to Oahu and Molokai by Thursday night and this is where the forward motion of the frontal boundary will stall out. By Friday clouds and showers along this diminishing front will spread out to the rest of Maui County. The Big Island will see more scattered showers as deeper tropical moisture is drawn up from the south. This transition to a more unsettled weather pattern is only the beginning of a potential five day period of wet conditions across the Hawaiian Islands. Saturday and Sunday...Medium range guidance shows the front will dissipate into a surface trough and light southeasterly winds will push this trough back westward into Kauai with additional tropical moisture filling in from the south. A strong upper level trough approaches the islands from the northwest on Sunday increasing atmospheric instability and convective showers across the region. Global weather models diverge a bit on how far south the trough will dig into the region. The American (GFS) model shows a strong upper low developing just west of Kauai by Sunday night into Monday, while the European (ECMWF) model keeps much of this cold air and instability passing just north of the island chain. If the GFS model is correct we could see a kona low developing west of Kauai with significant heavy rainfall affecting the western half of the state from Sunday night through Monday. Models have struggled with the position on this upper low and small changes to the final strength and location of this system will create big impacts to the forecast for each island. At this point, our confidence in the kona low scenario is poor at this time, since if the ECMWF solution verifies then the wet weather conditions for the island will be less severe. However, periods of heavy rain, thunderstorms and localized flooding are a threat this weekend with a fair degree of confidence. Island by island impacts will need to wait a few days for the longer range model guidance to settle on one solution. Monday through Tuesday...Wet weather trends continue in a broad brush forecast sense due to the large degree of forecast uncertainty. Divergent guidance solutions are forcing us to blend both the GFS and ECMWF models to keep showers in the forecast through Tuesday. The ECMWF model solutions are showing the surface trough pushing eastward through the Big Island on Tuesday with drier air for the western islands as high pressure builds in drier and more air from the west. The GFS model however continues to show a much heavier rain and thunderstorm event continuing across much of the state. Stay tuned for changes to the weather forecast during this time period as this weather situation will certainly evolve over time. && .AVIATION... Weak flow in advance of an approaching cold front will allow land breezes to predominate at night and sea breezes during the day. Cumulus build-ups are expected to redevelop over island interiors this afternoon and persist through the early evening hours. Isolated MVFR CIG and VIS are to be expected in brief showers. Otherwise, VFR conditions will prevail all areas. No AIRMETs are currently in effect and none are expected at this time. && .MARINE... A front will approach from the northwest today, stall out in the vicinity of Kauai on Thursday, then dissipate by Friday. A trough of low pressure will develop over the central islands late Thursday through Friday, remain stationary through Saturday, then shift into the western islands or west of the state Sunday. Winds are expected to remain generally light across the state through Friday. Moderate northeasterly flow may develop this weekend across the western end of the state, while moderate to strong southeasterly winds develop over the eastern islands. Winds may approach Small Craft Advisory (SCA) thresholds over the eastern waters on Sunday, and may reach SCA levels across the central and western islands early next week. Seas may reach SCA levels at times across portions of the marine area exposed to a large north-northwest swell Thursday through Saturday. A small north-northeast swell will keep small surf in place along east facing shores through Thursday. A small northwest swell will hold in place today, then shift around to the north-northwest and build to large levels from northwest to southeast down the island chain late tonight and Thursday. The swell will peak Thursday night and Friday, then gradually lower Saturday through early next week. Surf will likely reach advisory levels along exposed north and west facing shores beginning Thursday across Kauai and Oahu, and Thursday night across Molokai and Maui. Advisory level surf will likely hold in place through Friday night, then trend below advisory thresholds Saturday or Saturday night. Small long period south and southwest swells will maintain some small surf along the south facing shores through early next week. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory in effect through 6 PM HST Friday for Big Island Summits. && DISCUSSION...Bohlin AVIATION...Bedal MARINE...Jelsema
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 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, March 2020
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: 875025.