There was an extended period of sustained southwest winds of 55 to 80 mph with higher gusts in excess of 90 mph.
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The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.
There was an extended period of sustained southwest winds of 55 to 80 mph with higher gusts in excess of 90 mph.
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 6, 8:45 PM HST, 7 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Honolulu HI 845 PM HST Mon Mar 6 2023 .SYNOPSIS... Showery weather will continue over leeward Big Island tonight as a front approaches, while diminishing showers are expected for Maui County and dry conditions over Kauai and Oahu. A second and much stronger cold front will move through the state from west to east Tuesday night and Wednesday, bringing a brief period of locally heavy showers followed by strong west-southwest winds on Wednesday. Winds will ease with drier and cooler conditions filtering into the state Thursday through the weekend. && .DISCUSSION... Currently at the surface, a weakening front is located over Maui, while a stronger cold front is located around 600 miles west- northwest of Kauai. Light to moderate west to southwest winds prevail across the island chain this evening. Infrared satellite imagery shows mostly cloudy to overcast conditions from Oahu eastward, with partly cloudy conditions over much of Kauai. Radar imagery shows mainly scattered to numerous showers moving through Maui County and the Big Island, with rain free weather over Oahu and Kauai. Main short term focus revolves around the next front and the potential for strong southwesterly winds across the island chain. The front over Maui will continue to weaken as it pushes eastward through Maui and into the Big Island by late tonight, with the front then dissipating over the Big Island Tuesday. Light to moderate west-southwest winds will continue across the islands tonight and Tuesday morning, with southwest winds picking up to moderate and locally breezy levels in advance of the next front Tuesday afternoon. This next cold front will sweep through Kauai Tuesday night, through Oahu around daybreak Wednesday, through Maui County Wednesday afternoon, before finally clearing the Big Island late Wednesday night or early Thursday. Breezy southwesterly winds Tuesday evening, are expected to become windy prior to daybreak Wednesday, with windy west-southwesterly winds continuing through Wednesday evening. A Wind Advisory will likely be needed for most of the state from late Tuesday night through Wednesday evening, with gusty downslope winds in excess of 50 mph likely over the windward areas northeast of the mountains. Due to the recent above normal rainfall and winds coming from the opposite direction from our normal trade winds, there will likely be a higher risk of tree falls. Deep cyclonic flow will hold over the islands Thursday through Saturday, with moderate westerly winds Thursday becoming light for Friday and Saturday. Light winds are expected to prevail Sunday and next Monday, as a weak ridge of high pressure slides eastward over the island chain. On the summits of the Big Island and the Haleakala summit, a High Wind Watch remains in effect starting Tuesday morning and continuing through at least Friday. A broad upper level trough will linger over the area through most of this week and will produce strong upper level winds over the summits. The strongest winds looks to be from Tuesday night through Thursday where wind gusts of over 100 mph will be possible on the Big Island summits. Models are showing the winds staying very strong through much of the weekend and decreasing early next week. As for the remaining weather details, showers should gradually diminish through the night over Maui County, while leeward sections of the Big Island remain wet. Over Kauai and Oahu, mainly dry conditions are expected through the night. For Tuesday, showery conditions will likely continue over leeward sections of the Big Island, with an increase in showers potentially sneaking back into Maui as well. Mainly dry conditions will prevail over Oahu, with perhaps a few showers developing in the southwest flow, while wet weather should spread into Kauai by late Tuesday afternoon in association with the next front. Fairly showery weather can be expected across much of the island chain Tuesday night and Wednesday, particularly over leeward areas, with diminishing showers expected behind the front. Some showery weather will likely continue over the Big Island Wednesday night, with drier conditions overspreading the entire state Thursday through next Monday, with noticeably cooler conditions expected Thursday through Saturday as dewpoints drop into the 50s, highs struggle to reach 80 degrees, with lows at night dropping into the upper 50s to lower 60s. && .AVIATION... The cold front progressing eastward through the islands will stall near the Big Island tonight and slowly dissipate. Showers and breezy southwest winds can be expected along and ahead of the front. Widespread MVFR cigs/vsbys will continue in showers as the front moves through, isolated IFR conditions are also possible. Shower activity is expected to decrease by midnight. Drier conditions will continue to spread across the state tonight on the back side of the front. AIRMET Sierra will likely continue for mountain obscuration for portions of Maui County and Big Island tonight as MVFR cigs continue. && .MARINE... A pair of fronts will affect the area during the next couple of days, with much stronger winds accompanying the second front. A weak cold front near Maui is expected to push slowly east overnight, and stall in the vicinity of the Big Island Tuesday. Expect locally fresh southwesterly winds ahead of the front, with moderate westerly winds behind this feature through tonight. Southwest winds will strengthen starting Tuesday over the northwestern waters as the next front moves rapidly down toward the region. Therefore, a Small Craft Advisory (SCA) has been issued starting Tuesday morning for the waters surrounding Kauai, as well as the Oahu Windward waters. Strong to near gale force west winds are expected behind the front, which will likely pass over Kauai late Tuesday, and then move down the rest of the island chain on Wednesday. The west winds will likely reach SCA criteria over nearly all Hawaiian waters, while local areas of gale force winds will be possible. In addition, a large northwest swell combined with locally generated wind waves will likely produce elevated, hazardous seas over most of the marine area. The winds are expected to ease by Thursday, with much lighter winds expected Friday and Saturday. However, seas will likely remain above the SCA threshold into Friday for most waters exposed to the lingering northwest swell. Generally small surf is expected along all shorelines through Tuesday afternoon. In the short term, the National Data Buoy Center buoys northwest of Kauai showed a modest increase in short- period northwest swell earlier today. Expect the small boost in surf to peak along most north and west facing shores overnight and early Tuesday. A very large northwest swell (310-320 degrees) will likely build late Tuesday night and Wednesday, peak Wednesday night, and then slowly decline Thursday and Friday. An earlier altimeter pass verified guidance, showing seas of nearly 28 ft in the source region of the swell about 1400 nm northwest of Kauai. The storm producing the swell will continue to advance toward the region at a very low latitude during the next couple of days, leading to a large swell, possibly in excess of 20 ft, across Hawaiian waters from Wednesday into early Thursday. Surf will exceed the High Surf Warning thresholds along most north and west facing shores, including the leeward Big Island, and due to large wind waves from the strong west winds, and a mix of medium and longer period swell energy, the rough conditions could lead to overwash and coastal erosion, mainly Wednesday evening through Thursday morning along exposed north and west facing shores. Waves could periodically overtop some vulnerable roads during the peak of this event, especially during high tide. The swell will gradually decline, and shift out of the north-northwest from Friday through this weekend. Minimal trade wind swell is expected this week, although there is some potential for localized wave wrap along east facing shores exposed to the large northwest swell Wednesday into Friday. Rough surf may briefly increase on south facing shores as the front moves down the island chain late Tuesday and Wednesday. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Watch from 6 AM HST Tuesday through Friday afternoon for Haleakala Summit-Big Island Summits. Wind Advisory until 6 AM HST Tuesday for Big Island Summits. Small Craft Advisory from 6 AM Tuesday to 6 AM HST Wednesday for Kauai Northwest Waters-Kauai Windward Waters-Kauai Leeward Waters-Kauai Channel-Oahu Windward Waters. && DISCUSSION...Jelsema AVIATION...Tsamous MARINE...Houston
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 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, March 2023
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: 1084751.