Rare Tornado Warning Shocks Hawaii as Niihau Faces Unusual Weather Event
It was a startling and unexpected way to start Aloha Friday in Hawaii, as severe weather swept across parts of the islands and led to one of the rarest alerts ever issued here: a tornado warning. Around 6:40 a.m., meteorologists at the National Weather Service office in Honolulu issued a tornado warning for the island of Niihau after spotting concerning activity on radar. For a state better known for trade winds and sunshine, this kind of warning immediately stood out.
Radar showed strong circulation within a powerful storm system moving across the area, and forecasters said all the ingredients were present for a tornado to form. According to meteorologists on duty, the decision to issue the warning was made quickly after several experts reviewed the data together. While it remains uncertain whether a tornado actually touched down, it was believed that one likely formed as the system came ashore. The storm passed over parts of Niihau that are sparsely populated, which made confirmation on the ground difficult.
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Kauai County officials soon contacted the island’s owners, the Robinson family, and reported that no major damage to homes or structures had been found. That news brought some relief, especially given how unusual and unsettling the alert was. Since the year 2000, only three tornado warnings have been issued anywhere in Hawaii, making this event exceptionally rare. The last one occurred in January 2024 on Molokai, and even then, no significant damage was reported.
While the tornado warning grabbed headlines, the broader storm system also caused real impacts across Kauai and Oahu. Heavy rain led to flooded roads and slow, frustrating commutes for many drivers Friday morning. Ponding water backed up traffic in several areas, turning what is usually a routine drive into a messy crawl.
The weather also knocked out power. Hawaiian Electric reported that two sub-transmission lines serving Central Oahu were taken offline overnight. At different points, nearly 20,000 customers were left without electricity. Those outages even affected water service in parts of Waikele, where a reservoir could not refill due to the loss of power. Once electricity was restored, water service issues were resolved as well.
Forecasters say the worst is now behind us. As the storm system moves away, clearer skies and stronger trade winds are expected to return over the next few days. Still, this rare tornado warning served as a reminder that even in Hawaii, extreme weather can strike when conditions line up just right—and staying alert can make all the difference.
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