NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Kailua, HI
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
3 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Kailua, Hawaii since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Douglas in 2020. Since 1950, 18 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 1
- Tropical storms
- 2
- Tornadoes
- 18
- EF3 or stronger
- 0
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
no recorded deaths
What the records show for Kailua
The strongest storm to pass near Kailua was Douglas in 2020, a Category 1 hurricane with 90 mph winds when its centre passed 48 miles away. The record near Kailua begins with Gil in 1983; the most recent system was Douglas in 2020. Of the 57 Hawaii cities on this site, 40% have more hurricanes within 75 miles than Kailua. The highest rating among the 18 tornadoes within 25 miles is F2, reached 3 times; the most recent, on March 18, 1982, came within 20 miles. Of the 18, 4 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 4 have come since 2000. February and March have had the most tornadoes, 4 each. The most recent tornado was on April 23, 2015. Kailua has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 78% of the 57 Hawaii cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 6 times since 2012, with stones up to 4.25 inches. Kailua is tied for the most hail reports within 10 miles among the 57 Hawaii cities.
Compare Kailua's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Kailua
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Kailua: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Kailua
By decade
- 2010s2
- 2000s2
- 1980s8
- 1970s3
- 1960s2
- 1950s1
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 1982 | F2 | 20 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 11, 1982 | F2 | 2 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 11, 1982 | F2 | 5 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 26, 1988 | F1 | 24 mi | 0.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jun 15, 1971 | F1 | 12 mi | 0.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 28, 1971 | F1 | 20 mi | 1.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 1, 1963 | F1 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 21, 1957 | F1 | 23 mi | 2.5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 23, 2015 | EF0 | 20 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 9, 2012 | EF0 | 1 mi | 1.29 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 11, 2009 | EF0 | 21 mi | 0.36 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Jan 25, 2004 | F0 | 18 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 18, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Kailua
The Storm Prediction Center has 6 hail reports within 10 miles of Kailua since 2012, made on 2 separate days. All were 1 inch across or larger, and 3 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.25 inches, fell on March 9, 2012, the most recent report.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Kailua
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kaneohe 838.1, HI, 4 miles northwest of Kailua at 48 feet. September is the warmest, with an average high of 85°F and low of 74°F; February is the coolest, at 78°F and 67°F. March is the wettest at 6.5 inches of precipitation on average and July the driest at 2.5 inches; the year adds up to 51.0 inches over 95 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 3 days a year, almost all from August. A night below freezing comes less than once a year on average. That 51.0 inches is more than at 21 of the 33 Hawaii stations used on this site (64%). Kaneohe Bay, 3 miles north, has its own station (Kaneohe Bay Mcas, HI): 27.8 inches a year, 23.2 less than here, and a September average high of 84°F against 85°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Mokuoloe, HI, 4 miles northwest, averaged 82°F in September and 76°F in February over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from June to October. Sea level at the Mokuoloe tide gauge, 4 miles from Kailua, has risen 0.70 ± 0.10 inches per decade from 1957 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 7.0 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 32 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 78 | 66 | 4.4 | 8 | 76 |
| Feb | 78 | 67 | 5.5 | 7 | 76 |
| Mar | 79 | 67 | 6.5 | 9 | 77 |
| Apr | 80 | 69 | 3.2 | 7 | 78 |
| May | 82 | 70 | 3.3 | 7 | 79 |
| Jun | 83 | 72 | 2.7 | 7 | 81 |
| Jul | 84 | 73 | 2.5 | 8 | 81 |
| Aug | 84 | 74 | 3.2 | 8 | 82 |
| Sep | 85 | 74 | 3.5 | 9 | 82 |
| Oct | 84 | 72 | 4.6 | 8 | 81 |
| Nov | 81 | 71 | 6.0 | 10 | 79 |
| Dec | 79 | 69 | 5.6 | 9 | 77 |
| Year | 81 | 70 | 51.0 | 95 | 79 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Kaneohe 838.1, HI (48 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Mokuoloe, HI, from NOAA Tides & Currents. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Kailua
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 151 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Kailua: 74 flash floods, 61 heavy rain events, 9 floods, 4 lightning strikes and 3 thunderstorm wind reports. They killed 0 people and injured 5, and the NWS estimated $7.0 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 58 mph, on December 1, 2013. March has had the most flash floods, 15 of 74. Of the 51 Hawaii cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 48 have had fewer than Kailua.
October 26, 2024: heavy rain event 9 miles from the centre of Kailua — 2 injured.
December 1, 2013: lightning strike in Kailua — 1 injured.
NWS: “A lightning strike brought down a power line in Kailua in windward Oahu. The line came to rest on parked vehicles, where a man with a fire extinguisher tried to put out the smoldering debris.”
January 25, 2021: flash flood 7 miles from the centre of Kailua — 1 injured.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Kailua's ZIP code 96734 have filed 370 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $7.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Flooding in 1987: 150 claims (41% of all) and $1.6 million, then Hurricane Iniki in 1992 with 25 and 2026-03-KonaStorm in 2026 with 11. 51% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 38 Hawaii cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 33 have fewer than Kailua.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Flooding1987 | 150 | $1.6 million |
| Hurricane Iniki1992 | 25 | $3.7 million |
| 2026-03-KonaStorm2026 | 11 | $183,000 |
Honolulu County, which includes Kailua, has been named in 25 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 floods, 5 hurricanes, 4 fires, 4 severe storms). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Lala, on October 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Honolulu County a Relatively High rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Very High for inland flooding and lightning; Relatively Moderate for coastal flooding; Relatively Low for hurricanes and tornadoes; Very Low for hail and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $517.3 million a year, the highest of 5 Hawaii counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $329.7 million (64%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Kailua
- Kaneohe Bay, HI3 mi
- Waimanalo, HI5 mi
- Honolulu, HI8 mi
- Kaneohe, HI11 mi
- Aiea, HI12 mi
- Pearl City, HI14 mi
- Waipahu, HI17 mi
- Mililani, HI18 mi
- Hauula, HI18 mi
- Ewa Beach, HI18 mi
- Wahiawa, HI20 mi
- Laie, HI21 mi
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