NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Kilauea, 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
5 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Kilauea, Hawaii since 1851, 3 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Douglas in 2020. Since 1950, 3 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 0 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 3
- Tropical storms
- 2
- Tornadoes
- 3
- 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 Kilauea
The strongest storm to pass near Kilauea was Iniki in 1992, a Category 3 hurricane with 127 mph winds when its centre passed 17 miles away. The record near Kilauea begins with Dot in 1959; the most recent system was Douglas in 2020, a Category 1 hurricane 28 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1980s, with 2 systems, one of them at hurricane strength. Of the 5 systems, one has come since 2000. Kilauea has more hurricanes within 75 miles than 80% of the 57 Hawaii cities on this site. The highest rating among the 3 tornadoes within 25 miles is F0 or EF0, reached 3 times; the most recent, on December 13, 2008, came within 24 miles. Of the 57 Hawaii cities, 67% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Kilauea. Hail has been reported within 10 miles once, in 2012, with stones of 0.75 inches (penny size). Kilauea has more hail reports within 10 miles than 49% of the 57 Hawaii cities.
Compare Kilauea's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Kilauea
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | DouglasJul 27 | 28 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1992 | InikiSep 12 | 17 mi | Category 3 (127 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1983 | GilAug 3 | 19 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1982 | IwaNov 24 | 28 mi | Category 1 (92 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1959 | DotAug 7 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 4 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Kilauea: 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 Kilauea
By decade
- 2000s3
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 13, 2008 | EF0 | 24 mi | 0.85 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 9, 2005 | F0 | 22 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 24, 2002 | F0 | 9 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 3 of 3, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Kilauea
The Storm Prediction Center has one hail report within 10 miles of Kilauea, from March 9, 2012: 0.75 inches (penny size).
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Kilauea
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Kilauea 1134, HI, in Kilauea at 390 feet. August and September are the warmest, with an average high of 83°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 77°F and 63°F. March is the wettest at 7.5 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 3.7 inches; the year adds up to 61.3 inches over 129 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs of 90°F are rare: fewer than one day a year on average. A night below freezing comes less than once a year on average. That 61.3 inches is more than at 23 of the 33 Hawaii stations used on this site (70%). Princeville, 5 miles west, has its own station (Princeville Rch 1117, HI): 75.0 inches a year, 13.7 more than here, and an August average high of 86°F against 83°F.
Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Nawiliwili, HI, 18 miles south, averaged 85°F in September and 78°F in February over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from May to December. Sea level at the Nawiliwili tide gauge, 18 miles from Kilauea, has risen 0.75 ± 0.07 inches per decade from 1955 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 7.5 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 35 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Water °F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 77 | 63 | 4.5 | 9 | 80 |
| Feb | 77 | 64 | 5.3 | 9 | 78 |
| Mar | 76 | 64 | 7.5 | 11 | 79 |
| Apr | 78 | 66 | 4.4 | 11 | 80 |
| May | 80 | 68 | 4.8 | 9 | 81 |
| Jun | 82 | 70 | 3.7 | 12 | 83 |
| Jul | 83 | 71 | 3.9 | 11 | 83 |
| Aug | 83 | 72 | 4.5 | 12 | 84 |
| Sep | 84 | 71 | 4.0 | 11 | 85 |
| Oct | 83 | 70 | 5.0 | 11 | 84 |
| Nov | 80 | 68 | 7.2 | 12 | 82 |
| Dec | 78 | 66 | 6.5 | 12 | 80 |
| Year | 80 | 68 | 61.3 | 129 | 81 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Kilauea 1134, HI (390 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals; water temperature: average of hourly readings 2021–2025 at the NOAA tide station Nawiliwili, 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 Kilauea
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 192 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Kilauea: 96 flash floods, 92 heavy rain events, 2 floods, 1 thunderstorm wind report and 1 lightning strike. They killed 8 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $79.8 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 58 mph, on December 9, 2010. March has had the most flash floods, 28 of 96. Of the 51 Hawaii cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 50 have had fewer than Kilauea.
March 13, 2006: flash flood 9 miles from the centre of Kilauea — 7 killed.
August 28, 2018: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Kilauea — 1 killed, $1.5 million damage.
November 16, 2019: flash flood 5 miles from the centre of Kilauea — 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 Kilauea's ZIP code 96754 have filed 30 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1991, and were paid $385,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Iniki in 1992: 12 claims (40% of all) and $7,116. 40% 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, 12 have fewer than Kilauea.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Iniki1992 | 12 | $7,116 |
Kauai County, which includes Kilauea, has been named in 19 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1974, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 6 hurricanes, 4 floods, 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Hurricane Lowell, on October 7, 2026. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Kauai County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding; Relatively Low for hurricanes and coastal flooding; Very Low for tornadoes and strong wind. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $60.9 million a year, the 4th highest of 5 Hawaii counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $47.7 million (78%), 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 Kilauea
- Princeville, HI5 mi
- Anahola, HI7 mi
- Kapaa, HI10 mi
- Kalaheo, HI15 mi
- Lihue, HI16 mi
- Koloa, HI21 mi
- Hanapepe, HI24 mi
- Eleele, HI24 mi
- Waimea, HI25 mi
- Kekaha, HI26 mi
- Waialua, HI93 mi
- Haleiwa, HI94 mi
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