Kalawao County
Population 82 (2025) 12 sq mi
2 tropical storms and hurricanes have passed within 50 miles of Kalawao County since 1851, 1 of them at hurricane strength; the strongest was Douglas in 2020 (Category 1).
Hazard fingerprint Each spoke is this county’s percentile among U.S. counties where that hazard occurs. How it is computed
At a glance
The record for Kalawao County in eight numbers. Each links to its section below.
Strongest tropical cyclone
Cat. 1
Hurricane Douglas, 2020, 41.0 miles away
Tornadoes
No tornado is recorded here in the Storm Prediction Center database, which begins in 1950.
Hurricanes and tropical storms
2 passed within 50 miles since 1851; 1 at hurricane strength.
Strongest within 50 miles
July 27, 2020
Douglas, Category 1
41.0 miles at closest approach, winds near 86 mph.
Most recent
September 10, 2025
Kiko, Tropical storm
80.8 miles at closest approach.
Every storm within 100 miles
- Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.
National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.
Wildfire
No large wildfire has been mapped here since satellite mapping began in 1984.
Floods and flood insurance
No federal flood insurance claims are recorded for this county.
OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.
Drought
NOAA’s county drought index covers the lower 48 states only.
Earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis
20 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles since 1900; the largest was magnitude 5.2 in 1914.
0
Magnitude 2.5+ inside the county since 1973
67
Magnitude 3+ within 50 miles since 1973
20
Magnitude 4+ within 50 miles since 1900
1
Magnitude 5+ within 50 miles since 1900
Most recent, magnitude 3 or more
December 3, 2024
Magnitude 3.5
23 km WNW of Maunaloa, Hawaii; 26.9 miles away.
Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles
| Mar 9, 2017 | 4.7 | 38.7 |
| Aug 22, 2014 | 4.2 | 45.9 |
| Jun 6, 2014 | 4.1 | 10.7 |
| Jun 21, 2013 | 4.5 | 26.6 |
| Nov 23, 2010 | 4.7 | 45.5 |
| May 31, 2006 | 4.1 | 37.5 |
| Oct 27, 1998 | 4.0 | 40.0 |
| Oct 23, 1991 | 4.0 | 26.4 |
| Mar 5, 1981 | 4.8 | 1.7 |
| Mar 5, 1981 | 5.0 | 4.7 |
| Aug 14, 1979 | 4.5 | 42.4 |
| Sep 5, 1977 | 4.0 | 34.1 |
| May 23, 1976 | 4.3 | 37.0 |
| Mar 27, 1972 | 4.2 | 44.3 |
| Oct 25, 1970 | 4.9 | 8.5 |
| Mar 31, 1968 | 4.7 | 35.8 |
| Sep 30, 1965 | 4.2 | 26.0 |
| Apr 29, 1965 | 4.0 | 47.6 |
| Mar 25, 1963 | 4.0 | 48.7 |
| Mar 29, 1914 | 5.2 | 11.1 |
- Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the county boundary (or inside the county).
- Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Tsunamis
Highest water recorded
Apr 1, 1946
54.1 ft, North Coast Molokai, HI
From Unimak Island, AK (magnitude 8.6 earthquake).
On record
4 tsunamis
Since 1946.
| Sep 16, 2015 | Central Chile, M8.3 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Nov 15, 2006 | S. Kuril Islands, M8.3 | 1.4 | 0 |
| Sep 25, 2003 | Hokkaido Island, M8.3 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Apr 1, 1946 | Unimak Island, AK, M8.6 | 54.1 | 0 |
- Places where NOAA's Global Historical Tsunami Database records a tsunami's water arriving, with the greatest height it reached above sea level at the time. Only tsunamis NOAA rates probable or definite are counted. Heights from eyewitness accounts and tide gauges are mixed, and older events are less completely recorded.
NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Volcanoes within 100 miles
| Haleakala | 50.8 | Moderate |
- U.S. volcanoes within 100 miles, from the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. The threat category is the USGS 2018 National Volcanic Threat Assessment, which ranks volcanoes by how hazardous their past eruptions were and how many people and how much infrastructure lie near them. It is not a forecast of eruption.
USGS Volcano Hazards Program, retrieved October 30, 2026.
Severe weather and other events
0 events in the National Weather Service record, 0 of them since 1996.
0
Hail reports, 1 inch or larger
0
Hail, 2 inches or larger
0
Damaging gusts, 58 mph+
0
Winter weather events since 1996
0
Heat events since 1996
0
Cold events since 1996
- Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.
NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.
Weather records
From Molokai Kaunakakai Molokai Airport, 7.7 miles from the county’s population centre, with records from 1949.
- All-time high
- 94°FSep 16, 2019
- All-time low
- 46°FMar 4, 1987
- Warmest night
- 80°F2 times, most recently Sep 9, 2019
- Coldest day
- 65°F2 times, most recently Jan 27, 2009
- Wettest day
- 9.03 inFeb 12, 1989
- Hottest year
- 2019mean 77.4°F
- Coldest year
- 1955mean 72.5°F
- Wettest year
- 200450.34 in
- Driest year
- 20127.15 in
Station Molokai Kaunakakai Molokai Airport (USW00022534), 440 ft elevation, 7.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1949 to October 26, 2026; 97.6% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.
NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.
Federal disaster declarations
2 since 1953. The most recent: Covid-19 Pandemic, April 1, 2020.
| Apr 1, 2020 | Biological | DR-4510-HI |
| Sep 12, 1992 | Hurricane | DR-961-HI |
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).
OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.
How this compares
Where Kalawao County stands among 5 counties in Hawaii and 3,143 in the United States.
| Tornadoes since 1950 | 0 | — |
| Tornadoes rated F3/EF3 or stronger | 0 | — |
| Tropical cyclones within 50 mi | 2 | 4 / 5 |
| Hurricane-strength passes within 50 mi | 1 | 3 / 5 |
| Wildfire acres since 1984 | 0 | — |
| Flood insurance claims | 0 | — |
| Flood insurance paid | $0 | — |
| Disaster declarations | 2 | 5 / 5 |
| Flood events since 1996 | 0 | — |
| Hail and wind events since 1996 | 0 | — |
| Winter storm events since 1996 | 0 | — |
| Reported damage since 1996 | $0 | — |
| River crests at major flood stage | 0 | — |
| High tide flooding days a year, last 10 years | 0.0 | — |
| Months in severe drought since 1895 | 0 | — |
| Medium or heavy smoke days a year, last 10 years | 0.0 | — |
| Earthquakes M4+ within 50 mi since 1900 | 20 | 3 / 5 |
| Earthquakes M2.5+ in the county since 1973 | 0 | — |
Neighbouring counties
| Maui County | 5 | 2 |
Sources and vintage
Every number on this page comes from these public records.
- Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
- Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
- Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
- Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
- Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
- Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
- Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00022534.
- River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
- Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
- Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
- Tsunamis NOAA NCEI/WDS Global Historical Tsunami Database.
- Volcanoes USGS Volcano Hazards Program, U.S. volcanoes and 2018 threat assessment.
- Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.
Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.