Wildfire, Maui
- When
- July 28, 10:30 AM HST to July 29, 9:00 AM HST
- Where
- Maui County, 2 mi N of Olowalu
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 20.868, -156.617 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Hawaii, July 28 to 29, 2002
A brushfire scorched 255 acres above Olowalu in West Maui. The fire was primarily on state land, including a mountain slope that is part of the West Maui Natural Area Reserve.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.
A brushfire scorched 255 acres above Olowalu in West Maui. The cause of the fire was unknown.The fire was primarily on state land, including a mountain slope that is part of the West Maui Natural Area Reserve. The blaze did not reach part of the reserve containing endangered plant species but did some damage to power lines on a ridge above Olowalu Store. There were no reports of serious injuries.
What forecasters said that day
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 Jul 28, 10:00 AM HST, 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 28, 10:00 AM HST, 30 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 10 AM HST SUN JUL 28 2002 SUMMARY...A SWIRL OF CLOUDS EMBEDDED IN THE TRADE WINDS WILL PASS THROUGH THE AREA TODAY AND MONDAY. IT HAS LIGHTENED THE WINDS...AND IT MAY BRING SOME SHOWERS TO THE ISLANDS TONIGHT. DISCUSSION...A SWIRL OF LOW CLOUDS THAT WAS ONCE HURRICANE DOUGLAS WILL PASS OVER THE STATE TODAY AND MONDAY. THE WEAKENING LOW LEVEL CIRCULATION IS CENTERED ABOUT 220 MILES NORTHEAST OF HILO AND MOVING WEST AT AROUND 10 MPH. THE VAST MAJORITY OF SHOWERS ARE NORTH OF THE CENTER...AND THEY WILL PASS NORTH OF THE STATE. THERE ARE ALSO SOME SHOWERS EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THE CENTER. THEY WILL PROBABLY PASS NORTH OF THE BIG ISLAND BUT SHOULD MOVE OVER THE SMALLER ISLANDS TONIGHT. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WEST OF HERE MAY ENHANCE THE SHOWERS ESPECIALLY OVER KAUAI. RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE ALL THAT GREAT THOUGH. HAD THE CENTER PASSED SOUTH OF THE ISLANDS...WE WOULD HAVE SEEN DECENT RAIN. SLIGHTLY LOWER PRESSURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CIRCULATION HAS WEAKENED THE PRESSURE GRADIENT SOUTH OF THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE RESULTING IN LIGHTER TRADES. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL TIGHTEN AND THE TRADES WILL INCREASE ONCE THE SYSTEM MOVES AWAY TO THE WEST. CRAIG. .HFO...WARNINGS...WATCHES...ADVISORIES...NONE
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Wildfire
- A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Maryland, July 28 to 29, 2002
- Heat in Pennsylvania, July 28 to 30, 2002
- Heat in Maryland, July 28 to 30, 2002
- Tornado in New York, July 28, 2002
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, July 28, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, July 28, 2002
- Hail in South Dakota, July 28, 2002
- Damaging Wind in New York, July 28, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Wind in South Dakota, July 28, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Ohio, July 28, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Michigan, July 28, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, July 28, 2002
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, July 2002
Sources
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: 5304305.