Wildfire, Maui
- When
- September 17, 1:30 PM HST to 10:00 PM HST
- Where
- Maui County, 2 mi ESE of Kahului
- Crop damage
- $7,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 20.868, -156.617 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Hawaii, September 17, 2002
A fire burned almost 70 acres of sugar cane, kiawe, and brush along Hansen Road, not far from the Hansen Road-Hana Highway intersection. Smoke from the fire shut down Hansen Road for about four hours in the afternoon hours of the 17th.
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
- $7,000
- 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 fire burned almost 70 acres of sugar cane, kiawe, and brush along Hansen Road, not far from the Hansen Road-Hana Highway intersection. Smoke from the fire shut down Hansen Road for about four hours in the afternoon hours of the 17th. Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company estimated losses at more than $6500. There were no serious injuries reported, however.
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 Sep 17, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 17, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 10 AM HST TUE SEP 17 2002 SUMMARY...HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED NORTHEAST OF HAWAII IS BRINGING MODERATE TO FRESH TRADE WINDS TO OUR AREA. THE HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM IS MOVING NORTHEASTWARD AWAY FROM THE STATE...AND BY TOMORROW OUR TRADE WINDS WILL BE DIMINISHING AND BY THURSDAY WILL BE MOSTLY GONE. LOW PRESSURE WILL BE MOVING SOUTHEASTWARD FROM NEAR THE ALEUTIANS TO BRING US SOUTHEASTERLY AND LATER SOUTHERLY WINDS AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT THAT WILL COME CLOSE TO AND AFFECT THE NORTHWESTERN END OF THE CHAIN BY THE WEEKEND. DISCUSSION...THE FAST FLOWING RIVER OF AIR ...A RIVER WITHOUT BANKS WHICH IS THE UPPER WESTERLIES JET STREAM ACROSS THE NORTH PACIFIC ... IS BEGINNING TO BUCKLE NEAR THE DATELINE NEAR 40N. A MEANDER OR TROUGH IS DEVELOPING ON THIS EASTWARD FLOWING STREAM WITH THE TROUGHING DIGGING SOUTHEASTWARD TOWARD HAWAII. A SURFACE LOW WILL BE DEEPENING UNDERNEATH THE DIVERGENT UPPER FLOW ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF THE TROUGH NEAR 40N 170W DURING THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS AND A COLD FRONT WILL SHARPEN UP FROM THIS LOW CENTER SOUTHWESTWARD. THIS FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST AND COME CLOSE TO THE ISLANDS BY FRIDAY AND BE NEARBY THE KAUAI END OF THE CHAIN THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND. AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONTAL CLOUD BAND THE WINDS OVER THE ISLANDS WILL CHANGE FROM THE PRESENT RATHER BRISK EASTERLY TRADE WINDS AND BECOME SOUTHEASTERLY AND LATER SOUTHERLY AND PERHAPS EVEN SOUTHWESTERLIES NEAR KAUAI BY THE WEEKEND. SHOWERS AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL LIKELY BE MOSTLY OF THE CONVECTIVE TYPE AND THUS FAVOR INTERIOR SECTIONS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. HOWEVER SOME SHOWERS MAY MOVE IN FROM THE OCEAN FROM THE SOUTH ALMOST ANY TIME OF THE DAY. THE PROGS SUGGEST THAT SEVERAL WEAK LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS MAY HANG BACK WITH THE DISSIPATING FRONT IN OUR REGION FOR SEVERAL DAYS DURING THE EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK. THUS WITH SOME GOOD DYNAMICS PERSISTING...THE POSSIBILITY EXISTS FOR MORE RAINFALL WHICH AT THIS TIME WILL LIKELY FAVOR WINDWARD AND NORTHFACING SLOPES. ROSENDAL .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
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, September 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: 5324938.