Name: Wildfire in Hawaii, August 15 to 16, 2003
Start: 2003-08-15T19:45
End: 2003-08-16T19:15
Location: Hawaii

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 fire burned between 1000 and 1500 acres of mainly brush vegetation in leeward Oahu. However, some endangered native plants were also believed to have been scorched by the fire, though the dollar cost of damages was unavailable. Fire officials had to evacuate campers at nearby Yokohama Bay as a precaution. Also, the blaze for a time threatened equipment at the Air Force satellite tracking station near Kaena Point. State and federal firefighters battled the fire, and they were assisted by the Honolulu Fire Department's Air One helicopter and two Army Black Hawk helicopters that carried water to the blaze. No injuries were reported. The cause of the brush fire was unknown.

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 Aug 15, 4:00 PM HST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 4:00 PM HST, 3 hours 45 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
4 PM HST FRI AUG 15 2003

SUMMARY...TROPICAL DEPRESSION ONE-C WILL PASS SOUTH OF THE
ISLANDS...BUT WILL INCREASE TRADE WINDS INTO THE 15 TO 30 MPH RANGE
SUNDAY AND MONDAY. OTHERWISE...WINDS WILL REMAIN IN THE 10 TO 25 MPH
RANGE. SHOWERS AND CLOUD COVER WILL INCREASE SUNDAY AND MONDAY...BUT
ONLY LIGHT RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED. DRIER WEATHER WILL RETURN
TUESDAY.

DISCUSSION...TRADE WINDS ARE FRESH AND BREEZY NOW...THANKS TO A
STEEP PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE ALONG 34N AND
LOWER PRESSURE TO OUR SOUTH. THE PASSAGE OF DEPRESSION ONE-C TO THE
SOUTH OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS WILL STEEPEN THE PRESSURE
GRADIENT EVEN MORE...CAUSING OUR WINDS TO INCREASE INTO THE 15 TO 30
MPH RANGE SUNDAY AND MONDAY. WINDS WILL STILL BE TRADES...BUT WIND
DIRECTION WILL BE EASTERLY AND PERHAPS SOUTHEASTERLY ON THOSE DAYS.

SKIES IMMEDIATELY UPWIND FROM THE ISLANDS HAVE ONLY SCATTERED LOW
CLOUDS. AN AREA OF BROKEN LOW CLOUDS NORTH OF 22N MAY REACH KAUAI
AND OAHU LATER TODAY. A SECOND AREA OF BROKEN LOW CLOUDS LIES JUST
EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THE BIG ISLAND AND IS POISED TO AFFECT THAT
ISLAND THIS EVENING. CLOUD TOPS WITHIN THESE AREAS ARE SUFFICIENTLY
COOL TO SUPPORT SHOWERS.

THE BULK OF RAINFALL ASSOCIATED WITH DEPRESSION ONE-C WILL BE OVER
WATER...BUT THE NORTHERN FRINGE OF THE MOISTURE FIELD MAY BRUSH THE
SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE ISLANDS SUNDAY AND MONDAY...INCREASING THE
LIKELIHOOD FOR SHOWERS AND BROKEN TO OVERCAST SKIES ON THOSE DAYS.
BY TUESDAY DEPRESSION ONE-C WILL HAVE PASSED TO THE WEST OF THE MAIN
ISLANDS...RELAXING THE PRESSURE GRADIENT AND DECREASING OUR WINDS
INTO THE 15 TO 25 MPH RANGE ONCE AGAIN. DRIER TRADE WIND WEATHER
WILL RESUME BY MIDWEEK.

.HFO...WARNINGS.....NONE
.      WATCHES......NONE
.      ADVISORIES...SMALL CRAFT ALL HAWAIIAN WATERS
                    HIGH SURF S AND SE FACING BIG ISLAND SHORES

POWELL

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Honolulu

When: August 15, 7:45 PM HST to August 16, 7:15 PM HST
Where: Honolulu County, 7 mi NNW of Makaha
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 21.455, -157.961 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, August 2003

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: 5327715.