Wildfire, Honolulu
- When
- July 22, 2:30 PM HST to 8:00 PM HST
- Where
- Honolulu County, 4 mi N of Makaha
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 21.455, -157.961 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Hawaii, July 22, 2003
What was to be a controlled burn in the Makua Military Reservation became an out-of-control wildfire that scorched 2500 acres of brush in northwest Oahu. The blaze for a time threatened native plants and animals, and ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs.
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.
What was to be a controlled burn in the Makua Military Reservation became an out-of-control wildfire that scorched 2500 acres of brush in northwest Oahu. The blaze for a time threatened native plants and animals, and ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs. However, there were no serious injuries or property damage. Army and other federal firefighters battled the fire, and they used three Army helicopters to help douse the flames.
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 22, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours 30 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 10 AM HST TUE JUL 22 2003 SUMMARY...TRADE WIND WEATHER WILL CONTINUE FOR MOST OF THIS WORK WEEK. HOWEVER...TRADE WINDS WILL WEAKEN BY THE WEEKEND AS A SURFACE TROUGH BUILDS TO OUR WEST AND WEAKENS THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE. SHOWERS WILL INCREASE OVER THE WEEKEND AS THE REMNANT MOISTURE FROM DEFUNCT FELICIA PASSES BY. DISCUSSION...HAWAII WEATHER WILL CHANGE LITTLE THROUGH THURSDAY...WITH THE 1033 MB HIGH FAR NORTH OF HAWAII INDUCING A PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE ISLANDS SUFFICIENTLY STEEP TO SUPPORT 10 TO 25 MPH TRADE WINDS. OVERNIGHT SOUNDINGS SHOW A FAIRLY STRONG TRADE WIND INVERSION EXISTS AT ABOUT 6000 FEET...AND BROKEN LOW CLOUDS UPWIND FROM THE ISLANDS HAVE A RATHER FLAT PANCAKE APPEARANCE. EXPECT ONLY ISOLATED SHOWERS ACROSS WINDWARD AND OCCASIONALLY MAUKA AREAS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. THE WEATHER PICTURE BEGINS TO CHANGE FRIDAY...WHEN AN UPPER TROUGH NORTHWEST OF HAWAII PINCHES OFF INTO AN UPPER LOW NEAR 30N165W. MODELS SHOW THIS UPPER LOW WILL INDUCE THE FORMATION OF A SURFACE TROUGH BENEATH IT. THIS SURFACE TROUGH WILL BE WEST OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS...BUT THE SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT FIELD WILL BE FLATTENED A BIT AND ORIENTED SUCH THAT OUR WINDS WILL BECOME WEAKER SOUTHEASTERLIES. BIG ISLAND BLOCKING EFFECTS MAY DECREASE WINDS ACROSS THE SMALLER ISLANDS STILL MORE. RIGHT ABOUT THIS TIME...FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...THE REMNANT FIELD FROM TROPICAL DEPRESSION FELICIA MAY PASS OVER THE ISLANDS...INCREASING RELATIVE HUMIDITIES AND SHOWER COVERAGE. FELICIA WILL DIE OUT LONG BEFORE CROSSING INTO THE CENTRAL PACIFIC...BUT THE MOISTURE FIELDS FROM THESE DEFUNCT SYSTEMS ARE USUALLY RATHER WELL PRESERVED AS THEY CONTINUE WESTWARD IN THE TRADES. CONFIDENCE IS NOT PARTICULARLY HIGH THAT THE FELICIA MOISTURE FIELD WILL REACH HAWAII. IT MAY ACTUALLY TAKE A TRAJECTORY NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. THE SURFACE TROUGH IS EXPECTED TO SHIFT NORTHWESTWARD MONDAY. THIS WILL ALLOW THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE TO FILL IN TO THE SOUTH OF IT AND SPREAD WESTWARD TOWARDS THE DATELINE. THIS WILL STEEPEN OUR PRESSURE GRADIENT AND INCREASE TRADE WINDS INTO THE 10 TO 20 MPH RANGE FOR THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK. .HFO...WARNINGS...WATCHES...ADVISORIES...NONE. POWELL
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
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, July 22, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Georgia, July 22, 2003
- Wildfire in Idaho, July 22, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in Virginia, July 22, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in New York, July 22, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Wind in New York, July 22, 2003
- Flash Flood in New York, July 22, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Ohio, July 22 to 23, 2003
- Flash Flood in New York, July 22, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 22, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 22 to 23, 2003
- Damaging Wind in New Jersey, July 22, 2003
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, July 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: 5327701.