Name: Wildfire in Hawaii, June 25 to 30, 2003
Start: 2003-06-25T13:30
End: 2003-06-30T16:00
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
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
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.

Six wildfires blackened about 3000 acres of mostly brush land in inaccessible parts of western and central Molokai. However, one of the blazes did briefly threaten homes in Maunaloa and forced the temporary evacuation of Molokai Ranch campsites. No other homes or structures were threatened by the fires. A helicopter, one of three helping to fight the fires, crashed about 1315 on the 26th of June. The pilot of the aircraft sustained injuries, but they were not life-threatening. Firefighters from Molokai and Maui battled the fires; along with Molokai Ranch crews that used heavy equipment to make fire breaks. The causes of the blazes were unknown, though a fire official said they were suspicious in nature.

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 Jun 25, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 25, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
10 AM HST WED JUN 25 2003

SUMMARY...TRADE WINDS WILL BE HOLDING FIRM...ITS SHOWERS DECLINING
BY SUNDAY.

DISCUSSION...AS WEAK TROUGHING DEPARTS HIGH PRESSURE SHOULD BE
GRADUALLY REBUILDING NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. IT SHOULD CULMINATE IN
A FAIRLY STRONG 1033 MILLIBAR HIGH CELL TO OUR NORTH THIS WEEK END.
TRADE WINDS SHOULD REMAIN AT THEIR CURRENT MODERATE LEVELS BECOMING
OCCASIONALLY STRONGER THIS WEEK END. MEANWHILE UPSTREAM TRADE WIND
SHOWERS HAVE DIMINISHED SINCE YESTERDAY. THIS MAY BE PARTLY DUE TO
THE PASSAGE OF A MIDLEVEL TROUGH SOUTH OF THE ISLANDS. THE TROUGH IS
PROGGED TO PASS BACK THRU ON ITS RETURN TRIP FRIDAY/SATURDAY AND
CLEAR BY SUNDAY. THIS SHOULD EXPOSE THE ISLANDS TO MORE STABLE MID
LEVEL RIDGING MOVING OVERHEAD BY THEN.  MATSUDA

.HFO...WARNINGS.....NONE
.      WATCHES......NONE
.      ADVISORIES...NONE

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, Maui

When: June 25, 1:30 PM HST to June 30, 4:00 PM HST
Where: Maui County, 5 mi NW of Maunaloa
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 20.868, -156.617 (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, June 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: 5327696.