Wildfire in Hawaii, November 18 to 20, 2003

Name: Wildfire in Hawaii, November 18 to 20, 2003
Start: 2003-11-18T10:50
End: 2003-11-20T17:00
Location: Hawaii

November 18 to 20, 2003 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A brush fire blackened 300 acres of native plants and trees in leeward Kohala on the Big Island of Hawaii. , accidently set dry grass on fire while using a torch to heat irrigation pipe joints.

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.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: $15,000
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 brush fire blackened 300 acres of native plants and trees in leeward Kohala on the Big Island of Hawaii. The fire began when a worker for Forest Solutions, Inc., accidently set dry grass on fire while using a torch to heat irrigation pipe joints. The fire destroyed tree seedlings and more mature vegetation in an area being reforested with native Hawaiian plants. No serious injuries were reported. Information on how many companies responded to the blaze and what equipment they used was not available.

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 Nov 18, 10:00 AM HST, 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 18, 10:00 AM HST, 50 minutes before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
10 AM HST TUE NOV 18 2003

.SYNOPSIS...A BAND OF SHOWERY LOW CLOUDS THAT HIT THE ISLANDS FROM
THE BIG ISLAND TO OAHU LAST NIGHT HAS WEAKENED BUT IS STILL
PRODUCING LOTS OF CLOUDS AND SHOWERS OVER MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIT
ISLAND. MORE SHOWERS ARE IN STORE FOR ALL THE ISLANDS AS A FRONT
MOVES SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE ISLANDS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. A VERY
STRONG HIGH WILL PRODUCE STRONG NORTHEAST TRADEWINDS BEHIND THE
SHOWER BAND.

&&

.DISCUSSION...A BAND OF SHOWERS ALONG THE WINDWARD SIDES OF THE
ISLANDS FROM THE BIG ISLAND TO OAHU HAS WEAKENED SINCE SUNRISE BUT
WINDWARD AREAS OF MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND WILL REMAIN SHOWERY
TILL THIS AFTERNOON.

A VERY STRONG 1045 MB HIGH WILL MOVE NORTH OF THE STATE NEAR
45N BY WEDNESDAY. THE HIGH WILL PUSH A FRONT SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE
ISLANDS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. THE FRONT WILL REACH KAUAI TOMORROW
MORNING AND SPREAD TO THE BIG ISLAND BY TOMORROW EVENING. WINDS
INCREASE AND SHIFT TO NORTHEAST AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH.

FARTHER OUT...THE FORECAST REMAINS RATHER UNCERTAIN. AS FORECAST BY
THE COMPUTER MODELS...A LOW HAS DEVELOPED NORTHEAST OF THE HAWAIIAN
ISLANDS. THE LOW IS FORECAST TO MOVE SOUTHWESTWARD TOWARDS THE
ISLANDS. THE MODELS HAVE BEEN VERY INCONSISTENT IN HOW THEY MOVE THE
LOW. FOR NOW I WILL STICK WITH THE IDEA THAT THE POSITION OF THE LOW
RELATIVE TO THE ISLANDS WILL PRODUCE NORTH WINDS AND RELATIVELY DRY
CONDITIONS OVER THE ISLANDS.

&&

.MARINE...AS A FRONT MOVES SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE ISLANDS TOMORROW
GALE WARNINGS ARE LIKELY IN THE ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL. THE VERY STEEP
PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN THE HIGH AND THE LOW WILL PRODUCE AN AREA
OF NORTHEASTERLY STORM FORCE WINDS NORTHEAST OF THE ISLANDS...WHICH
WILL SEND LARGE OCEAN SWELLS TOWARDS THE STATE. ADVISORY LEVEL SURF
OF 8 TO 14 FEET IS LIKELY ON NORTH FACING SHORES STARTING THURSDAY
AND CONTINUING INTO SATURDAY. THE SWELL WILL ALSO BE SIGNIFICANT ON
EAST FACING SHORES WITH HIGH SURF WARNING...REPEAT WARNING...LEVELS
OF 15 FEET LIKELY THERE. THE SWELL WILL ALSO CAUSE STRONG SURGES IN
NORTH FACING HARBORS SUCH AS THE KAHULUI AND HILO HARBORS.

&&

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

&&

DONALDSON

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, Hawaii

When: November 18, 10:50 AM HST to November 20, 5:00 PM HST
Where: Hawaii County, 7 mi N of Kamuela
Crop damage: $15,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 19.602, -155.523 (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

Every storm in Hawaii in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, November 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: 5327817.