Hawaii, 2003

Wildfire in Hawaii, September 23 to 24, 2003

September 23 to 24, 2003 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A fire scorched about 1100 acres of old sugar cane and pineapple fields near Waialua on Oahu. Several homes near the blaze had to be evacuated as a precaution, as flames came within 20 feet of three residences in Poamoho Estates and within 100 yards of homes along Hukilau Loop.

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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  • Cold
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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 scorched about 1100 acres of old sugar cane and pineapple fields near Waialua on Oahu. Several homes near the blaze had to be evacuated as a precaution, as flames came within 20 feet of three residences in Poamoho Estates and within 100 yards of homes along Hukilau Loop. The fire downed some power lines, which caused sporadic outages in a few nearby neighborhoods and at Schofield Barracks. It also forced occasional closures of roads and highways around Waialua and Thomson Corner, slowing and snarling traffic at times. County and military firefighters fought the blaze, with the help of one county and two Army Blackhawk helicopters. The fire had started during the evening of the 23rd, near the University of Hawaii's Poamoho Experiment Station off Kaukonahua Road, although its cause was not known. There were no serious injuries or property damage.

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 23, 4:00 PM HST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 23, 4:00 PM HST, 4 hours before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
4 PM HST TUE SEP 23 2003

SUMMARY...DEEP LOW PRESSURE NORTHWEST OF KAUAI WILL KEEP THE
SUBTROPICAL RIDGE OVER THE BIG ISLAND THROUGH THURSDAY...KEEPING
WINDS SOUTHWESTERLY OVER THE SMALLER ISLANDS FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
SHOWERS WILL FAVOR LEEWARD AND MAUKA AREAS THROUGH MOST OF THIS
WEEK...SWITCHING TO WINDWARD AND MAUKA AREAS AS WEAK TRADES RETURN
BY THE WEEKEND.

DISCUSSION...A COLD FRONT JUST NORTHWEST OF KAUAI HAS PUSHED THE
SUBTROPICAL RIDGE SOUTH TO THE BIG ISLAND...PUTTING THE SMALLER
ISLANDS WITHIN 10 TO 20 MPH SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW AT THE SURFACE. THE
UPPER LOW SUPPORTING THE COLD FRONT IS ABOUT 480 MILES NORTH
NORTHWEST OF KAUAI. SOUNDINGS SHOW THE ATMOSPHERE HAS DESTABILIZED
OVER THE PAST 24 HOURS AT LIHUE...WITH K-INDICES AND CONVECTIVE
ENERGY INCREASING. HOWEVER...AS OF 00Z A STRONG TRADE WIND INVERSION
STILL EXISTS AT THE 7800 FEET LEVEL AT HILO.

WATER VAPOR LOOPS SHOW THE CUTOFF UPPER LOW HAS BECOME STATIONARY
THIS AFTERNOON...LIKELY A FIRST STEP BEFORE LIFTING OUT TO THE
NORTHEAST AS PREDICTED BY GFS. THE SURFACE COLD FRONT HAS PUSHED A
BAND OF SHOWERY BROKEN TO OVERCAST LOW CLOUDS WITHIN 20 MILES OF THE
NA PALI COAST OF KAUAI. THE LEADING EDGE OF THIS CLOUD BAND WILL
LIKELY REACH KAUAI BEFORE RETREATING AND DISSIPATING...MAKING CLOUDY
SKIES AND LOCALLY HEAVY SHOWERS POSSIBLE FOR THAT ISLAND TONIGHT.
CONVERGENT SOUTHWEST FLOW AHEAD OF COLD FRONTS WITH NEARBY UPPER
LOWS IS USUALLY A BREEDING GROUND FOR HEAVY CONVECTIVE SHOWERS.
HOWEVER THE SOUTHWEST FLOW WE SEE TODAY IS RATHER DRY...WITH THE
RIDGE OVER THE BIG ISLAND MAINTAINING A STABILIZING INFLUENCE ON THE
FEW BITS OF CONVECTION EAST OF KAUAI. THEREFORE...THE FORECAST CALLS
FOR A POSSIBILITY FOR HEAVY SHOWERS ONLY FOR KAUAI...AND ONLY FOR
TONIGHT.

BY THURSDAY...THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY NEAR KAUAI WILL WEAKEN
AND LIFT NORTHWARD AS THE RETREATING UPPER LOW ROBS IT OF SUPPORT.
THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE WILL TRY TO REDEVELOP JUST NORTH OF THE
ISLANDS...BUT A SECOND DEEP TROUGH IN THE WESTERLIES WILL PUSH IT
CLOSE TO THE ISLANDS AND KEEP IT WEAK. THEREFORE TRADES ONLY IN THE
5 TO 15 MPH RANGE ARE FORECAST TO RETURN FRIDAY. SO FAR...NO CUTOFF
LOW IS FORECAST TO BE NEAR THE ISLANDS THIS COMING WEEKEND...AND THE
WEAK TRADES SHOULD BE RATHER DRY.

POWELL

.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, Honolulu

When
September 23, 8:00 PM HST to September 24, 7:00 PM HST
Where
Honolulu County, 1 mi SE of Waialua
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 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, September 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: 5327732.