Name: Wildfire in Hawaii, May 18 to 19, 2005
Start: 2005-05-18T12:00
End: 2005-05-19T18:30
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.

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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 burned around 300 acres of brush near Lapakahi State Historical Park in the North Kohala District on the Big Island of Hawaii. No homes were ever in danger, but some livestock had been threatened before the fire was brought under control. There were 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 May 18, 10:00 AM HST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 18, 10:00 AM HST, 2 hours before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
10 AM HST WED MAY 18 2005

.SYNOPSIS...BOTH LIGHT SHOWERS AND TRADE WINDS WILL BE DIMINISHING
 AND TURNING INTO A LIGHT AFTERNOON CONVECTIVE PATTERN FRIDAY AND
 SATURDAY.

&&

.DISCUSSION...THE SHOWER BANDS WHICH WE WERE FOLLOWING YESTERDAY
 HAVE NEARLY BECOME INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM EACH OTHER. THE SHEAR
 LINE IS STILL NORTH OF KAUAI AND HAS WEAKENED EVEN MORE SINCE
 YESTERDAY. THE OTHER BAND AFTER MOVING OVER KAUAI YESTERDAY
 EVENING AND OAHU LATE LAST NIGHT HAS DRIFTED OVER MAUI COUNTY THIS
 MORNING...IT HAS CLEARED KAUAI. ITS CLOUDS ARE STILL BEING CAPPED
 BY STRONG TEMPERATURE INVERSIONS AT 6000 FEET...HIGH ENOUGH TO
 ALLOW LIGHT SHOWERS BUT LOW ENOUGH TO KEEP MOST RAINFALL AMOUNTS
 MODEST BETWEEN A TENTH TO TWO TENTHS OF AN INCH. THE BAND SHOULD
 BE DIMINISHING TODAY PERMITTING SOME CLEARING THIS AFTERNOON.
 HOWEVER THE WEAKENING SHEAR LINE IS STILL EXPECTED TO DRIFT OVER
 NORTHERN ISLANDS LATE TONIGHT/TOMORROW MORNING.

 THE RIDGE NORTH OF THE ISLANDS IS WEAKENING AND SO SHOULD OUR
 TRADES...THEY HAVE ALREADY LIGHTENED SIGNIFICANTLY SINCE
 YESTERDAY. WIND FLOW IS EXPECTED TO BECOME LIGHT ENOUGH TO TURN
 FRIDAY AND SATURDAY INTO LIGHT CONVECTIVE DAYS. ANY AFTERNOON
 RAINFALL DURING THIS NEXT PERIOD SHOULD BE QUITE ISOLATED AND
 THOSE WILL MOST LIKELY BE ON THE BIG ISLAND...UNSTABLE UPPER LEVEL
 TROUGHING WILL BE MINOR AND CENTERED MORE TOWARD THE EAST END OF
 THE STATE. DIMINISHING WIND SPEEDS WILL ALSO HELP DIMINISH TRADE
 WIND SHOWERS.

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

&&

MATSUDA

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, Kohala

When: May 18, 12:00 PM HST to May 19, 6:30 PM HST
Where: Kohala forecast zone
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

More

Every storm in Hawaii in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, May 2005

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: 5446174.