Wildfire, Kauai Windward
- When
- January 3, 12:15 PM HST to 6:00 PM HST
- Where
- Kauai Windward forecast zone
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
Wildfire in Hawaii, January 3, 2006
A fire burned 200 acres of mainly brush near Hanamaulu, north of Lihue, on the isle of Kauai. The blaze would have threatened an elementary school and several homes if it had not been contained when it was.
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 200 acres of mainly brush near Hanamaulu, north of Lihue, on the isle of Kauai. The blaze would have threatened an elementary school and several homes if it had not been contained when it was. One small business was evacuated near the fire as a precaution. Smoke and debris forced officials to close Kapule Highway for a several hours in Hanamaulu, which snarled traffic to as far north as Wailua and as far south as Lihue. The cause of the fire was unknown. There were no serious injuries or property damage reported.
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 Jan 3, 10:00 AM HST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 3, 10:00 AM HST, 2 hours 15 minutes before
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1000 AM HST TUE JAN 3 2006 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT APPROACHING THE ISLANDS FROM THE NORTHWEST HAS WEAKENED CONSIDERABLY IN FAVOR OF A CONVERGENCE LINE NOW OVER MAUI COUNTY. THIS WILL RESULT IN WINDS TURNING NORTHWEST FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE STATE...EVEN AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. THUS...WHILE CLOUDS AND SHOWERS WILL SEE AN INCREASE LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT...ONLY LIGHT RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE NEW EXPECTED AS THE WEAKENED SURFACE FRONTAL BAND SWEEPS THROUGH THE ISLANDS. WINDS WILL TURN NORTH TONIGHT... BECOMING TRADES LATE WEDNESDAY AND CONTINUING THROUGH THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION... WINDS TURNED BRIEFLY SOUTHERLY OVERNIGHT...AT LEAST AT CLOUD LEVEL...BUT BY MORNING...A NORTHWEST SWEEP OF WINDS ALOFT HAD PUSHED THE CONVERGENCE ZONE NEAR OAHU ACROSS MOLOKAI TO MAUI WITH NORTHWEST FLOW...AT LEAST AT CLOUD LEVEL...BEHIND IT. EXPECT INCREASING NORTHWEST WINDS THROUGH THE DAY TODAY AS A WEAKENING FRONT MOVES RAPIDLY ACROSS THE STATE FROM THE NORTHWEST. SATELLITE PLACES THE SURFACE FRONT JUST PAST BUOY ONE AND NOW ABOUT 165 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI. BUT WITH MINIMAL CONVERGENCE ALONG THE FRONTAL BAND...AND THUS LITTLE CLOUD TO MARK IT...AM NOT EXPECTING MUCH IN THE SHOWER LINE FOR THE ISLANDS AS IT PASSES. BUT A MOISTER LOW-LEVEL FLOW BEHING THE FRONT WILL BRING AN INCREASE IN TRADE SHOWERS BEGINNING TONIGHT AND CONTINUING...MAINLY NIGHTS AND MORNINGS...THROUGH MUCH OF THIS WEEK. CURRENT GFS MODEL IS SHOWING A SHIFT TO NORTHERLY WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT TONIGHT FOR ALL ISLANDS. THESE WINDS WUBKK THEN BECOME MODERATE TRADES BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...AND REMAIN MODERATE TO OCCASIONALLY FRESH TRADES INTO THE COMING WEEKEND. ISLANDERS CAN EXPECT THE USUAL NIGHT AND MORNING...MAINLY WINDWARD AND MAUKA SHOWERS THROUGH THE WEEK...WITH SOME OF THESE SHOWERS OCCASIONALLY SPREADING LEEWARD OF THE COASTAL MOUNTAINS. && .MARINE... WAVEWATCH DATA SHOWS THE NEW NORTH NORTHWEST SWELL REACHING BUOY 1 BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 1 AM WEDNESDAY. NORMALLY WE/D FIGURE ABOUT A 9 HOUR TRAVEL TIME FROM THE BUOY TO KAUAI ON THIS ONE...AND EVEN IF WE SHORTEN THAT UP TO 5 HOURS DUE TO THE DIRECTION...WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE SWELL NOT ARRIVING ONTO KAUAI UNTIL 6 AM WEDNESDAY. IN ADDITION...THE INITIAL SWELL WILL BE MARGINALLY BREAKING THE HIGH SURF ADVISORY CRITERIA OF 15 FEET FOR THE NORTH FACING SHORES. CERTAINLY EXPECT THE SURF TO RISE IN THE PRE-DAWN HOURS OF WEDNESDAY NORTH OF KAUAI...BUT WILL HOLD OFF ON ISSUING THE HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL LATER TODAY...TO CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE SITUATION. THE SWELL MAY ALSO PRODUCE HARBOR SURGES IN KAHULUI AND HILO HARBORS. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY WILL BE NEEDED FOR THE LARGE SWELL. BY THURSDAY...TRADE WINDS ARE LIKELY TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO REQUIRE A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR WINDS ALSO. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && FARRELL
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
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Massachusetts, January 3, 2006
- Wildfire in Oklahoma, January 3, 2006
- Wildfire in Texas, January 3, 2006
- Heavy Snow in Connecticut, January 3, 2006
- Coastal Flood in New Jersey, January 3, 2006
- Dense Fog in Wisconsin, January 3, 2006
- Winter Storm in New York, January 3, 2006
- Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, January 3, 2006
- Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, January 3, 2006
- Heavy Snow in New York, January 3, 2006
- Heavy Snow in Connecticut, January 3, 2006
- Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, January 3, 2006
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2006Every state in 2006This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, January 2006
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: 5488204.