Name: Wildfire in Hawaii, September 24 to 25, 2006
Start: 2006-09-24T23:30
End: 2006-09-25T12:00
Location: Hawaii

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 500 acres of dry brush on the south slopes of Haleakala on the island of Maui. County officials closed Piilani Highway for a time from the Hana side of Oheo Gulch to Ulupalakua Ranch. The fire had threatened 10 residences and indigenous plants. Twenty people voluntarily evacuated the area until the blaze was controlled. However, no serious property damage or injuries were reported. Fire department officials believe the fire had been intentionally set.

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 24, 8:30 PM HST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 24, 8:30 PM HST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
830 PM HST SUN SEP 24 2006

.SYNOPSIS...
TRADE WINDS WILL PERSIST OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS THANKS TO HIGH
PRESSURE NORTH OF THE STATE. TROUGHING IN THE MID AND UPPER LEVELS
WILL CAUSE THE TRADES TO BE ON THE WET SIDE. SOME SHOWERS MAY BE
LOCALLY HEAVY ESPECIALLY OVER THE BIG ISLAND SLOPES.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
THE COMBINATION OF AN UPPER LEVEL LOW JUST WEST OF THE MAIN
ISLANDS...A MID LEVEL TROUGH SOUTHEAST OF THE BIG ISLAND...AND
ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE MOVING WESTWARD IN THE TRADES...IS
SETTING THE STAGE FOR INCREASED RAINFALL CHANCES FOR PORTIONS OF THE
STATE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.

WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS THE UPPER LOW IS CENTERED ABOUT 300 MILES
WEST NORTHWEST OF KAUAI. THE UPPER LOW HAS BEEN NEARLY STATIONARY
OVER THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS. A BROAD AREA OF LOWER AND MIDDLE CLOUDS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE MID LEVEL TROUGH EXTENDS EASTWARD FROM MAUI
COUNTY. THE BULK OF THE MOISTURE IS MOVING INTO WINDWARD SECTIONS OF
MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND. THIS MOISTURE FIELD SHOULD SPREAD UP OVER
THE WESTERN ISLANDS OVERNIGHT PROVIDING SHOWERS FOR WINDWARD AND
MAUKA AREAS WITH SOME SHOWERS GETTING BLOWN OVER TO LEEWARD AREAS AT
TIMES.

MODELS INDICATE THAT THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME MORE UNSTABLE OVER
THE COMING DAYS. THIS IS ALREADY EVIDENT BY THE THUNDERSTORMS
FORMING ABOUT 200 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE BIG ISLAND. THE UPPER LOW
HANGS AROUND IN THE VICINITY OF THE ISLANDS KEEPING THE ATMOSPHERE
UNSTABLE. WE WILL LIKELY DO SOME GRID MANIPULATION TONIGHT TO BUMP
UP THE RAINFALL WORDING AS WELL INTRODUCE SOME THUNDERSTORMS FOR
PORTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND.

&&

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

&&

BURKE

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Leeward Haleakala

When: September 24, 11:30 PM HST to September 25, 12:00 PM HST
Where: Leeward Haleakala forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

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 2006 Every state in 2006 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, September 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: 5534378.