Wildfire in Hawaii, January 23 to 29, 2007

Name: Wildfire in Hawaii, January 23 to 29, 2007
Start: 2007-01-23T13:17
End: 2007-01-29T18:00
Location: Hawaii

January 23 to 29, 2007 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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 wildfire in a remote area between the 6000- and 7000-foot elevations on the south- and southwest-facing slopes of Haleakala in East Maui scorched about 1700 acres of mainly brush, though some native plants were damaged and destroyed. The fire was sustained by extremely dry conditions, low humidity, and gusty south to southwest winds. Damage estimates were not available. There were no serious injuries. The cause of the blaze was under investigation, but was believed started by an illegal campfire at the upper Waiohuli trail in the Polipoli Springs State Recreational Area.

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 23, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 23, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 17 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1000 AM HST TUE JAN 23 2007

.SYNOPSIS...A WEAK COLD FRONT IS STALLING OVER OAHU. CLOUDS AND
LIGHT SHOWERS WILL LINGER THROUGH THE MORNING THEN SLOWLY DISSIPATE
DURING THE AFTERNOON. MODERATE NORTHEAST WINDS OVER KAUAI AND OAHU
AND LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS ELSEWHERE WILL GIVE WAY TO LIGHT TRADE
WINDS WITH SOME WINDWARD AND MAUKA SHOWERS TONIGHT. WINDS WILL
SLACKEN AGAIN BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND REMAIN LIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY AS
A WEAK FRONT PASSES BY THURSDAY NIGHT FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER...STRONGER
FRONT SUNDAY.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
A WEAKENING FRONT IS STALLING OVER OAHU. ALTHOUGH BROKEN LOW CLOUDS
COVER MUCH OF THE ISLAND...SHOWERS ARE LIGHT AND MAINLY CONFINED TO
WINDWARD AND CENTRAL OAHU. A RECENT AIRCRAFT SOUNDING OUT OF PHNL
SHOWS JUST HOW WEAK AND SHALLOW THE FRONT IS...WITH THE BASE OF THE
TEMPERATURE INVERSION LOCATED AROUND 6500 FT. THIS HAS OCCURRED AS
THE BROAD UPPER TROUGH DRIVING THE FRONT HAS LIFTED OUT...LEAVING A
BUILDING...MID LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE ISLANDS. WITH THIS DISTINCT LACK
OF UPPER SUPPORT...THE FRONT WILL CONTINUE WEAKENING TODAY AND WILL
DISSIPATE TONIGHT NEAR KAUAI AND OAHU...WHERE SHOWERS WILL BE
FOCUSED OVER WINDWARD AREAS. MEANWHILE...MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG
ISLAND WILL EXPERIENCE LIGHT WINDS WITH ISOLATED...SEA BREEZE
DRIVEN SHOWERS DEVELOPING OVER THE INTERIOR THIS AFTERNOON. AN
UPDATE HAS BEEN SENT TO REFLECT THIS SCENARIO.

MODERATE NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT AND LIGHT WINDS
AHEAD WILL TRANSITION TO MODERATE TRADE WINDS TONIGHT. THE RETURN OF
THE TRADES WILL BE BRIEF...AS WINDS SLACKEN AGAIN WEDNESDAY NIGHT
AND THURSDAY AS A FRONT APPROACHES THE STATE. RIDGING ALOFT WILL
PERSIST...KEEPING THE STATE UNDER A RELATIVELY DRY CONVECTIVE
PATTERN. THE FRONT SHOULD DISSIPATE AS IT PASSES JUST NORTH OF KAUAI
ON THURSDAY...MAINTAINING LIGHT WINDS AND RATHER DRY CONDITIONS INTO
SATURDAY.

IN THE LONG TERM...THE GFS SHOWS A STRONGER FRONT REACHING THE
ISLANDS ON SUNDAY...FOLLOWED BY A PERSISTENT WESTERLY FLOW OVER MUCH
OF THE STATE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. HOWEVER...THERE IS STILL
CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY IN THIS SOLUTION.

&&

.MARINE...
THE NORTHWEST SWELL CONTINUES TO BUILD AT BUOY 1. SEAS HAVE CLIMBED
AS HIGH AS 16 FT AT 16 SECONDS IN THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS...AND
THE HIGH SURF WARNING HAS BEEN REISSUED WITH LARGER SURF HEIGHTS.
SURF IS EXPECTED TO DECLINE BELOW WARNING LEVELS ON WEDNESDAY
MORNING.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH SURF WARNING FOR NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR LARGE OPEN OCEAN SWELLS FOR ALL ZONES
EXCEPT MAALAEA BAY.

&&

WROE

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Leeward Haleakala

When: January 23, 1:17 PM HST to January 29, 6:00 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

Every storm in Hawaii in 2007 Every state in 2007 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, January 2007

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: 7891.