Name: Wildfire in Hawaii, June 27 to 29, 2007
Start: 2007-06-27T10:30
End: 2007-06-29T18:30
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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Wind
Hail
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Heat and drought
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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 large fire consumed 2600 acres of brush above Olowalu in West Maui, about 4 miles south/southeast of Lahaina. Very dry conditions and winds occasionally gusting between 35 and 50 mph prevented the fire from being quickly brought under control.

The blaze destroyed two homes and damaged two others, and caused the evacuation of several other residences. The fire also wiped out a hydroponic tomato operation, at a loss of $300 thousand. Power poles and electric transmission lines were downed by the wildfire, as well.

More than 400 people, mainly tourists, had to find shelter at a Red Cross site because the fire prevented many individuals from getting to, or from, the airport in Kahului. The blaze forced road closures on the 27th and 28th of June, which in turn produced massive traffic jams, particularly on Honoapiilani Highway.

A total for all the damages was not available. No serious injuries were reported. The cause of the blaze was unknown.

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 Jun 27, 10:15 AM HST, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 27, 10:15 AM HST, 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1015 AM HST WED JUN 27 2007

.SYNOPSIS...A STRONG HIGH FAR NORTH NORTHWEST OF OUR AREA WILL BRING
MODERATE TO STRONG TRADE WINDS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. THIS
HIGH WILL WEAKEN AND MOVE WEST BY THE WEEKEND...WITH WINDS
DECREASING IN RESPONSE. WINDWARD AND MAUKA CLOUDS AND SHOWERS WILL
DECREASE THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK AND THEN SLOWLY INCREASE OVER
THE WEEKEND.

&&

.DISCUSSION...THE INVERSION HEIGHTS ARE DROPPING ACCORDING TO THE
EARLY MORNING SOUNDINGS WITH THE LIHUE SOUNDING NEAR 6000 FEET AND
OVER HILO IT WAS 7500 FEET. YESTERDAY THE INVERSION STOOD NEAR
8000 FEET FOR BOTH SIGHTS. WITH THE INVERSION SHRINKING THERE IS
LESS ROOM FOR VERTICAL CLOUD GROWTH AND THE CHANCE OF RAINFALL
DECREASES. THIS IS FLUSHED OUT IN THE OVERNIGHT RAINFALL TOTALS.
OVER THE 6 HOUR PERIOD FROM 11 PM TO 5 AM...THE ONLY SIGNIFICANT
RAINFALL FELL AT THE ISLANDS WETTEST SPOTS...MOUNT WAIALEALE
CONTINUED TO ADD ON TO ITS OVERALL TOTALS WITH 0.35 INCHES AND ON
WINDWARD MAUI THE WEST WAILUKU GAGE PULLED IN 0.21 INCHES. MOST
OTHER GAGES AROUND THE ISLANDS WERE EITHER AT ZERO OR A FEW
HUNDRETHS OF AN INCH.

FORECAST REMAINS ON TRACK WITH BRISK TRADE WINDS AND DRY WEATHER...
EVERYWHERE EXCEPT THE WETTEST SPOTS...THROUGH FRIDAY. SATURDAY THE
SURFACE HIGH NORTH NORTHWEST OF THE STATE BEGINS TO WEAKEN
GRADUALLY AND THE TRADES WILL RELAX IN RESPONSE TO THE WEAKENING
HIGH. GFS BRINGS OUR LOW LEVEL MOISTURE BACK TO NORMAL VALUES BY
SUNDAY...SO EXPECT NORMAL TRADE SHOWERS TO RETURN BY THE TAIL END
OF THE WEEKEND.

TRADE WIND WEATHER LOOKS TO REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH NEXT WEEK WITH
THE HIGH PRESSURE REMAINING IN PLACE NORTHWEST OF THE STATE.

&&

.MARINE...SMALL CRAFT REMAINS FOR THE CHANNELS AND SOUTH POINT
WATERS AND LOOKS TO REMAIN THROUGH FRIDAY.

A SIGNIFICANT SOUTH SWELL IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE LATE THURSDAY AND
BUILD THROUGH THE DAY ON FRIDAY. THE STORM THAT PRODUCED THIS
SWELL WAS IMPRESSIVE OFF THE COAST OF NEW ZEALAND... AND THE
WAVEWATCH MODEL CONTINUES TO SHOW SWELLS LARGE ENOUGH FOR ADVISORY
LEVEL SURF THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO NEXT WEEK.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST THURSDAY FOR KAUAI NORTHWEST
WATERS-KAUAI CHANNEL-KAIWI CHANNEL-MAALAEA BAY-PAILOLO CHANNEL-
ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL-BIG ISLAND LEEWARD WATERS-BIG ISLAND
SOUTHEAST WATERS.

&&

MORRISON

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, Maui Leeward West

When: June 27, 10:30 AM HST to June 29, 6:30 PM HST
Where: Maui Leeward West forecast zone
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 21.027, -156.788 (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 2007 Every state in 2007 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, June 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: 38100.