Name: Wildfire in Hawaii, September 16 to 17, 2010
Start: 2010-09-16T13:30
End: 2010-09-17T22:00
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.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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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 scorched 500 acres of dry California grass near Poamoho Camp, just north and west of Wahiawa, in central Oahu. The blaze threatened homes in the camp for a time as firefighters worked to contain the wildfire. Traffic was disrupted, as well, when officials closed both Wilikina Drive and Kaukonahua Road at Kamananui Road for much of the afternoon and evening hours on the 16th. There were no reports of serious property damage or injuries. Fire officials believe the fire had been deliberately 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 16, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 16, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1000 AM HST THU SEP 16 2010

.SYNOPSIS...
TRADE WIND WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD AS A
RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS NORTH OF THE STATE. A DRY AND STABLE
AIRMASS WILL KEEP SHOWERS TO A MINIMUM THROUGH THE WEEKEND. SHOWER
COVERAGE MAY INCREASE ACROSS WINDWARD AREAS NEXT WEEK AS FRONTAL
REMNANTS ARE BROUGHT IN BY THE TRADES.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE EXTENDS EAST TO WEST ALONG 28N THIS
MORNING...ANCHORED BY A 1022 MB HIGH NEAR 28N156W...ABOUT 500 MILES
NORTH OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE
ISLANDS IS SUFFICIENTLY STEEP TO SUPPORT MODERATE TO LOCALLY FRESH
TRADE WINDS ACROSS LOCAL WATERS...WITH WINDIER AREAS NOW COVERED
WITH SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES. OVERNIGHT SOUNDINGS SHOW A DRY AND
STABLE AIRMASS...WITH A STRONG INVERSIONS NEAR 6500 FEET...CAPE LESS
THAN 100 J/KG AND JUST OVER AN INCH OF PRECIPITABLE WATER. OUR
FORECAST CALLS FOR THE HIGH TO WEAKEN AND FOR TRADES TO SLACKEN NEXT
WEEK. SOME MODELS SHOW AN INCREASE IN SHOWERS LATE SUNDAY AND EARLY
MONDAY...MAINLY OVER WINDWARD SECTIONS OF MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND.
THE SHOWERS WOULD BE FROM REMNANTS OF A DISSIPATED FRONT CAUGHT UP
IN THE TRADES.

SMALL BUT PERSISTENT 24 HOUR PRESSURE RISES INDICATE NOT ONLY A
BUILDING SURFACE HIGH TO THE NORTH...BUT ALSO THE MOVEMENT OF A
MID-LEVEL HIGH OVER THE STATE. THE HIGH ALOFT IS PRESENTLY CENTERED
TO THE NORTHEAST AND IS MOVING TO THE WEST. IT IS SCHEDULED TO MOVE
OVER AND JUST NORTH OF THE ISLANDS TODAY THEN JUST NORTHWEST OF
KAUAI FRIDAY INTO NEXT WEEK. SUBSIDING AIR ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER
HIGH WILL PUSH THE INVERSION DOWN TO 5000 TO 6000 FEET. FLOW ALONG
THE SOUTHERN FLANK OF THIS UPPER HIGH HAS INCREASED WINDS ABOVE
ADVISORY LEVEL AT THE BIG ISLAND SUMMITS...A CONDITION EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THE SOMEWHAT SHALLOW MARINE LAYER
BELOW THE INVERSION WILL HAVE LIMITED PRECIPITABLE WATER THEREBY
KEEPING THE ISLANDS MOSTLY DRY.

&&

.MARINE...
A SLIGHTLY TIGHTER PRESSURE GRADIENT ACROSS THE STATE HAS RESULTED
IN AN INCREASE IN THE TRADE WINDS. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE IN
EFFECT FOR THE NORMALLY WINDY COASTAL WATERS AROUND MAUI AND THE BIG
ISLAND DUE TO THE STRONGER TRADES.

SOUTH SHORE SURF WILL PEAK NEAR THE 8 FOOT ADVISORY LEVEL TODAY
AND FRIDAY...THEN DIMINISH THROUGH THE WEEKEND.

A NORTHWEST SWELL...THE FIRST OF THE UPCOMING WINTER SEASON...IS
FORECAST TO ARRIVE EARLY SUNDAY. SURF ALONG NORTH-FACING SHORES WILL
BE BELOW THE ADVISORY THRESHOLD OF 15 FEET.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES FOR THE PAILOLO AND ALENUIHAHA CHANNELS...
MAALAEA BAY AND WATERS SOUTH OF THE BIG ISLAND THROUGH SATURDAY
MORNING.

WIND ADVISORY FOR THE BIG ISLAND SUMMITS THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON.

&&

POWELL

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, Central Oahu

When: September 16, 1:30 PM HST to September 17, 10:00 PM HST
Where: Central Oahu forecast zone
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 21.455, -157.961 (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 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, September 2010

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: 256464.