Wildfire, Big Island North and East
- When
- July 12, 1:20 PM HST to 9:30 PM HST
- Where
- Big Island North and East forecast zone
- Reported by
- Newspaper
Wildfire in Hawaii, July 12, 2011
A fire at the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision in the Puna District - in the windward part of the Big Island of Hawaii - blackened about 70 acres of brush. Fourteen homes had been directly threatened by the blaze, but firefighters were able to contain the flames before any damage could be done.
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 at the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision in the Puna District - in the windward part of the Big Island of Hawaii - blackened about 70 acres of brush. Fourteen homes had been directly threatened by the blaze, but firefighters were able to contain the flames before any damage could be done. There were no serious injuries. The costs of any damages to vegetation were not available.
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 Jul 12, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 10:00 AM HST, 3 hours 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1000 AM HST TUE JUL 12 2011 .SYNOPSIS... MODERATE TO LOCALLY FRESH TRADE WINDS WILL PREVAIL OVER THE ISLANDS FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT WEEK...DELIVERING PASSING SHOWERS TO WINDWARD AND MAUKA AREAS. AN AREA OF SHOWERS RIDING ON THE TRADES WILL AFFECT WINDWARD KAUAI AND OAHU TODAY...AND WINDWARD PORTIONS OF ALL ISLANDS TONIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY. CLOUDS AND SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER PORTIONS OF LEEWARD BIG ISLAND AND MAUI THIS AFTERNOON...WITH LOCALLY HEAVY SHOWERS POSSIBLE. TYPICAL TRADE WIND WEATHER CAN BE EXPECTED LATER THIS WEEK AND THROUGH THE WEEKEND...EXCEPT FOR A CHANCE OF INCREASED TRADE SHOWERS AGAIN ON FRIDAY. && .DISCUSSION... CURRENTLY...MODERATE TRADE WINDS OVER THE ISLANDS ARE BEING SUPPORTED BY A 1036 MB SURFACE HIGH CENTERED ABOUT 1500 MILES N OF OAHU. VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGES REVEAL SCATTERED SHOWERY CUMULUS IMMEDIATELY UPSTREAM OF THE ISLANDS FROM KAUAI TO MOLOKAI...AND VERY LITTLE IN THE WAY OF MOISTURE DIRECTLY UPWIND OF MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND. ALTHOUGH A SOUNDING FROM PHTO WAS NOT AVAILABLE OVERNIGHT... AMDAR AND PHLI SOUNDING DATA INDICATE A WEAK INVERSION NEAR THE TYPICAL HEIGHT OF ABOUT 7 KFT...WITH A STRONGER INVERSION NEAR 15 KFT. THIS PROFILE APPEARS TO BE THE RESULT OF A WEAK MID-LEVEL TROUGH THAT IS ANALYZED AS BEING E-W ORIENTED OVER THE CHAIN. EXPECTING DAYTIME HEATING TO TAP INTO THIS MODERATE INSTABILITY... PRIMARILY OVER LEEWARD PORTIONS OF THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI...WHERE SOME LOCALLY HEAVY SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON. IN THE BIG PICTURE...A 10 DAY LOOP OF FORECAST MODEL DATA SHOWS ONLY SUBTLE CHANGES IN THE LOCATION AND CENTRAL PRESSURE OF THE HIGH CURRENTLY DRIVING OUR TRADE WINDS...THUS ONLY SUBTLE CHANGES IN OUR STEADY TRADE WIND FLOW ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE ENTIRE FORECAST PERIOD. WITH TRADE WINDS BLOWING...WE LOOK FOR AREAS OF INCREASED MOISTURE EMBEDDED WITHIN THE FLOW AND/OR DISTURBANCES ALOFT TO DETERMINE WHEN TRADE SHOWERS MAY BE MORE ACTIVE. ONE SUCH AREA OF MOISTURE IS E-W ORIENTED NEAR THE CHAIN NOW...WITH THE BULK OF THE MOISTURE CURRENTLY NEAR KAUAI AND OAHU. ABOUT 200 MILES E OF MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND IS ANOTHER PATCH OF MOISTURE THAT IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE THIS EVENING THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY...BRINGING INCREASED TRADE SHOWERS TO WINDWARD AREAS OF ALL ISLANDS. FOLLOWING THAT...MODELS DEPICT A DRYING TREND ASSOCIATED WITH DEVELOPING MID-LEVEL RIDGING...UNTIL ANOTHER WEAK MID-LEVEL TROUGH MOVES OVER THE ISLANDS FROM THE E ON FRIDAY...BRINGING A BRIEF INCREASE IN SHOWERS. && .AVIATION... NO AIRMETS IN EFFECT FOR MT OBSC...ALTHOUGH MAY NEED TO ISSUE ONE LATER TODAY/TONIGHT AS A BAND OF INCREASED MOISTURE MOVES THROUGH THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLAND CHAIN. TAFS INDICATE THAT VFR CONDS WILL PREVAIL FOR ALL OF THE MAIN HAWAIIAN TERMINALS. HOWEVER...HAVE INTRODUCED VCSH INTO THE TAFS FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR THE KAUAI AND OAHU TERMINALS DUE TO THE AFOREMENTIONED BAND OF SHRA HEADING THIS WAY. AS THE SHOWERS MAKE THEIR WAY THROUGH THE ISLANDS...BRIEF MVFR CONDS WILL BE POSSIBLE. FINALLY...PHNY WILL LIKELY HAVE ITS TYPICAL MVFR CIGS THROUGH MOST OF THE AFTERNOON. && .MARINE... THE SURF DISCUSSION /SRDHFO/ CONTAINS AN IN-DEPTH EXPLANATION OF THE EXPECTED SWELLS THROUGH THE NEXT WEEK...WITH THE PRIMARY SWELL SOURCE BEING THE REGION BETWEEN NEW ZEALAND AND TASMANIA. AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF SSW SWELL IS SLATED TO GRADUALLY BEGIN OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS...WITH LONG-PERIOD /25 SECOND PERIODS FORECAST BY WAVE WATCH III/ FORERUNNERS OF A MORE POWERFUL SWELL TO ARRIVE LATE THURSDAY. THIS SWELL WILL PERSIST WITH OPEN OCEAN HEIGHTS NEAR 3 FEET...WITH GRADUALLY DIMINISHING PERIODS...WELL INTO NEXT WEEK. SURF HEIGHTS ARE CURRENTLY EXPECTED TO BE BELOW ADVISORY LEVELS...BUT THOSE PARTICIPATING IN MARINE ACTIVITIES ALONG S AND SW FACING SHORES SHOULD BE ALERT FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF ELEVATED SURF. WINDS AND SEAS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THRESHOLDS THROUGH THE WEEK...WITH WIND SPEEDS POTENTIALLY EXCEEDING ADVISORY CRITERIA IN THE WINDIER MARINE ZONES BY THIS WEEKEND. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && DISCUSSION/MARINE...BIRCHARD AVIATION...HARRISON
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
- Excessive Heat in Missouri, July 12, 2011
- Excessive Heat in Pennsylvania, July 12, 2011
- Rip Current in Massachusetts, July 12, 2011
- Lightning Strike in Arizona, July 12, 2011
- Excessive Heat in Louisiana, July 12, 2011
- Excessive Heat in New Jersey, July 12, 2011
- Damaging Winds in Arkansas, July 12 to 13, 2011
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Colorado, July 12 to 13, 2011
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Missouri, July 12 to 13, 2011
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Illinois, July 12, 2011
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, July 12, 2011
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Illinois, July 12, 2011
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, July 2011
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: 327325.