Name: Wildfire in Hawaii, September 25 to 27, 2011
Start: 2011-09-25T23:30
End: 2011-09-27T14:00
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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 burned 73 acres of brush near Kapalua in West Maui. The blaze was located about 2.5 miles up the West Maui Mountains from the Kapalua Airport. The fire did not affect airport operations, and there were no reports of serious injuries or property damage. The cause of the fire was unknown.

Another blaze blackened around 100 acres in a sugar cane field in Puunene, though Hawaii Commercial and Sugar Co. (HC&S) officials stated that more than 200 acres had burned. No significant injuries were reported. The costs of damages to crops and irrigation equipment were not available. 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 Sep 25, 8:30 PM HST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 25, 8:30 PM HST, 3 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
830 PM HST SUN SEP 25 2011

.SYNOPSIS...
A WEAK FRONT JUST NORTH OF THE ISLANDS WILL DISRUPT THE TRADE WINDS
FOR A FEW MORE DAYS. ANY SHOWERS WILL BE LIGHT INTO MID WEEK. AROUND
MID WEEK...HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD FAR NORTH OF THE ISLANDS...AND
THE TRADES WILL STRENGTHEN. LEFTOVER MOISTURE FROM ANOTHER FRONT
WILL RIDE IN ON THE TRADES...BRINGING MORE TYPICAL WINDWARD AND
MAUKA SHOWERS TOWARDS THE END OF THE WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
THE FORECAST PROBLEM FOR TONIGHT IS WHETHER OR NOT A WEAK FRONT JUST
NORTH OF THE ISLANDS WILL REACH KAUAI...AND IF SO WHEN. THE FRONT
HAS ZERO SUPPORT ALOFT...SO IF IT DOES REACH US THERE WILL NOT BE
MUCH IN THE WAY OF WINDS OR RAIN.

MODELS INCREASE POPS TONIGHT...BUT SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW THAT THE
FRONTAL CLOUD BAND IS SHRINKING IN WIDTH. THE SHRINKAGE IS PROBABLY
BECAUSE THE FRONT IS MOVING SOUTHWARD INTO A VERY DRY AIRMASS OVER
THE STATE. THE FORECAST ONLY CALLS FOR ISOLATED SHOWERS OVER KAUAI.

MODELS AGREE THAT A SURFACE HIGH WILL SLIDE EASTWARD TO A POINT FAR
NORTH OF THE ISLANDS AROUND MID WEEK. THE STEEPER PRESSURE GRADIENT
SOUTH OF THE HIGH WILL RESULT IN THE RETURN OF THE TRADE WINDS. WILL
WAIT A FEW MODEL RUNS TO FIGURE OUT HOW BRISK THE TRADES WILL BE.
DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE WEEK...THE TRADES ARE FORECAST TO
CARRY REMNANT MOISTURE FROM A SECOND FRONT THAT WILL PASS NORTH OF
THE ISLANDS IN ADVANCE OF THE HIGH.

ADDITIONAL SHOWERS MAY REACH THE WINDWARD SIDE OF THE BIG ISLAND
ABOUT MID WEEK...WHEN THE MODELS BRING MOISTURE UP FROM THE DEEP
TROPICS. IN SPITE OF THE SEVERAL SHOWER SCENARIOS...AM NOT EXPECTING
ANY SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL THIS WEEK.

&&

.AVIATION...
VFR WILL PREVAIL TONIGHT WITH DRY AND LIGHT WINDS IN PLACE. MINOR
FRONTAL REMNANTS ARE CREEPING INTO THE N PORTION OF THE FA. THEY
MAY NEAR KAUAI BUT SHOULD NOT REQUIRE ANY WIDESPREAD FLIGHT
RESTRICTIONS NOR WILL THEY AFFECT PHLI. THEY LINGER AROUND THAT
AREA THROUGH THE DAY MON.

LIGHT WINDS WILL CONTINUE AGAIN MON WITH VFR REMAINING THE RULE.
VERY DRY AIR WILL ONLY ALLOW FOR SCT-BKN LEEWARD CLD ON THE SMALLER
ISLANDS LIMITED PCPN. ANY CIGS WILL REMAIN WELL ABOVE 030. TYPICAL
BIG DIURNAL TRENDS EXPECTED WITH AFT BKN-OVC050 TOP 070 TOMORROW
BETWEEN 23Z-04Z.

&&

.MARINE...
LIGHT WINDS AND SLIGHT SEAS WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL
DAYS. HIGH PRESSURE MOVING NORTH OF THE ISLANDS DURING THE SECOND
HALF OF THE WEEK MAY BOOST THE TRADES TO SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY LEVELS
IN THE WINDIER LOCATIONS AROUND MAUI AND THE BIG ISLAND.

A SERIES OF SMALL TO MODERATE SHORT PERIOD NORTH AND NORTHWEST
SWELLS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY. A LARGER NORTH SWELL IS
EXPECTED LATE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.

&&

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

&&

CRAIG/DEJESUS

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Maui Central Valley

When: September 25, 11:30 PM HST to September 26, 1:30 AM HST
Where: Maui Central Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Newspaper

Wildfire, Maui Leeward West

When: September 26, 1:00 AM HST to September 27, 2:00 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 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, September 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: 340090, 340091.