Wildfire in Hawaii, June 18 to 30, 2012

Name: Wildfire in Hawaii, June 18 to 30, 2012
Start: 2012-06-18T15:00
End: 2012-06-30T23:59
Location: Hawaii

June 18 to 30, 2012 · NWS HFO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A fire blackened 4900 acres of dry brush, and macadamia and coffee farm lands, near Pahala in the Kau District on the Big Island of Hawaii. The fire forced the evacuation of Kau Hospital.

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 blackened 4900 acres of dry brush, and macadamia and coffee farm lands, near Pahala in the Kau District on the Big Island of Hawaii. The fire forced the evacuation of Kau Hospital. The 15 long-term care patients at the facility were moved for a time to the Naalehu Community Center. Highway 11 in the area was also closed for six hours as firefighters battled the inferno. The cause of the fire was unknown. There were no serious injuries reported. No damage estimates were available. The fire was about 60% contained by the end of June.

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 18, 12:45 PM HST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 18, 12:45 PM HST, 2 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1245 PM HST MON JUN 18 2012

.SYNOPSIS...
STRONG AND VERY GUSTY TRADE WINDS WITH DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE
THROUGH THE DAY. WINDS WILL EASE BACK TO MODERATE STRENGTH ON
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AS WINDWARD RAINFALL PICKS BACK UP.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
STRONG AND VERY GUSTY TRADE WINDS WILL BLOW ACROSS THE STATE TODAY.
A 1035 MB HIGH SITTING 1100 MILES NORTH OF THE STATE WITH STRONG
RIDGING ALOFT IS DRIVING THE TRADES. THIS IS SETTING UP A VERY
STRONG AND EXTREMELY LOW INVERSION BASE DOWN BETWEEN 2500 AND 3500
FT ACCORDING TO OVERNIGHT SOUNDINGS AND RECENT AIRCRAFT DATA. WINDS
AROUND THE INVERSION TOP NEAR 5000 FT ARE RUNNING AT 40 TO 45 KT...
INCREASING TO 50 TO 55 KT BETWEEN 10000 TO 15000 FT. THIS WILL
PRODUCE POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS...AND A HIGH
WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE HIGH SUMMITS ON MAUI AND THE BIG
ISLAND AS WELL AS THE BIG ISLAND INTERIOR. AT LOWER ELEVATIONS...
WIND GUSTS OVER 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY OVER AND DOWNWIND
OF TERRAIN. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THESE AREAS.

WINDS WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE HIGH TO
THE NORTH WILL WEAKEN A FEW MILLIBARS WHILE RIDGING ALOFT IS
GRADUALLY ERODED FROM THE EAST. BASED ON CURRENT MODEL DATA...IT
LOOKS LIKE WE MAY HAVE TO KEEP THE WIND ADVISORIES AND HIGH WIND
WARNINGS GOING INTO THE NIGHT WITH A DOWNWARD TREND. LOOK FOR ALL
THE WIND PRODUCTS TO LIKELY BE DOWN BY TUESDAY MORNING.

VERY DRY CONDITIONS ARE IN STORE TODAY. SATELLITE DERIVED
PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES AROUND THE STATE ARE COMING IN AT 0.6 TO
0.75 OF AN INCH...ALMOST HALF THE JUNE NORMAL AND BONE DRY BY
HAWAIIAN STANDARDS. EXPECT ISOLATED WINDWARD SHOWERS AND DRY
CONDITIONS LEEWARD.

WINDS WILL DECREASE TO MODERATE STRENGTH LATE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY
AS SHOWERS INCREASE. THE SURFACE RIDGE TO THE NORTH WILL WEAKEN A
NOTCH WHILE A WEAKNESS DEVELOPS IN THE MID LEVEL RIDGE NEAR THE BIG
ISLAND. AS A RESULT...WINDS WILL DROP TO MODERATE LEVELS AND GUSTS
WILL DECREASE CONSIDERABLY AS THE INVERSION WEAKENS AND ELEVATES.
THIS WILL ALSO LEAD TO AN INCREASE IN SHOWERS...PARTIALLY FUELED BY
MOISTURE FROM A DISSIPATED FRONT PASSING OVER THE ISLANDS IN THE
TRADE FLOW.

&&

.MARINE...
GALE WARNINGS ARE POSTED FOR THE ALENUIHAHA AND PAILOLO CHANNELS AND
THE WATERS SOUTH OF THE BIG ISLAND...WHILE ALL OTHER WATERS REMAIN
UNDER A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY /SCA/. THE GALE WARNING WILL BE
DOWNGRADED TO AN SCA LATER TODAY OR TONIGHT...AND THE SCA SHOULD BE
SCALED BACK TO THE TYPICALLY WINDY WATERS AND CHANNELS AROUND THE
BIG ISLAND AND MAUI TUESDAY NIGHT OR WEDNESDAY.

ROUGH TRADE WIND DRIVEN SEAS WILL BE ON THE RISE THROUGH TONIGHT.
SURF ALONG EAST FACING SHORES SHOULD REACH THE 8 FOOT ADVISORY LEVEL
THIS EVENING AND REMAIN ELEVATED THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT OR WEDNESDAY.
A HIGH SURF ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE RISING SURF. A PAIR OF
SOUTH SWELLS WILL PRODUCE OVERHEAD SURF AT TIMES DURING THE WORK
WEEK.

&&

.AVIATION...
TURBULENCE WILL REMAIN WIDESPREAD ACROSS THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
TODAY DUE TO THE STRONG TRADES BLOWING ACROSS THE ISLAND TERRAIN.
AT THE LOW LEVELS...MODERATE MECHANICAL TURBULENCE WITH ISOLATED
SEVERE TURBULENCE LEEWARD OF EACH ISLAND IS EXPECTED. THE STRONG
SURFACE WINDS TODAY COULD RESULT IN LOW LEVEL WIND
SHEAR...ESPECIALLY AT PHOG. VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AT ALL
TERMINALS TODAY WITH A DRY AND STABLE AIRMASS IN PLACE.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
THE VERY DRY AND STABLE AIRMASS OVER THE ISLANDS WILL DROP RH
MINIMUMS TO BELOW 40 PERCENT BY MID DAY. THE STRONG AND GUSTY TRADES
WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE DAY...WITH MODERATE TRADES RETURNING
TOMORROW. KBDI VALUES AT PHNL REMAIN WELL BELOW THE 600 MARK...
RULING OUT A RED FLAG WARNING...BUT CONDITIONS LIKE THIS COULD STILL
HAVE A PRONOUNCED EFFECT ON FIRE BEHAVIOR.

&&

.HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH 6 PM HST THIS AFTERNOON FOR HALEAKALA
SUMMIT...BIG ISLAND SUMMITS AND BIG ISLAND INTERIOR.

WIND ADVISORY FROM 6 PM HST TODAY THROUGH 1 AM HST TUESDAY FOR
HALEAKALA AND BIG ISLAND SUMMITS.

WIND ADVISORY THROUGH 6 PM HST TODAY FOR ALL OTHER PORTIONS OF THE
STATE.

GALE WARNING UNTIL 6 PM HST TODAY FOR ALENUIHAHA AND PAILOLO
CHANNELS AND WATERS SOUTH OF THE BIG ISLAND.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM HST TUESDAY FOR ALL OTHER WATERS AND
CHANNELS.

HIGH SURF ADVISORY FROM 6 PM HST TODAY THROUGH 6 PM HST TUESDAY FOR
EAST FACING SHORES OF KAUAI...OAHU... MOLOKAI...MAUI AND THE BIG
ISLAND.

&&

.PUBLIC AND MARINE...WROE
.AVIATION...BRENCHLEY

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 18, 9:50 AM HST, 5 hours 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
950 AM HST MON JUN 18 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1145 PM     NON-TSTM WND GST HONOLULU                21.31N 157.86W
06/17/2012  U0.00 MPH        OAHU IN HONOLULU   HI   NEWSPAPER

            POWER OUTAGE IN MAKIKI AND MANOA FOR ABOUT 2 HOURS DUE TO
            WINDS.

0600 AM     HIGH SUST WINDS  5 NE ULUPALAKUA         20.70N 156.35W
06/18/2012  U0.00 MPH        MAUI IN MAUI       HI   PARK/FOREST SRVC

            DOFAW REPORTING DOWNED TREES IN THE KULA FOREST RESERVE
            DUE TO HIGH WINDS.

&&

DWROE

Local storm report, Jun 18, 9:59 AM HST, 5 hours 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
959 AM HST MON JUN 18 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0300 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 25 WNW HILO             19.83N 155.44W
06/18/2012  U0 MPH           HAWAII IN HAWAII   HI   PARK/FOREST SRVC

            PINE TREES BLOWN OVER ON MAUNA KEA ACCESS ROADO LEADING
            TO HALE POHAKU. OCCURRED OVERNIGHT BUT TIME NOT KNOWN.

&&

DWROE

Local storm report, Jun 18, 10:02 AM HST, 4 hours 58 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
1002 AM HST MON JUN 18 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0300 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 25 WNW HILO             19.83N 155.44W
06/18/2012  U0.00 MPH        HAWAII IN HAWAII   HI   PARK/FOREST SRVC

            PINE TREES BLOWN OVER ON MAUNA KEA ACCESS ROAD LEADING TO
            HALE POHAKU. OCCURRED OVERNIGHT BUT TIME NOT KNOWN.

&&

DWROE

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, South Big Island

When: June 18, 3:00 PM HST to June 30, 11:59 PM HST
Where: South Big Island 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 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, June 2012

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: 380496.