Wildfire, Big Island North and East
- When
- January 13, 10:00 AM HST to January 16, 8:00 PM HST
- Where
- Big Island North and East forecast zone
- Reported by
- Newspaper
Wildfire in Hawaii, January 13 to 16, 2015
A lava flow near Pahoa in the Puna District on the Big Island triggered several dry-brush fires. The total area affected was about 800 acres.
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 lava flow near Pahoa in the Puna District on the Big Island triggered several dry-brush fires. The total area affected was about 800 acres. The blazes did not damage any structures or rare vegetation. Firefighters were able to contain the biggest fires and douse the smaller ones. No serious property damage or injuries were reported.
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 Jan 13, 10:00 AM HST, 0 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 13, 10:00 AM HST, 0 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 1000 AM HST TUE JAN 13 2015 .SYNOPSIS... BASICALLY DRY AND PLEASANT WEATHER CAN BE EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AS A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE LIES ACROSS THE AREA. A WEAK FRONT MAY BRING A SLIGHT INCREASE IN SHOWERS AROUND KAUAI THIS WEEKEND BUT MOST AREAS WILL REMAIN DRY. LIGHT TO MODERATE TRADE WINDS ARE EXPECTED LATER THIS WEEKEND AND ON INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AS AN AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE PASSES BY TO OUR NORTH. A SLIGHT INCREASE IN SHOWERS CAN BE EXPECTED OVER WINDWARD AND MAUKA AREAS. && .DISCUSSION... A SURFACE RIDGE LIES OVER THE STATE PLACING THE ISLANDS IN A LIGHT WIND REGIME. DAYTIME SEA BREEZES AND NIGHTTIME LAND BREEZES CAN BE EXPECTED OVER MOST AREAS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. THE AIRMASS OVER THE ARE IS RATHER DRY AND STABLE THUS SHOWER ACTIVITY WILL BE RATHER LIMITED WITH MOST AREAS SEEING NO RAINFALL. A WEAKENING FRONT WILL GRADUALLY APPROACH THE AREA ON FRIDAY FROM THE NORTHWEST. THE LAST SEVERAL RUNS OF THE GFS SHOWS THE FRONT STALLING OUT NEAR OR JUST BEFORE REACHING KAUAI ON SATURDAY AND THEN GRADUALLY DISSIPATING ON SUNDAY. THE ECMWF ON THE OTHER HAND SHOWS THE FRONT REACHING KAUAI ON SATURDAY WHERE IT EVENTUALLY STALLS. THE CURRENT FORECAST DOES SHOW A SLIGHT INCREASE IN SHOWERS OVER KAUAI FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY BUT OVERALL RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN LIGHT. AN AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL PASS BY NORTH OF THE STATE OVER THE WEEKEND AND ON INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. THUS LIGHT TO LOCALLY MODERATE TRADE WINDS WILL RETURN DURING THAT TIME. A BIT OF AN INCREASE IN WINDWARD AND MAUKA SHOWERS CAN BE EXPECTED DURING THIS TIME FRAME. && .AVIATION... A SFC RIDGE OVER THE AREA AND A RIDGE ALOFT TO THE SW WILL MAINTAIN GENTLE WINDS AND MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS. SEA BREEZES WILL ENCOURAGE LOW TOPPED CUMULUS DEVELOPMENT OVER THE SLOPES DURING THE DAY WITH ISOLATED LIGHT SHOWERS MAINLY IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. LAND BREEZES WILL BRING MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES OVER THE ISLANDS AT NIGHT. && .MARINE... ADVISORY LEVEL SURF WILL CONTINUE TODAY ALONG MOST NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OF THE SMALLER ISLANDS. THIS SWELL WILL GRADUALLY DIMINISH TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. A SLIGHTLY LARGER NORTHWEST SWELL IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THIS SWELL WILL BE RATHER LONG LIVED WITH SURF HEIGHTS EASILY IN THE ADVISORY LEVEL CATEGORY...AND POSSIBLY REACHING TO LOW END WARNING LEVELS AT TIMES. THIS SWELL WILL GRADUALLY LOWER SUNDAY AND MONDAY. NO OTHER SIGNIFICANT SWELLS ARE EXPECTED. WINDS WILL REMAIN BELOW SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY LEVELS THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PERIOD. HOWEVER THE LARGE NORTHWEST SWELL THAT WILL BE MOVING THROUGH OUR WATERS WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...WILL LIKELY REQUIRE A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY SINCE SEAS WILL EXCEED 10 FEET OVER WATERS EXPOSED TO THIS SWELL. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH SURF ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM HST THIS EVENING FOR NIIHAU-KAUAI WINDWARD-KAUAI LEEWARD-WAIANAE COAST-OAHU NORTH SHORE-OAHU KOOLAU-MOLOKAI-MAUI WINDWARD WEST-WINDWARD HALEAKALA. && SYNOPSIS/DISCUSSION/MARINE...BURKE AVIATION...DONALDSON
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
- Dense Fog in California, January 13 to 15, 2015
- Winter Weather in Texas, January 13, 2015
- Cold in Texas, January 13, 2015
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, January 13 to 14, 2015
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, January 13 to 14, 2015
- Dense Fog in Colorado, January 13 to 14, 2015
- Winter Weather in Tennessee, January 13 to 14, 2015
- Winter Weather in Texas, January 13 to 14, 2015
- Winter Weather in Alabama, January 13 to 14, 2015
- Avalanche in Montana, January 13 to 15, 2015
More
Every storm in Hawaii in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, January 2015
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: 551806.