Wildfire, Central Oahu
- When
- January 20, 8:00 PM HST to January 30, 3:00 PM HST
- Where
- Central Oahu forecast zone
- Reported by
- Newspaper
- Coordinates
- 21.455, -157.961 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Wildfire in Hawaii, January 20 to 30, 2015
A fire that blackened around 500 acres of native vegetation in the Oahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge continued to burn through the 30th. The blaze, above Mililani Mauka in central Oahu, was difficult to extinguish because of its remote location.
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
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 that blackened around 500 acres of native vegetation in the Oahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge continued to burn through the 30th. The blaze, above Mililani Mauka in central Oahu, was difficult to extinguish because of its remote location. Firefighters were battling the fire by dropping water from helicopters. The cost of damages to the native plants and trees was not available. No significant injuries were reported. 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 Jan 20, 4:00 PM HST, 4 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 20, 4:00 PM HST, 4 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI 400 PM HST TUE JAN 20 2015 .SYNOPSIS... A BIG NORTHWEST SWELL WILL BRING A RAPID RISE IN SURF STARTING THIS EVENING. SURF WILL REMAIN LARGE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. A SURFACE RIDGE WILL KEEP GENTLE WINDS AND DRY WEATHER OVER THE ISLANDS THROUGH THURSDAY. A FRONT WILL PRODUCE SHOWERS STARTING FRIDAY ON KAUAI AND SPREADING TO THE OTHER ISLANDS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. A HIGH BEHIND THE FRONT WILL BRING TRADE WINDS STARTING SATURDAY AND CONTINUING THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION... SURFACE ANALYSES AND SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW A SURFACE RIDGE EXTENDING EAST NORTHEAST TO WEST SOUTHWEST NEAR OAHU. THE RIDGE WILL KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS DRY AND STABLE...AND THE WINDS GENTLE...THROUGH THURSDAY. THE PREVAILING FLOW WILL BE LIGHT ENOUGH TO ALLOW LOCAL LAND AND SEA BREEZES TO FORM. THE SEA BREEZES WILL PRODUCE CLOUDS AND ISOLATED SHOWERS OVER LEEWARD AND INTERIOR AREAS DURING THE AFTERNOONS AND EVENINGS. LAND BREEZES WILL BRING MOSTLY CLEAR AND DRY WEATHER DURING THE LATE NIGHTS AND EARLY MORNINGS. A NORTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST FRONTAL CLOUD BAND IS ABOUT 300 MILES NORTHWEST OF KAUAI AT ITS CLOSEST POINT TO THE ISLANDS...MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST SLOWLY. THE SURFACE RIDGE OVER THE ISLANDS WILL SHIFT SOUTH AHEAD OF THE FRONT. SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO MODERATE STRENGTH ON THURSDAY...BRINGING MORE VOG UP OVER THE SMALLER ISLANDS. THE GLOBAL MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT SHOWING THE FRONTAL BAND REACHING KAUAI FRIDAY MORNING...WEAKENING TO A SHEAR LINE OVER THE CENTRAL ISLANDS ON SATURDAY...AND REACHING THE BIG ISLAND ON SUNDAY. THE FRONTAL BAND WILL BRING WIDESPREAD SHOWERS TO KAUAI COUNTY AND OAHU AND MOSTLY WINDWARD SHOWERS TO MAUI COUNTY AND THE BIG ISLAND. MOISTURE ALONG THE FRONTAL BAND WILL BE FAIRLY SHALLOW...SO WE EXPECT NO WINTER WEATHER ON THE VOLCANO SUMMITS AND NO MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH FLOODING. A SURFACE HIGH WILL BUILD EASTWARD BEHIND THE FRONT AND BRING EAST NORTHEAST TRADE WINDS TO THE AREA STARTING SATURDAY NIGHT. THE TRADES COULD BE STRONG ENOUGH TO REQUIRE A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR THE WINDIER AREAS AROUND THE BIG ISLAND AND MAUI. THE ECMWF AND GFS START TO DIVERGE EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE ECMWF PUSHES THE OLD FRONTAL BAND WELL PAST THE BIG ISLAND AND SHOWS VERY DRY WEATHER OVER THE ISLANDS BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE GFS KEEPS MORE MOISTURE MOVING OVER THE ISLANDS IN THE TRADE FLOW. IT IS HARD TO SAY WHICH SOLUTION WILL WORK OUT BETTER...SO WE WILL SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE FOR NOW. && .AVIATION... WITH A SURFACE RIDGE OVER THE AREA...THE WEATHER AROUND THE MAIN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS WILL REMAIN MOSTLY DRY AND STABLE FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS. WINDS WILL BE GENTLE WITH SEA BREEZES DURING THE DAY AND LAND BREEZES AT NIGHT. OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS...VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL AND NO AIRMETS ARE EXPECTED. THE SEA BREEZES WILL PRODUCE SOME LOW-CLOUD CEILINGS...AND LANAI AIRPORT MAY BE MVFR THROUGH EARLY EVENING TODAY AND AGAIN FROM LATE MORNING THROUGH EARLY EVENING ON WEDNESDAY. && .MARINE... A VERY LARGE WEST-NORTHWEST SWELL IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE ON KAUAI COUNTY THIS EVENING...AND THEN SPREAD GRADUALLY DOWN THE ISLAND CHAIN TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. THIS SWELL LIKELY WILL BE THE LARGEST WE HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS WINTER SURF SEASON. THE LOW THAT PRODUCED THIS SWELL WAS VERY LARGE WITH STRONG WINDS EXTENDING UNUSUALLY FAR SOUTH SO THE SWELL WILL HAVE MORE OF A WESTERLY COMPONENT THAN OUR TYPICAL WINTER SWELLS. THAT MEANS KAUAI AND NIIHAU WILL BLOCK PART OF THE SWELL FROM REACHING OAHU...BUT SOME OF THE SWELL WILL PASS SOUTH OF NIIHAU AND ROLL INTO LANAI AND THE LEEWARD SIDE OF THE BIG ISLAND. THE SWELL WILL PEAK WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT BUT WILL REMAIN LARGE ENOUGH TO KEEP SURF ELEVATED THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THE NEW MOON WAS TODAY SO TIDES WILL BE RUNNING FAIRLY HIGH DURING THE EARLY MORNING OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. THAT WILL INCREASE WAVE RUN UP NEAR THE TIME OF THE HIGH TIDES. WINDS WILL REMAIN BELOW THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THRESHOLD OF 25 KT FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS...BUT THE LARGE NORTHWEST SWELL WILL PRODUCE SEAS ABOVE THE 10-FOOT ADVISORY THRESHOLD. STRENGTHENING TRADE WINDS MAY REACH SCA SPEEDS EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH SURF WARNING THROUGH 600 PM THURSDAY FOR NORTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OF NIIHAU KAUAI OAHU AND MOLOKAI...NORTH FACING SHORES OF MAUI AND WEST FACING SHORES OF THE BIG ISLAND. HIGH SURF ADVISORY THROUGH 600 PM THURSDAY FOR SOUTH FACING SHORES OF OAHU AND SOUTH AND WEST FACING SHORES OF LANAI...KAHOOLAWE AND MAUI. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY THROUGH 600 PM THURSDAY FOR ALL HAWAIIAN WATERS EXCEPT MAALAEA BAY && DONALDSON
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
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: 551988.