A wind-whipped fire in leeward West Maui near Olowalu charred more than 750 acres of mainly dry brush, although the blaze also destroyed the Olowalu Community Center, several vehicles and storage units, and partially damaged a residence on Luawau Street. No serious injuries were reported.
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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.
The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.
A wind-whipped fire in leeward West Maui near Olowalu charred more than 750 acres of mainly dry brush, although the blaze also destroyed the Olowalu Community Center, several vehicles and storage units, and partially damaged a residence on Luawau Street. No serious injuries were reported.
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 Dec 26, 4:03 PM HST, 1 hour 27 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Honolulu HI 403 PM HST Sat Dec 26 2020 .SYNOPSIS... The showers and gusty winds will be on the decline tonight, and we should return to our typical fair trade wind weather on Sunday. Besides some passing showers, fairly dry conditions are expected statewide through Wednesday. Trade winds will ease and shift around to the east-southeast Sunday night through the middle of next week, with some vog possibly lifting northward into the smaller islands, most likely around Tuesday and Wednesday. Trade winds should return Thursday and become breezy on New Years Day. && .DISCUSSION... An outflow boundary from a cluster of thunderstorms to the northeast of the state was clearly seen on satellite imagery this afternoon. This has led to a surge of winds with wind gusts of around 50 mph reported by select weather stations. Due to the gusty winds, a Wind Advisory has been issued from many areas across the state. For tonight, we will likely continue to see gusty winds and showers for the first half of the night. As we get later in the night, showers and gusty winds will be on the decline. The one exception is over on the Big Island, where an upper level low nearby cloud produce some brief downpours over windward areas tonight. By Sunday, the front lingering near the state should be dissipated and we should see much drier weather return across the state with a few isolated showers riding in with the moderate to locally breezy trades. For the first half of next week, a front passing well north of the state will cause the trade winds to weaken and gradually veer toward the southeast. With the winds veering toward the southeast, we could potentially see some vog lift northward toward the smaller islands around Tuesday or Wednesday. The weather for the most part will be mostly dry, with a few isolated windward and mountain showers. && .AVIATION... A band of low level moisture pooled along a stationary front is being enhanced by an upper level trough passing overhead. As a result, widespread MVFR and localized IFR conditions have been occurring across mainly windward slopes from Kauai to Maui, where AIRMET Sierra for mountain obscuration is in place. On the Big Island, showers have been less active and confined to mainly windward areas. Little change is expected through evening, but a compact upper level low developing within the upper trough will drift southward to just east of the Big Island late tonight. Shower activity along the stationary front will decrease, though MVFR conditions will likely persist along windward slopes from Maui to Kauai. A small area of moisture in the trade wind flow mostly south of the state will graze the Big Island overnight, increasing chances for MVFR conditions on windward slopes. Thunderstorms are not in the forecast near the Big Island tonight, but we will monitor closely. High pressure passing north of the state is producing strong and gusty trade winds, especially along and north of the front. The trades will produce moderate low level turbulence over and downwind of mountain ranges, and AIRMET Tango remains in effect for all islands. The developing upper level low will also produce moderate turbulence aloft between FL250-350. AIRMET Tango for this turbulence aloft currently covers the entire state but will likely be limited to the eastern end of the state by evening. && .MARINE... An eastward tracking high far north of the area will produce strong to locally gale force trade winds through the rest of this weekend. A Gale Warning is posted for the Kaiwi, Pailolo and Alenuihaha Channels through 6 am HST Sunday. A Small Craft Advisory is in effect for all other coastal waters around the Hawaiian Islands. A High Surf Advisory is also in effect for exposed east facing shores through 6am HST Sunday for strong winds and choppy surf. The trade winds are weaken and veer east southeast by early next week and continue into midweek. The current northwest swell continues to trend downward, with a small, reinforcement from the same direction expected late Sunday. This will be followed by a more significant, advisory-level northwest swell Monday night. A larger northwest swell is forecast to arrive on Tuesday and peak on Tuesday night or early Wednesday. Surf from this larger swell will likely produce warning level surf along most north and west facing shores. && .HFO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory until 6 AM HST Sunday for Kauai-Oahu-Molokai-Lanai- Kahoolawe-Maui Windward West-Maui Leeward West-Maui Central Valley-Windward Haleakala-Big Island North and East-Kohala. High Surf Advisory until 6 AM HST Sunday for Kauai Windward-Oahu Koolau-Olomana-Molokai Windward-Maui Windward West-Windward Haleakala-Leeward Haleakala-South Big Island-Big Island North and East. Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM HST Sunday for Kauai Northwest Waters-Kauai Windward Waters-Kauai Leeward Waters-Kauai Channel- Oahu Windward Waters-Oahu Leeward Waters-Maui County Windward Waters-Maui County Leeward Waters-Maalaea Bay-Big Island Windward Waters-Big Island Leeward Waters-Big Island Southeast Waters. Gale Warning until 6 AM HST Sunday for Kaiwi Channel-Pailolo Channel-Alenuihaha Channel. && DISCUSSION...Kino AVIATION...Wroe MARINE...Foster
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Hawaii in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Hawaii, December 2020
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: 927037.