The National Weather Service in Honolulu has issued a red flag fire warning for Thursday noon to 6 p.m. (Nov 15) as they forecast strong winds and low relative humidty for Leeward areas.

The affected areas are Ka‘u, Kona, Kohala and interior areas of the Big Island. Other islands included in the watch are Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai and Maui in Leeward areas.

On Thursday winds in Ka‘u are forecast to be 15-25 mph with gusts up to 45 mph. Winds in Kona are forecast to be about 10 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. In Waikoloa and Kohala winds are forecast to be 20-30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph on Thursday afternoon. Relative humdity is forecast to be as low as 40-45 percent.

A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are expected due to a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures which can create conditions of rapid fire growth should one occur. The warning does not predict new fire starts.

The National Weather Service noted 20 locations in the state with record dry conditions for the month of October according to preliminary data. Laupahoehoe recorded a record low rainfall of 0.88 inches which broke the previous low of 1.88 inches in 2008. Pahoa recorded their record October low of 2.6 inches which broke their previous record of 4.35 inches in 1992.

The following are rain gage locations where October rainfall records were broken, the new record totals and the previous records and years of occurrence. All totals provided from the National Weather Service are in inches and are preliminary.

                         OCT      PREVIOUS
LOCATION                2012       RECORD   YEAR
KAUAI
HANALEI                 0.36        2.21    2010
LIHUE AIRPORT           0.35        0.39    2007
LIHUE VARIETY STN       0.43        0.44    2009
MT WAIALEALE            5.14        6.57    1984
WAINIHA PWR HOUSE       0.39        2.49    2011

OAHU
KUNIA                   0.11        0.14    1998
LUALUALEI               0.03        0.31    2009
MANOA ARBORETUM         4.24        5.64    1977
PAC PALISADES           1.73        1.87    1996
PALOLO FIRE STN         0.48        1.15    2003
POAMOHO                 0.14        0.36    2010
PUNALUU PUMP            1.04        1.68    2010
WAIAWA CORR FAC         1.82        2.06    2009
WAIHEE PUMP             1.94        3.03    1996
WAIPIO                  0.31        0.49    1998
WHEELER AAF             0.74        1.47    2009

MOLOKAI
KAMALO                  0.28        0.29    2003

BIG ISLAND
LAUPAHOEHOE             0.88        1.88    2008
PAHOA                   2.60        4.35    1992