Glenn James
Hawaii Weather Today
Creator, Author, and Administrator for 30 years

 

The last update to this website was Tuesday afternoon HST


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands Tuesday afternoon:

0.34  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.17  Maunawili, Oahu
0.42  Honolimaloo, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
2.64  West Wailuaiki, Maui
1.67  Spencer, Big Island


The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Tuesday afternoon:

15  Lawai, Kauai – NE 
30  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – SE
28  Makapulapai, Molokai – ESE 
20  Lanai 1, Lanai – NE
27  Na Kula, Maui – NE
23  South Point, Big Island – NE


Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of our tallest mountain Mauna Kea (~13,800 feet high) on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here’s the webcam for the (~10,023 feet high) Haleakala Crater on Maui. These webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands, and at night whenever there’s a big moon shining down. Also, at night you will be able to see the stars, and the sunrise and sunset too…depending upon weather conditions.

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Big Blue…click twice for largest version

 

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Thunderstorms in the deeper tropics…cold fronts moving by to the north

 

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Low clouds arriving on the trade winds…high clouds departing our area

 

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https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/PHKI_loop.gif

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Showers locally 

 

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Please open this link to see details on the current Watches, Warnings and Advisories noted above




~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Glenn’s Tuesday comments:  I’m here at my friend Linda’s house in Corte Madera, Marin County, California, as my working vacation concludes.

As I’ve been mentioning recently, I fly back to Maui this morning, and will be home in upper Kula this afternoon. I’ll resume my normal updates as soon as I get my computer set back up this afternoon.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Tuesday, May 5, 2026 – 105 degrees at Rio Grande Village, TX
>>> Lowest Temperature Tuesday, May 5, 2026 – 16 degrees at Bryce Canyon, UT

 

>>> Interesting weather web blog: Mauka Showers…Waialeale’s Rainfall Trend

 

At the Lake – a poem by Mary Oliver

A fish leaps like a black pin-then-when the starlight strikes its side —
like a silver pin. In an instant the fish’s spine alters the fierce line of rising
and it curls a little-the head, like scalloped tin, plunges back, and it’s gone.

This is, I think, what holiness is: the natural world, where every moment is full
of the passion to keep moving.

Inside every mind there’s a hermit’s cave full of light, full of snow, full of concentration.

I’ve knelt there, and so have you, hanging on to what you love, to what is lovely.

The lake’s shining sheets don’t make a ripple now, and the stars are going off to their
blue sleep, but the words are in place-and the fish leaps, and leaps again from the black
plush of the poem, that breathless space.

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of Tuesday afternoon: Moderate easterly trade winds will ease as the surface ridge weakens, bringing a transition to light winds, increasing humidity, and land and sea breeze conditions through Thursday. Showers will remain brief and mainly over interior and leeward areas during the afternoons. Rainfall chances may increase by the weekend, as an upper disturbance and a weak front approach the islands.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of Tuesday afternoon: Moderate easterly trades will remain in place, with low clouds and a few light showers focused over windward and mountain areas. Leeward areas will remain mostly dry, with only isolated passing showers possible.

Beginning early this morning, the ridge north of the islands will weaken in response to a series of cold fronts passing by well north of the state. This will lead to a gradual easing of the trade winds, with local land and sea breeze circulations becoming more dominant through mid-week.

Through mid-week, a more humid air mass will settle over the islands. The afternoon sea breezes will support localized cloud buildups and a few brief showers over interior and leeward areas, followed by clearing at night as offshore flowing land breezes develop.

By the latter part of the week into the weekend, moisture and rainfall chances may trend up. Global guidance indicates an upper-level disturbance approaches the region. In addition, a weak attendant front may move into the area. However, there remains considerable spread among the model solutions regarding the timing and strength of these features, so confidence in the details remains limited at this time.


https://www.weather.gov/images/hfo/graphics/npac.gif


Here’s a near real-time Wind Profile of the Pacific Ocean – along with a Closer View of the islands / Here’s the latest Weather Map / Looping Surface Precipitation…through the next 8-days / Vog Map

 

Marine Environmental Conditions…as of Tuesday afternoon: High pressure northeast of the state will drive moderate to fresh trades. The trades will ease and shift southeasterly at light to moderate levels through tonight, as an approaching front merges with a trough north of the island chain. The trough will weaken the front passing by north of the area on Wednesday, bringing light and variable winds, with sea and land breezes present near the immediate coasts.

A new high building northwest of the state will bring a return of light to moderate trades Thursday and Friday, with the trades strengthening to moderate and fresh levels over the weekend. Winds and seas are expected to remain below Small Craft Advisory thresholds through at least Friday.

A moderate medium-period northwest swell will gradually lower during the next couple of days. A new long period swell will build Wednesday night and give a nice boost to north and west shore surf Thursday and Friday, followed by a gradual decline over the weekend into early next week.

A series of overlapping south swells will keep steady small surf rolling into south facing shores during the next week.

Surf along east facing shores will remain below normal during the next 7-days, due to the lack of strong trades over and upstream of the islands.

 

 

Hawaii, Oahu, Lanikai, Bikini-clad girl running in shallow ocean water along beach shoreline.


World-wide Tropical Cyclone Activity


>>> Here’s a link to the latest Pacific Disaster Center’s Weather Wall


>>> Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

 

>>> Eastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

>>> Central Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s the link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)

 

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: 

Tropical Cyclone 05W is located approximately 88 NM north-northwest of Puluwat

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https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/wp0526.gif

 

>>> Southwest Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones



Interesting:  Integrated Land Planning Is Necessary to Meet Climate, Food and Biodiversity Goals

While the world is a big place, humans are making greater and greater demands on the same areas of land. “This means that, unless we use the same land to serve multiple needs and coordinate this effort through planning, it is unlikely that we will have enough land for conservation, food and energy,” said Grace Wu, a professor in UC Santa Barbara’s Environmental Studies Program.

An international team of researchers looked into the tradeoffs between different land uses, revealing that strategic planning would enable progress toward global biodiversity, climate and sustainable development goals simultaneously. The study, published in Nature Communications, finds that, if an integrated method for land-use planning is employed, future land development would impact 15% fewer species and cut carbon loss by 19%.

The study provides a framework for multi-sector land-use planning that considers the, often overlapping, needs of nature conservation, agriculture and renewable energy. The paper maps these needs around the world, finding that the places needed to meet targets for protected land and productive land frequently intersect.

Read More: University of California – Santa Barbara