The latest update to this website was at 505pm Thursday (HST)

 

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Thursday evening:

0.57  Waialae, Kauai
6.30  Kaala, Oahu
0.17  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.09  Lanai City, Lanai
0.05  Kealia Pond, Maui
0.25  Waikoloa, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) as of Thursday evening:

21  Lihue, Kauai – S
17  Kuaokala, Oahu – SSE
23  Molokai AP, Molokai – SSW
18  Lanai 1, Lanai – S 
28  Kahului AP, Maui – SW
24  Hilo AP, Big Island – SE

 

Hawaii’s MountainsHere’s a link to the live webcams on the summit of our tallest mountain Mauna Kea (~13,800 feet high) on the Big Island of Hawaii, and atop the Haleakala Crater (~10,023 feet) 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.

 

https://weather.gc.ca/data/satellite/goes_gwdisk11_1070_100.jpg

Big Blue…click twice for largest version

 

https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES18/ABI/SECTOR/tpw/13/GOES18-TPW-13-900x540.gif

 The cold front is located just west of Kauai 

 

https://www.weather.gov/images/hfo/satellite/Hawaii_IR_loop.gif

Partly cloudy skies over the eastern islands…with towering cumulus and thunderstorms near Kauai and Oahu

 

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

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

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

Showers locally…some are heavy around Kauai to Oahu

 

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

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Glenn’s Thursday comments:  I’m here at home in upper Kula, Maui

It’s mostly clear with a few clouds here in Maui County early this morning, with a low temperature of 53.5 degrees at my place, with the relative humidity 70 percent.

1245pm, here on Maui it’s mostly sunny with just a few clouds here and there. Here at my place in upper Kula it’s very breezy!

422pm, it’s become very cloudy over the last hour or so, and it just started sprinkling here in upper Kula.

Weather Wit of the day: Winter Storm Warning – “You kids better get out and shovel the walk!”

>>> Highest Temperature Thursday, December 18, 2025 – 91 near La Puerta, TX
>>> Lowest Temperature Thursday, December 18, 2025 – minus 2 at Rolla, ND

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview: A band of moderate to heavy rain over Oahu will move toward Kauai County tonight. A flood watch is likely to be extended over Kauai County tonight. An area of moisture is forecast to move into the state from the southeast Friday into Saturday, and yet another band of moisture will move in from the east early next week. Trade winds will become re-established over the state Saturday, bringing a significant change to the southerly winds that have dominated our weather most of the past week.

Hawaii’s Weather Details: Radar and satellite have shown a persistent area of showers moving southwest to northeast across Oahu. The largest rainfall amounts has favored higher elevations on the leeward side. Thunderstorms were noted over Oahu last night, but no lightning has been detected over land since sunrise. The other islands have been mostly dry, with mostly sunny skies this morning giving way to mostly cloudy skies in the afternoon.

The flood watch currently covering Oahu and Kauai Counties will almost certainly be extended overnight for Kauai County. Look for the band of precipitation presently over Oahu to shift north and west tonight, bringing another round of moderate to heavy rainfall to Kauai and Niihau, before moving off away from the state tomorrow. Just as that area is moving away, a new area of enhanced moisture is expected to move northwest into the state Friday afternoon and Saturday. Showers from this system will be less numerous and less heavy compared to the past few days.

This latest area of moisture will be pushed off to the northwest by a return of the trades Saturday night into Sunday. Enough moisture could hang around Kauai County for continued showers into Monday, but the rest of the state should be noticeably drier. Late Monday into Tuesday, strengthening trades will bring in yet another band of moisture, this time from the northeast. The current forecast has this band moving through the state by late Wednesday, and then off to our west next Thursday.

Fire weather:  Wet weather conditions and isolated thunderstorms will trend down slightly across the western islands. Periods of clouds and scattered showers are expected for Molokai and Lanai, with drier conditions remaining in place over Maui and the Big Island. Trade winds and increasingly stable conditions will slowly return to the western half of the state from Friday into the weekend. Wind speeds and humidity levels will keep weather conditions below critical fire thresholds throughout next week.

Here’s a near real-time Wind Profile of the Pacific Ocean – along with a Closer View of the islands / Vog map animation / 8-Day Precipitation model

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

 

Hawaii’s Marine Environment: A trough near Kauai and Oahu has brought isolated to scattered thunderstorms and numerous showers, and looks to continue through Friday over the western coastal waters. Gentle to locally moderate southerly winds are expected over the coastal waters except areas along the boundary that could reach Small Craft Advisory criteria winds associated with the thunderstorms.

The general southerly wind flow will gradually decrease to light to gentle through Friday night. Easterly trade winds look to slowly build from the east to west this weekend, with the potential for Small Craft Advisory over the windier waters and channels around Maui County and the Big Island by Sunday into early next week.

Surf along north facing shores will remain elevated, with a mix across the spectrum from the west-northwest to the north. The new north-northwest swell will look to build well into High Surf Advisory (HSA) criteria and peak this afternoon into the evening. The HSA may need to be extended through Friday. The slightly smaller west-northwest swell will look to fill in and quickly fade out Friday. A combination of the north- northwest and north swells will keep surf heights elevated through the weekend, but guidance shows it at or just below HSA levels.

East facing shores will remain small given the lack of trade winds upstream of the islands, but areas exposed to the north swell will see an increase through the rest of the week. As trade winds fill in later this weekend, east shores could become rough and choppy by early next week. Surf along south facing shores will remain small due to short period wind wave chop, mainly over the western islands along the boundary, but elsewhere should remain flat to tiny through the weekend.

 

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Kauai and Oahu

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World-wide Tropical Cyclone Activity

 

Atlantic Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Caribbean Sea:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Gulf of America:  There are no active tropical cyclones

 

Northeastern Pacific:  There are no active tropical cyclones

North Central Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

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

 

Northwest Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Southwest Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

North and South Indian Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones 

South Indian Ocean:

Tropical Cyclone 08S…is located approximately 659 NM north-northwest of Learmonth, Australia

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/sh0926.gif

Arabian Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)

 

>>> Here’s a link to the Pacific Disaster Center’s (PDC Global) Weather Wall website

 

Interesting: The Climate Cost of Aviation: New Study Shows Contrails Are a Major Driver of Aviation’s Climate Impact

Aviation’s climate impact extends beyond carbon dioxide emissions.

A new international study, involving researchers from Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg, reveals that contrails can represent a significant portion of aviation’s overall climate cost – with effects that vary sharply depending on atmospheric conditions and flight paths. By analyzing data from almost half a million flights, the research team has generated new insights that can support both industry and policymakers in guiding aviation towards more climate-optimized operations.

In the Nature Communications article “The social costs of aviation CO? and contrail cirrus” researchers Daniel Johansson, Christian Azar, Susanne Pettersson, Thomas Sterner, Marc E. J. Stettler and Roger Teoh demonstrate that both CO? emissions and contrail formation contribute materially to aviation’s climate impact – and that the associated societal costs differ substantially depending on weather patterns and routing decisions.

Drawing on extensive flight and meteorological data over the North Atlantic, in combination with a contrail model and an advanced climate-economy model, the researchers estimated the climate and societal cost attributable to each emission source.

Their findings indicate that strategies to reduce the impact of contrails can yield considerable climate benefits – even if such measures require rerouting flights to avoid atmospheric regions where persistent contrails may form.

Read More: Chalmers University of Technology