Glenn James
Hawaii Weather Today
Founder and maintainer for 30 years


The latest update to this website was 623pm Thursday HST


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

0.34  Waialae, Kauai 
0.00  Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.01  Keokea, Maui
0.30  Mauna Loa Ob Stn, Big Island


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

18  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
21  Kalaeloa, Oahu – SE
17  Makapulapai, Molokai – E
18  Lanai 1,  Lanai – NE 
25  Honolua, Maui – E
23  Kealakomo, Big Island – ENE


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.

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

Thunderstorms far south 

 

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Multi-level clouds moving over some parts of the state…from the southwest

 

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

 

https://www.weather.gov/wwamap/png/hfo.png

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




~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Glenn’s Thursday comments:  I’m here in Vancouver, BC, Canada with my friend Bob, continuing on in my working vacation.

251am Hawaii time, it’s mostly clear to partly cloudy and calm, with a very chilly 33.5 degree low temperature

340pm Hawaii time, we’re back to Bend, Oregon from Vancouver, Canada, after a 9.5 hour drive.

650pm Hawaii time, I’m unpacked, although we leave day after tomorrow for an 8-hour drive down to our friend Linda’s house in Corte Madera, Marin County, CA. It’s cold here tonight, with my outdoor temperature sensor reading 32 degrees.

We leave early this morning for the long drive back down to Bend, Oregon, where Bob lives. As a result I won’t be able to update this particular page of the website until I get to Bob’s and set up my laptop, which should be around the middle of this afternoon Hawaii time.

 

 

>>> Highest Temperature Thursday, April 16, 2026 – 102 degrees at Rio Grande Village, TX
>>> Lowest Temperature Thursday, April 16, 2026 –  9 degrees near Sun Valley, ID

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of Thursday afternoon: High pressure passing to our north will bring a brief return to easterly trade winds tonight into Saturday. Isolated thunderstorms will be possible near Kauai, and also for the Big Island slopes on Friday afternoon. From this weekend into early next week, a series of low pressure systems passing just north of the state will produce southeasterly winds, along with increased shower chances over the western islands.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of Thursday afternoon: Surface observations and an advanced scatterometer pass revealed light to moderate easterly winds returning to the region today. Latest surface analysis shows that a trough is currently located about 130 miles north of Kauai, associated with a low pressure system that is now over 1600 miles northeast of the state. Though trades are gradually returning, they remained light enough today to support afternoon sea breezes, along with increased clouds and showers over select island interiors.

In addition, afternoon satellite and radar imagery shows that mid- and high clouds associated with the subtropical jet continue to stream over the eastern half of the state. A few lightning strikes were detected this afternoon, but rainfall has been sparse and light statewide today. High pressure building far to the northwest will quickly slide eastward over the next couple of days. This will mark a short-lived return to moderate easterly trade winds from tonight into the weekend.

These moderate trades will likely be strong enough to limit sea breeze development to terrain sheltered areas of the islands. However, a disturbance aloft is expected to develop northwest of the state, and Kauai (along with its coastal waters) may be close enough in proximity to this feature, to see increased showers and some isolated thunderstorm chances on Friday. In addition, daytime heating could also spark afternoon convection along the Big Island slopes. Isolated thunderstorms may occur over these two areas on Friday, with the central islands remaining drier.

By Saturday, winds will start to veer a bit more east-southeast as a low develops to our northwest, and eventually more southeast to southerly by Sunday. This southerly flow will draw moisture northward in our vicinity. As previous discussions have mentioned, as of now the low appears to track far enough north to limit heavy rain potential over the islands, though increasing instability and shower chances are possible during the second half of the weekend into the first of next week.


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

 

Marine Environmental Conditions: Trough to the NW maintains gentle to moderate easterly trades. The strongest breezes will occur through the typical windy channels surrounding Maui and the Big Island. Building high pressure then supports moderate to locally fresh easterly trades across the waters Friday into Saturday. Winds may briefly reach the Small Craft Advisory threshold on Saturday. Low pressure to our NW on Sunday will cause trades to weaken slightly and veer to ESE. Gentle to moderate ESE winds are expected Sunday into early next week.

A small, short-period, NNW swell fades tonight. Small background energy from the W this weekend into next week from Typhoon Sinlaku, but confidence remains low. A much larger NW to WNW swell is possible towards the end of next week as Typhoon Sinlaku transitions to extratropical early next week.

A small to moderate, medium-period, SSE swell boosts surf along S shores through Friday, then lowers over the weekend. Surf along E shores remains below the seasonal average as trades remain light. However, increasing trades by week`s end should bring a slight bump to surf. Low pressure advancing S along the W coast of the US next week then sends a small, medium period NE swell toward the islands by mid-week.

 

the best beach oahu hawaii kawaaa beach


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 04W (Sinlaku)…is located approximately 42 NM west-northwest Agrihan

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/04W_161800sair.jpg

 

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

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



Interesting:  U of A Research Finds Improved Weather Forecasts Could Reduce Heat Deaths as Climate Warms

When extreme weather looms, timely and accurate warnings can give people the chance to adjust their plans, brace for danger and, in the most severe cases, make decisions that keep them safe. Does that mean improving weather forecasts could save more lives in a warming climate?

Derek Lemoine, Arizona Public Service professor of economics at the University of Arizona Eller College of Management, is part of a team that recently answered that question. The team’s research, published in the journal PNAS, suggests that improving short-term temperature forecasts in alignment with expert predictions of technological development could reduce U.S. mortality from heat by 18% to 25% in the year 2100.

“That could offset the extra heat-related deaths caused by climate change,” Lemoine said. “To be clear, we would still rather not experience the climate change – but at least we can find ways to potentially cancel out the increased mortality. While extreme cold is very deadly, people primarily use weather forecasts to avoid the heat. Considering climate change will increase the frequency of extreme heat, accurate weather forecasts will become more valuable.”

Read More: University of Arizona

Image: Depending on the range of technological improvements and climate change, researchers found that improving short-term temperature forecasts in alignment with expert predictions of technological development could reduce U.S. mortality from heat by 18% to 25% in the year 2100.

Plants are growing higher up mountains across the Himalayan region, new research shows.The study – led by the University of Exeter – examined the alpine “vegetation line” (the upper limit of continuous plants) in six regions across the Himalaya, from Ladakh, India in the far west of the mountain range, to the extreme east in Bhutan.From 1999 to 2022, the vegetation line shifted upwards in all six regions – ranging from 1.42 metres per year in Khumbu (home of Mount Everest) to 6.95 metres per year in Manthang, Nepal.With the climate warming, the team highlighted reduced snow depth as a key potential explanatory driver of these changes.Read More at: University of ExeterImage: Karakoram region – a westward view from 3,900 m a.s.l. on Khosar Gang mountain, located close to our westernmost study region, Ladakh