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

 

The latest update to this website was at 440pm Saturday afternoon HST


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

0.38  Wailua, Kauai
0.46  Kalawahine, Oahu
0.10  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.52  West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.62  Kulaimano, Big Island


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

17  Nawiliwili, Kauai – ENE
25  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – ESE
27  Makapulapai, Molokai – ENE 
20  Lanai 1, Lanai – NE
33  Na Kula, Maui – SE
30  Kealakomo, Big Island – E


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 south…possible tropical disturbance in the eastern Pacific  

>>> Well Southwest of the Baja California Peninsula:

A broad area of low pressure is forecast to form early next week well to the southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Environmental conditions appear conducive for additional development thereafter, and a tropical depression is likely to form during the middle part of next week while moving westward or west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph across the western portion of the East Pacific.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 7 days…high…80 percent

 

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A mix of low and high level cloudiness 

 

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Localized showers 

 

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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 Saturday comments:  I’m at home here in upper Kula, Maui, Hawaii

It’s mostly clear here in Maui County with calm winds at my place, and with a low of 50 degrees and the relative humidity is 80%

423pm, it’s partly sunny here on Maui, with the best sunshine down along the south coast from Makena up through Wailea and Kihei.


>>> Highest Temperature Saturday, May 30, 2026 – 109 degrees at Rio Grande Village, TX
>>> Lowest Temperature Saturday, May 30, 2026 – 20 degrees at Mount Washington, NH

 

Dry season (May through September 2026) outlook (NOAA)

> The NOAA Climate Prediction Center’s (CPC) latest ENSO forecast favors (~80% chance) El
Niño conditions emerging by early summer and a greater than 90% chance of El Niño
persisting through the 2026/2027 winter.
> ENSO-neutral conditions present as of March 2026. CPC issued an El Niño Watch
(El Niño conditions favored to develop within the next 6 months) on April 9 .
> While uncertainty in El Niño strength remains, there is a greater than 60% chance
for at least a strong El Niño for late fall through winter.
> Caveats: The ENSO strength probabilities are NOT the same as the probability of
realized impacts. Stronger El Niño events do NOT ensure stronger impacts, but can
make it more likely that certain impacts could occur.
> Climate model consensus and the official CPC forecast favor above-normal
precipitation for all Hawaiian Islands through early autumn, which coincides with
past El Niño impacts in Hawaii.
> The 2026 Central Pacific basin hurricane outlook from CPC indicates the likelihood
of an above-normal season for the basin, which is located north of the equator
between 140°W and the International Date Line. Tropical cyclones and their
remnants can be significant contributors to summertime rainfall in Hawaii.
> Significant wet season rainfall and the potential for above-normal summer rainfall may help
delay (but not prevent) drought development and significant wildfire risk.
> However, the resulting vegetation growth provides abundant fuel and will likely
increase the potential for significant wildfire risk once it dries out.
> CPC indicates a likely switch from above normal summer rainfall to below normal
rainfall as we head into our climatological wet season.
> Any eventual drought impacts are expected to be felt first for non-irrigated agriculture, water
systems dependent on surface water diversions, and residents relying on rainfall catchment.

 

>>> Interesting weather website: Mauka Showers…Aerial vs Satellite Views – Part 2, Unsettled Weather Case

 

>>> Blue Moon 2026: An extremely rare micromoon rises tonight

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of Saturday afternoon: Moderate trades give way to expanding land and sea breezes through Sunday. Trades then gradually strengthen through next week. A few light showers may develop over western slopes during the next 36 hours, but otherwise showers remain focused over windward coasts and slopes and mountains.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of Saturday afternoon:  Broad cyclone over the NE Pacific will steadily weaken the pressure gradient over the Hawaiian islands through Sunday. This in turn will lead to an expansion of afternoon sea breezes and overnight land breezes, particularly on Sunday, when the gradient will be at its minimum. A trough axis embedded within broader cyclonic flow aloft, will pivot through the our area late today through Monday.

Deep moisture will be drawn northward east of the Big Island by Sunday, where weak surface troughing will tend to focus shower activity mostly offshore. From Tuesday onward, ridging over the central and north Pacific will favor a return to breezy trades, as governing high pressure strengthens. As these stronger trades return, they will usher this offshore moisture over the islands on Tuesday and/or Wednesday, resulting in a brief period of enhanced shower activity. A seasonable trade wind pattern then settles in for the remainder of next week.


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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 Saturday afternoon: Moderate to fresh trade winds will steadily ease into the light to moderate range by Sunday, as the surface ridge weakens in response to broad low pressure developing near the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. This will translate to localized land and sea breezes near the coasts late this weekend through early next week. A return of moderate to fresh easterly trades is likely by mid-week as the ridge restrengthens.

An active pattern is in store for surf along south-facing shores as we head into June, due to a series of recent gale- to storm- force lows passing through our swell window near New Zealand over the past week. Overnight observations at the nearshore buoys have been trending up within the 18 second band, which supports advisory-level surf today. Expect similar conditions to hold through Sunday. As the swell gradually begins to ease Monday, long-period forerunners from the next south-southwest swell are expected to arrive. Heights may briefly dip below the advisory level by Monday night, but as the next swell fills in, surf will likely return to these levels Tuesday through mid-week as it peaks. A gradual downward trend is then expected through the second half of next week.

A combination of advisory-level surf this weekend and water levels hovering above predicted levels could lead to some wave runup issues, with water sweeping across areas of beaches that typically remain dry during the afternoon peak daily tide cycles. Water levels will steadily lower each day early next week as the next large south swell arrives.

Surf along north facing shores will remain small through Monday, then potentially trend up as a small north swell arrives by mid-week.

Expect surf along east-facing shores to gradually ease through early next week as trade winds relax. A slight increase is possible Tuesday and Wednesday, due to a combination of strengthening trades and a wrapping north swell.

 

Waves at Sandy Beach consistently form a barrel before crashing into the sand.


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

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 7 days.

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

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 7 days.

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

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 7 days.

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

 

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

Well Southwest of the Baja California Peninsula:

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A broad area of low pressure is forecast to form early next week well to the southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Environmental conditions appear conducive for additional development thereafter, and a tropical depression is likely to form during the middle part of next week while moving westward or west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph across the western portion of the East Pacific.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 7 days…medium…80 percent

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

 

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

Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will begin on June 1, 2026.

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

 

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: 

Tropical Cyclone 06W (Jangmi)…is located approximately 386 NM south of Kadena AB

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

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

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



Interesting:  New Method Turns Ocean Water Into Drinking Water, Without Waste

The energy-efficient desalination system produces fresh water without chemical additives and transforms leftover salts into useful materials.

The United Nations estimates that 2.2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water, and communities from California to the Middle East rely on desalination plants to convert ocean water to fresh water. Common desalination techniques, such as reverse osmosis and thermal distillation, are energy-intensive, require pre- and post-water treatment, and leave behind a concentrated saltwater byproduct called brine. The brine byproduct wreaks havoc on sea life when it’s deposited back into the ocean by raising the salt level and lowering oxygen in the water.

But a novel approach developed at the University of Rochester offers a way to overcome these drawbacks. Researchers at URochester’s Institute of Optics developed a new solar-thermal desalination process to produce fresh water in an energy-efficient way that does not leave behind brine and requires no chemical additives to pre-treat the water. A team led by Chunlei Guo, a professor of optics and of physics and a senior scientist at URochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, describes their method in a paper published in Light: Science & Applications.

Read More: University of Rochester

Image: Vials of seawater, Great Salt Lake water, nickel sulfate, copper chloride wastewater, and desalinated water, along with recovered salts show how a new approach developed by URochester researchers turns natural and industrial waters into fresh water and reusable minerals.