The latest update to this website was at 917am Saturday morning (HST)

 

Here are the highest temperatures Friday afternoon…and the lowest Saturday morning:

85 / 75  Lihue AP, Kauai
m / m    Honolulu AP, Oahu
86 / 73  Molokai AP, Molokai
88 / 75  Kahului AP, Maui
87 / 78  Kona AP, Big Island
79 / 73  Hilo AP, Big Island

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

0.94  Lihue, Kauai
7.51  Maunawili, Oahu
0.44  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.40  Lanai City, Lanai
5.38  West Wailuaiki, Maui
3.46  Waiakea Uka, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) as of Saturday morning:

08  Moloaa Dairy, Kauai
18  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
18  Makapulapai, Molokai
21  Lanai 1, Lanai
15  Kahului AP, Maui
17  South Point, Big Island

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’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/GOES17/ABI/SECTOR/tpw/13/GOES17-TPW-13-900x540.gif 

 Upper level lows north and northeast, a cold front north…quickly weakening Hurricane Kristy far east (which poses no threat to Hawaii)
(click for larger version)

 


https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES17/ABI/SECTOR/hi/GEOCOLOR/GOES17-HI-GEOCOLOR-600x600.gif

Variable low clouds across the state

 

https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES17/ABI/SECTOR/hi/13/GOES17-HI-13-600x600.gif

High and middle level clouds moving across our skies

 

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

Localized showers…some are heavy

 

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

Kauai and Oahu (Satellite)

 

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

Kauai and Oahu (Radar)

 

https://www.weather.gov/images/hfo/satellite/Oahu-Maui_VIS_loop.gif

Oahu and Maui County (Satellite)

 

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

Oahu and Maui County (Radar)

 

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

 Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, and the Big Island (Satellite)

 

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

Maui County and the Big Island (Radar)

 

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

Big Island (Radar)

 

Model showing precipitation through 8-days (you can slow this animation down)

 

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

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

 

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

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Glenn’s Saturday comments:  I’m home here in upper Kula, Maui, I hope you have a great Friday wherever you happen to be spending it.

456am, quite cloudy early this morning…the low temperature here at my Kula weather tower was 56 degrees.

836am, I’m hearing from friends who live in Haiku, over on the windward side of east Maui, that it has been wet…very wet over night into this morning. It’s still cloudy here in upper Kula, although still dry.

919am, just started to sprinkle here at my place in Kula.

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview:  Light to moderate trades will persist through this evening. Periods of moderate to locally heavy rainfall will continue to spread northwestward across the island chain today and persist into Sunday, with isolated thunderstorms possible over the eastern end of the state. Breezy trades with slightly drier conditions are expected next week.

Hawaii’s Weather Details: A dissipating stationary front just north of the state is helping to keep the local pressure gradient relatively weak, which will allow light to moderate trades to persist through this evening. A plume of deeper tropical moisture is expanding northwestward across the island chain, with moderate to occasionally heavy showers impacting portions of the Big Island through Oahu.

The plume of moisture will continue to expand northwestward across the island chain through the day, while remnant moisture from the stationary front also sags south. The trades will likely be light enough to allow sea breeze convergence to tap into the increased low to mid level moisture this afternoon, bringing clouds and showers to leeward/interior areas across the island chain.

These showers will be further enhanced by an upper level shortwave trough that will deepen to our north and begin to move overhead later today. Atmospheric instability will increase as this upper level feature moves closer and will maintain the possibility for deeper convection and isolated thunderstorms, particularly for the eastern end of the state.

With all of these ingredients in play, any slow-moving heavy showers or thunderstorms will have the potential to cause nuisance type flooding on any of the islands today. However, it’s worth noting that high clouds moving in from the north may put a damper on diurnal heating and hence the sea breeze development, but model guidance is suggesting that sea breezes and their resulting showers will likely form.

Trades will gradually strengthen to become locally breezy Sunday as the front dissipates and ridging begins to build to the north. The upper level low will move more directly overhead providing increasingly unstable conditions aloft, and with plenty of low to mid level moisture still streaming across the state, it won’t take much to kick off moderate to locally heavy showers.

With the strengthening trades, showers will likely transition to focus mainly over windward areas as is typical in a wetter trade wind pattern. However, showers will also still form in the more sheltered leeward areas, including leeward and interior portions of Maui and the Big Island. Nuisance flooding will still be a concern for any slow-moving heavy showers, or for any heavy showers that anchor over any particular area.

As the upper low pushes west of the area and surface ridging builds to the north, a breezy and increasingly stable trade wind flow is expected to persist Monday through Friday. Pockets of moisture riding in on the trades will provide brief increases in windward showers during this period.

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 / Vog map animation

Hawaii’s Marine Environment:  A frontal system to the north of the islands continues to maintain light to moderate winds over the area. As the front continues weaken, expect moderate to locally strong trades to build back in due to a ridge to our north. The trades should continue to strengthen into the first half of the new week, with widespread strong trades possible by mid-week. Small Craft Advisories for the typical windy waters around Maui County and the Big Island are possible Sunday.

A mid to upper level disturbance to the northeast of the islands combined with abundant moisture moving over the region from the east, will continue the chance for thunderstorms in both the coastal and offshore waters. While the chance for thunderstorms over the coastal will diminish by Sunday, the offshore waters will have the chance into mid-week.

The nearshore buoys exposed to the north-northeast swell peaked, with the swell now on the decline. Surf along east facing shores is expected to fall below advisory levels. However, the combination of strengthening trades and a small east swell from Tropical Cyclone Kristy should continue to produce rough and elevated surf along east facing shores throughout the new week.

After a few days of strong trades, surf could build to advisory thresholds along east facing shores by the middle of the new week. Another small to moderate north swell should fill in on Sunday and peak on Monday, then gradually decline. A new south swell is expected to peak, and then slowly decline into the early part of the new week.

 

                           Kaua'i: The Kaua'i Coastal Path Through Kapaa – The Occasional Nomads

 

 

World-wide Tropical Cyclone Activity

 

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

Northeastern Pacific: 

Tropical Cyclone Kristy is located about 1210 miles west of the southern tip of Baja CA

KRISTY WEAKENING RAPIDLY

Kristy is moving toward the northwest near 14 mph. A northwestward or north-northwestward motion at a slower forward speed is expected today, followed by a turn toward the west by Sunday. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 75 mph with higher gusts. Rapid weakening is expected to continue over the weekend, and Kristy is forecast to degenerate into a remnant low on Sunday. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 30 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles.

cone graphic

>>> Western East Pacific:

A large area of showers and thunderstorms is currently located well to the southwest of the southwestern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Environmental conditions appear conducive for gradual development, and a tropical depression could form by the middle of next week while the system moves westward or west-northwestward at about 15 mph. This system is expected to move into the central Pacific basin on Wednesday or Thursday.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 7 days…medium…50 percent

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

North Central Pacific:  There are no active tropical cyclones

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

Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Tropical Cyclone 22W (Trami) is located approximately 161 NM east-northeast of Da Nang

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/wp2224.gif

Tropical Cyclone 23W (Kong-Rey) is located approximately 708 NM southeast of Kadena AB

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/wp2324.gif

Southwest Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

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

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:  Fire Speed, Not Size, Drives Threat to People, Infrastructure

Fast-growing fires were responsible for nearly 90 percent of fire-related damages despite being relatively rare in the United States between 2001-2020, according to a new CU Boulder-led study. “Fast fires,” which thrust embers into the air ahead of rapidly advancing flames, can ignite homes before emergency responders are able to intervene. The work, published today in Science, shows these fires are getting faster in the Western U.S., increasing the risk for millions of people.

The research highlights a critical gap in hazard preparedness across the U.S. — National-level fire risk assessments do not account for fire speed or provide insight into how people and communities can better prepare for rapid fire growth events.

“We hear a lot about megafires because of their size, but if we want to protect our homes and communities, we really need to appreciate and prepare for how fast fires move,” said Jennifer Balch, CIRES fellow, associate professor of Geography, and the lead author of the study. “Speed matters more for keeping people safe.”

Read more at University of Colorado at Boulder