The latest update to this website was at 902pm Wednesday (HST)

 

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

0.29  N Wailua Ditch, Kauai
0.12  Hakipuu Mauka, Oahu
0.27  Honolimaloo, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.35  Hana AP, Maui
1.34  Laupahoehoe PD, Big Island 

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

18  Barking Sands, Kauai – SE
12  Kuaokala, Oahu – S
17  Makapulapai, Molokai – E 
07  Lanai 1,  Lanai – WNW
10  Honolua, Maui – SE
24  Moana Loa Obs, 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/GOES18/ABI/SECTOR/tpw/13/GOES18-TPW-13-900x540.gif

Variable clouds with still quite a bit of moisture over the state…with more coming

 

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

Middle level clouds moving over the state from the northwest 

 

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

 

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

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

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

526am Wednesday morning, there’s no wind, variably cloudy skies here at my place, with the low temperature 56 degrees, along with the relative humidity 75%.

925am, lots of middle level clouds, essentially no lower level clouds that I can see from here in upper Kula. My temperature is 65.4 degrees with the relative humidity 75%

508pm, it got foggy this afternoon, although that’s gone now with partly cloudy skies here in Maui County.

6pm, it’s very foggy, and the temperature has dropped to 64.5 degrees here at my Kula weather tower

9pm, there’s a break in the clouds here in upper Kula this evening, with stars actually showing themselves for a change. The temperature has dropped to 57.3 degrees here at my place.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Wednesday, March 18, 2026 – 108 degrees near North Shore, CA
>>> Lowest Temperature Wednesday, March 18, 2026 – minus 12 degrees at Mount Washington, NH

 

– Heavy rain is expected from Thursday through Sunday. Highest rain likely focused on Oahu, Maui County and Big Island (Kauai on fringes of main impacts)
– While this storm may not be as strong as last week’s kona low, individual areas may be impacted differently depending on where rain bands set up
– Ground is saturated and it will take less rain to get flooding

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of 829pm Wednesday: A weather pattern featuring light winds, mostly cloudy skies, and scattered to numerous showers will continue through tonight. The weather will once again become more active beginning as early as Thursday as a new low develops, bringing renewed chances for heavy rain and moderate kona winds, especially for Friday into the weekend.

Given the high soil saturation from the recent kona storm, even moderate rainfall rates could pose a risk for rapid runoff and flooding, especially during the latter portion of the week. The extended range forecast shows cool northeasterly trade winds returning from Monday into Tuesday, wet trade winds are expected to last through much of next week.

Short Term Update…as of 829pm Wednesday: Deep cloud cover continues to develop over the Hawaii region, in response to a low pressure system moving in from the west, with upper level troughing and jet stream support. Expect a brief break in the widespread rainfall in a southeasterly wind flow pattern lasting into Thursday morning. Winds then veer from a more southerly direction from Thursday afternoon onward, pulling up additional moisture from the deep tropics.

Several weak surface lows, supported by upper level troughing, will drift through the islands from Thursday night through Sunday. The large scale forcing will move the heaviest showers to different islands in pulses of activity throughout this event. A Flood Watch remains in effect for most of the Hawaiian Islands for this event. This watch may be expanded statewide, as run to run model guidance continues to show differences in where and when the heaviest showers may develop.

Hawaii’s Weather Details…as of 316pm Wednesday:  An elongated surface trough extending from a low in the NW Pacific, serves as the focus for a weak surface low development west of Kauai this evening. This low is forming within a corridor of  a very light wind field.

In advance of the low, deep layer subsidence prevails over the islands, in maintenance of benign weather tonight into Thursday. Mid-level forcing steadily increases Thursday into Saturday, allowing aforementioned low pressure to strengthen, and increasingly deep SW kona wind flow to deliver waves of moderate to heavy rainfall to the islands heading into the weekend.

Thursday night, satellite indicates ample upstream moisture in the form of a high coverage of low clouds, and a few thunderstorms well west of Kauai. This will be the initial moisture push into the forecast area late Thursday. Atmospheric oundings remain fairly saturated from moisture left in place by the last event.

The initial slug of moisture also arrives coincident with a moderate increase in conditional instability. These factors increase confidence in model depictions of deep convection with relatively high rain rates. Low-level convergence is sorely lacking during this time, but strengthening SW winds aloft will provide a background of widespread weak ascent Thursday night, suggesting disorganized but potentially widespread convection.

Friday, mid-level dry air sweeps across the far western end of the state leaving the deepest moisture over Oahu through Maui, the eastern extent of the moisture band further displaced from evolving forcing aloft. For this reason, the heavier rainfall on Friday will fall over Maui and Oahu as opposed to the Big Island.

Friday night through Sunday represents the peak of the event, as forcing strengthens considerably during this period, and multiple embedded troughs rotate around the parent trough and across the state. The rather weak area of upstream low pressure will begin to advance northeast and strengthen, which will aid in the development of enhanced surface convergence and better potential for organized heavy rainfall, somewhere in the central portion of the state Friday night into Saturday.

Large scale forcing and moderate right entrance jet support will peak late Saturday into Sunday leading to the greatest potential for heavy rainfall. Rain rates may be particularly intense during this time. However, the upper wave digs sufficiently deep that it will usher the heavy rain band south of the Big Island by Sunday night. Thus, the peak rainfall potential will coincide with an increasingly progressive heavy rain band.

The initially weak nature of the low and subtle surface convergence features lend themselves to lower than normal forecast confidence. A Flood Watch has been issued for Oahu, Maui County, and the Big Island with the highest confidence over Oahu and Maui County at this time. Flash flood potential for Kauai is non-zero, but low confidence does not support Watch issuance there at this time.

Note that saturated soils will favor increased flooding potential even though overall rainfall will not match the previous system. Finally, wind is of no concern this time around. Winds may peak in the 12-17 mph range, except with some higher gusts possible within deep convection.

Trades return late Monday or Monday night. The lingering moisture band remains in place during this time, and may provide a focus for enhanced trade wind showers over windward Big Island during the early to middle portion of next week.

 

Here’s a near real-time Wind Profile of the Pacific Ocean – Zoom Earth – 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…as of 406am Wednesday: Light to locally moderate east to southeast winds will slowly strengthen to moderate speeds by Thursday, as a ridge builds to the north of the state. Winds across the coastal waters will veer to the south by Thursday into the weekend. By this weekend, a weak low approaching from the west traverses across the state and begins to lift north on Saturday, which appears likely to maintain light to moderate southerly winds for the area.

Offshore NDBC buoy northwest of the islands continues to rise as this growing north-northwest swell continues to exceed guidance. Therefore, the High Surf Advisory has been extended for north facing shores of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai and Maui. Surf will gradually decline through Friday as the swell shifts out of the north and north-northeast. A new small to moderate long period west-northwest swell is expected to arrive late Saturday and hold through early next week.

Surf along south shores will see moderate surf just below High Surf Advisory (HSA) criteria as the long period south swell continues to fill in, and will hold through Thursday. Surf along east facing shores will remain well below average due to the lack of trades locally and upstream. The exception will be for east facing shores exposed to north-northeast swells Thursday through the weekend.

 

Hawaii Kauai Beaches: A Guide for Families -



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: 

Tropical Cyclone 27P (Narelle)…is located approximately 229 NM north-northeast of Cairns, Australia

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/27P_190000sair.jpg

North Indian Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

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:  What are El Niño and La Niña, and how do they change the weather?

Getty Images A woman drinks water on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during a heatwave. She is wearing a black vest top and a light brown cap. Palm trees are visible in the background.

El Niño and La Niña are the two opposite states of a natural climate phenomenon called the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

El Niño and La Niña occur in the Pacific but can affect weather systems across the world.

The two states are often identified by sea surface temperatures in the tropical eastern and central Pacific Ocean. During El Niño, these waters are warmer; during La Niña, they are cooler.

The phases can also be distinguished by differences in atmospheric pressure. During El Niño, pressure is above normal at Darwin, Australia (western Pacific) and below normal at Tahiti, French Polynesia (central Pacific). For La Niña, the opposite is true.

In “neutral” conditions – neither El Niño nor La Niña – surface water in the Pacific Ocean is cooler in the east and warmer in the west.

Trade winds tend to blow east-to-west, and heat from the Sun progressively warms the waters as they move in this direction.

During El Niño, these winds weaken or reverse, sending warm surface waters eastwards instead.

In La Niña periods, the normal east-to-west winds become stronger, pushing warmer waters further west.

This causes cold water to rise up – or “upwell” – from the depths of the ocean, meaning sea surface temperatures are cooler than usual in the east Pacific.

The phenomenon was first observed by Peruvian fisherman in the 1600’s, who noticed that warm waters seemed to peak near the Americas in December.

They nicknamed it “El Niño de Navidad” – Christ Child in Spanish.

Read more…BCC