Glenn James
Hawaii Weather Today
Founder and maintainer for 30 years 

 

The latest update to this website was at 405am Saturday (HST)

 

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

0.54  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.02  Kaala, Oahu
0.67  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.59  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.55  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

27  Lihue, Kauai – NE
31  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
25  Makapulapai, Molokai – E
31  Lanai 1,  Lanai – NE
31  Kealaloloa Rg, Maui – NE
30  Waikoloa 2, Big Island – NE

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

The high clouds clipping the islands 

 

https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES18/ABI/SECTOR/hi/GEOCOLOR/20260931840-20260940230-GOES18-ABI-HI-GEOCOLOR-600x600.gif

Low clouds arriving along the windward sides / higher level clouds arriving from the west

 

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 

 

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

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Glenn’s Aloha Friday comments:  I’m here in Corte Madera, Marin County, California on a working vacation.

432am Hawaii time, I’m here at my friend Linda’s house. It’s clear, with a chilly 34.5 degree low. BTW, when I say Hawaii time, it is 3-hours later here in California.

932am, a gorgeous day here in Marin County, warm sun and relatively cool air.

101pm, a warm day, and it’s expected to get warmer tomorrow. However, tomorrow afternoon I’m flying from the San Francisco AP north to Bend, Oregon…starting a visit with my friend Bob.

656pm, clear and calm here in Corte Madera, with the temperature 54.1 degrees.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Friday, April 3, 2026 – 99 degrees at Rio Grande Village, TX
>>> Lowest Temperature Saturday, April 4, 2026 – minus 6 degrees at Peter Sinks, UT

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of 303pm Friday: Moderate trades focus showers windward and mountain areas through the weekend. A strengthening low then brings potential for heavy rain to the islands from Tuesday night onward.

 

>>> Please note:the latest models continue to show the potential for a heavy rain event beginning in the middle of next week extending into the weekend. A new round of flooding may occur if these models are accurate. Details (which island(s) may be hit hardest, exact timing, etc) are not available this far out, due to the reality of model accuracy in the tropics. Please stay aware of the evolving forecast because this system may become a serious problem.

Confidence is beginning to increase that an upper level trough will approach from the northwest, with an associated surface low and cold front developing and moving into the region beginning around the middle of next week. This is expected to bring unsettled conditions from mid- to late next week. Gusty southerly (kona) winds are possible with this system, bringing tropical moisture northward across the Hawaiian Islands. Should this scenario materialize, it would increase our chances for moderate to heavy rain, with flooding once again becoming a concern across the state.

The extent of any potential flooding threat will depend upon how the system evolves, and how quickly it moves through the region. Also note that this weather system, and its southerly winds, also coincide with the window for the next potential episode of the Kilauea eruption (April 6-14) provided by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

 

>>> Interesting Web blog: Mauka Showers…Is El Niño on Our Summer Bingo Card?

 

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of 303pm Friday: Moderate trades focus showers windward and mountains, and a zonally oriented subtropical jet funnels abundant high clouds across area skies. High clouds likely clear out during Saturday and then return again Sunday, as subtle ridging forces it northward once again. Benign stable trade wind weather through Monday.

Attention then turns to flooding potential beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday and persisting for an uncertain period of time. This event will represent yet another flavor of low pressure evolution distinct from the two recent events. Overall, confidence in details (including timing/duration/location) is below normal owing to the dependence of the upper air pattern on the interaction of multiple relatively small-scale troughs with the larger scale flow.

Late this weekend, a mid-latitude trough will cross the dateline and will serve as the guide for a quick-moving trough, that will undergo a deepening sequence as it passes north of the islands early Tuesday. This will help establish surface pressure falls that will weaken the wind field, while eliciting a southerly flow response aloft that will draw abundant tropical moisture northward.

Ridging naturally follows on Tuesday night, suggesting a more muted response for any initial wave of rain during this time. Precipitable moisture around 2″, and still rising, will likely be established by Wednesday morning. Upper air evolution then nearly repeats itself on Wednesday, as another quick-moving trough deepens as it approaches the base of a trailing mid-latitude trough.

There is strong consensus that phasing aloft will produce a more robust surface response Wednesday into Thursday. As surface low pressure develops northwest of the island chain, the ambient wind field ramps up, and with plenty of moisture already in place, confidence increases in the Wed-Thurs time frame as a target for flooding potential.

Model consensus breaks down thereafter. The GFS allows Wednesday`s deepening trough to cutoff NW of the islands, resulting in multiple periods of forcing as troughs interact with lingering moisture, and numerous waves of rain each representing a potential flooding threat. The EC likewise allows moisture to remain in place for a prolonged period of time, but is considerably more progressive with the parent low, and suggests perhaps a wet pattern, but a low magnitude one, after Thursday.

It is worth noting that with moisture remaining in place for the foreseeable future, flash flood potential will likely have to be assessed regularly through mid-April, as any trough intruding from the mid-latitudes will have potential to cause trouble.

 

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 303pm Friday:  Moderate to locally fresh east-northeasterly trade winds will remain in place through the weekend. Winds will then begin to veer east to southeast by Monday, then become more southerly ahead of a front approaching from the northwest and a trough moving up from the southwest. This surface front and trough will be driven by an upper level trough, which could allow for isolated thunderstorms over the offshore and coastal waters through much of next week. A Small Craft Advisory remains in effect for the typically windier waters around Maui County and the Big Island through tonight.

Surf along north-facing shores will remain tiny to small through the weekend as a short-period northeast swell fades and small northwest pulses fill in. Tonight into Saturday, small, medium- period west-northwest (310 degree) energy will fill in and on Saturday night into Sunday, small, medium-period northwest (330-340 degree) energy will also fill in. Both of these small swells will bump up surf slightly for north and west facing shores. Then by Monday night through Wednesday, a moderate medium- period west-northwest (310 degree) swell will fill in and increase surf to just below advisory levels.

Along south facing shores, expect minor pulses from the South Pacific to provide periods of small surf through the weekend until a larger long-period south swell fills in Monday and lasts through at least midweek. In addition, strengthening southerly winds may lead to increasingly choppy conditions by midweek.

 



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

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

 

Northeastern Pacific:  There are no active tropical cyclones

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: There are no active tropical cyclones

 

Southwest Pacific Ocean:  

Tropical Cyclone 30P…is located approximately 717 NM northeast of Cairns, Australia

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/30P_040000sair.jpg

 

North Indian Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

 

South Indian Ocean: 

Tropical Cyclone 29S (Indusa)…is located approximately 726 NM east of Port Louis, Mauritius

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/29S_040600sair.jpg

 

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 2026 Southwest U.S. heat wave was one of the six most astonishing weather events of the century

The mind-blowing heat wave that gripped the southwest half of the United States in late March 2026 joins our semi-subjective top-six list of the meteorologically stunning extreme events this century that have most astonished us. Below is our list, including how the March 2026 mega-event compares to an earlier round of March climate madness.

The role of climate change

We know that climate change is injecting more heat into the atmosphere and ocean system. Heat is energy, which means there is more energy to power extreme weather events — particularly heat waves, droughts, and storms — that would have been virtually impossible in the 20th century.

Since climate change is also fundamentally disrupting atmospheric circulation patterns, we now have mega-unprecedented extreme events occurring with regularity. These circulation changes allow the biggest regional and local heat extremes to intensify by a much larger margin than the roughly 1.4°C increase in average global temperature since pre-industrial times.

Read more at: Yale Climate Connections