The latest update to this website was at 920am Wednesday (HST)

 

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

0.36  Waimea Heights, Kauai
0.02  Waiwa, Oahu
0.16  Molokai AP, Molokai
0.01  Lanai City, Lanai
0.07  Kepuni, Maui
0.45  Kaiholena, Big Island

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

15  Moloaa Dairy, Kauai
09  Makua Range, Oahu
07  Makapulapai, Molokai
09  Lanai 1, Lanai 
12  Launiupoko 2, Maui
16  Puuanahulu, 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

 Low with its associated cold front northwest…thunderstorms well south 

 

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

 Leading edge of a cold front approaching Kauai

 

 

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…especially near Kauai

 

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

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Glenn’s Wednesday comments:  I’m here in upper Kula Maui as we’ve reached hump day of the week

It’s very clear here in Maui County early this morning…with a chilly low temperature of 49 degrees at my place.

Weather Wit of the day: I love those recorded forecasts. I just heard one that said “A hurricane is expected with winds of one hundred and forty miles per hour, tides six feet above normal and ten inches of rain! Have a nice day.”

>>> Highest Temperature Tuesday, December 2, 2025 – 88 near Boca Raton, Florida
>>> Lowest Temperature Wednesday, December 3, 2025 – minus 6 at Crosby, ND

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview: Light winds will prevail and maintain a dry, mostly stable land and sea breeze regime across much of the state. A slow-moving cold front will stall just west of Kauai today, resulting in enhanced shower activity and increased cloud coverage across much of the Garden Isle through this evening, before the front weakens to a trough and retrogrades back westward. High pressure builds northeast of the state tomorrow, allowing moderate trades to return as well as showers across windward and mountain areas lasting through early next week.

Hawaii’s Weather Details: Light winds will prevail and maintain stable and mostly dry conditions, allowing a land and sea breeze pattern to dominant across the Hawaiian Islands. The highlighted feature remains to be a slow-moving cold front northwest of the islands that continues to propagate toward Kauai. Latest model guidance of the GFS and ECMWF are in decent agreement that the front will ultimately stall just west of Kauai.

That said, pre-frontal shower activity, especially over northern slopes and interior areas of the Garden Isle could experience over an inch of precipitation prior to the front weakening to a trough, and retrograding back westward in the absolute wettest scenario. The latest Total Precipitable Water Normalized Anomaly from the GFS and ECWMF both depict roughly 1 to 2 standard deviations above normal over Kauai as the front approaches. This isn’t implying a widespread heavy shower event, but it is suggesting that, even though the front is anticipated to stall west of Kauai, it may still bring in a significant amount of moisture.

With models lining up a bit better than previous runs, confidence has increased that this will be the most likely scenario as the front crawls towards Kauai. Meanwhile, the remainder of the state will remain un-impacted under the same dry, mostly stable land and sea breeze regime through the next couple of days.

The aforementioned front also has an impact on retaining the subtropical ridge near Kauai, leading to predominately southeasterly background flow, as depicted by the latest observations. As a result, this has carried some volcanic emissions (vog) from the most recent Kilauea activity across portions of the state. While many of the air quality sensors across leeward Big Island show slightly higher concentrations, the overall consensus depicts the highest concentrations remain west of the state and are not significantly impacting the islands themselves. Moreover, visibility does not seem to be restricted much either, though some haze may still persist in low-lying areas.

The broad surface-level high pressure system well northeast of the islands will gradually build tomorrow, as the weakened front exits the area. Trades will respond accordingly to the tightened pressure gradient, strengthening to a more moderate pattern, further pushing any of the remaining deeper moisture away from Kauai. Conversely, expect a more typical trade shower pattern mainly over windward and mountain areas across the state, prevailing through early next week.

Fire weather: Critical fire weather conditions are not expected this week. Light winds will persist through the day, with increased rainfall probability on Kauai associated with an advancing frontal passage. Elsewhere across the state will remain dry and mostly stable. Moderate trades will be below the critical fire weather threshold Friday into early next week. The temperature inversion heights over Maui and the Big Island will range from 6,500 to 7,500 feet.

Here’s a near real-time Wind Profile of the Pacific Ocean – 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: A cold front approaching from the northwest is expected to stall west of Kauai, before weakening to a trough Thursday and retrograding back to the west. Thursday through this weekend, a ridge of high pressure is expected to strengthen northeast of the region, which will allow moderate to locally strong easterly trades.

As trades increase, a Small Craft Advisory (SCA) will likely be needed for the typical windier zones surrounding Maui and the Big Island. A moderate to large NW swell could also bring seas to SCA criteria Thursday night into Friday. So at this time, a SCA for winds to 25 knots and higher seas look likely by Thursday afternoon.

The current moderate, medium period northwest swell (310-330) has been holding at the nearshore buoys. Meanwhile the next swell (310-330) reached Buoy 51101 to the northwest of the islands. This swell is expected to reach Kauai and then Oahu a little later. This is the first in a series of northwest to north-northwest (310-340) swells that are expected over the coming days. This swell will be reinforced by another on Thursday that should bring surf to advisory levels Thursday into Friday. Another slightly larger northwest swell is expected to arrive on Friday, which will maintain the elevated surf.

East shore surf will remain small due to weak winds, then become choppier by Thursday as trade winds increase Thursday through the weekend. Expect minimal background energy for south facing shores through much of the week.

There is the potential for minor coastal flooding from December 4th to December 6th. Peak monthly tides combined with water levels that are running higher than predicted, could lead to minor flooding along the shoreline and in low-lying coastal areas. Coastal flooding is possible around the daily peak tide, which will be during the early morning hours. This could also magnify effects of the expected high surf on coastal areas around the same time frame.



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:  There are no active tropical cyclones

North and South 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:  Student Expands Research on Microplastics in Hawaiian Waters

After graduating from Kalaheo High School, Hope Kanoa knew she wanted to focus on Hawaii’s water resources while attending the University of Hawaii at M?noa. She found a fitting option in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), which offers a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Earth Science.

As an undergraduate student, Kanoa conducted a research project with Xiaolong (Leo) Geng, assistant professor in the SOEST Department of Earth Sciences, to measure the concentration of microplastic in coastal environments around Oahu. After working on this project together, Geng extended an invitation for Kanoa to join his research group as a master’s student.

“Its incredible to see how connected different reservoirs of water are in Hawaii,” Kanoa said. “I’m very interested in addressing the challenge of modeling how this contaminant is transported on and in our islands.”

“Hope has demonstrated an exceptional ability to work across disciplines, connecting fieldwork, laboratory analysis, and environmental science outreach,” Geng shared. “She is never afraid to try new approaches, and her willingness to step outside her comfort zone has been a defining strength in her growth as a researcher.”

Read More: University of Hawaii

Image: Kanoa doing field work on Maui with colleagues.