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

 

The latest update to this website was at 505pm Thursday evening HST


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

3.23  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.44  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.12  Honolimaloo, Molokai
1.16  Lanai City, Lanai
0.74  Ulupalakua, Maui
0.55  Puu Waawaa, Big Island


The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Thursday evening: 

23  Port Allen, Kauai – E
25  Honolulu AP, Oahu – NE
30  Makapulapai, Molokai – E
33  Lanai 1, Lanai – ENE
43  Na Kula, Maui – SE 
38  Puuloa, Big Island – NE


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 (out of operation). 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/GOES19/ABI/SECTOR/eep/13/GOES19-EEP-13-900x540.gif

  A tropical disturbance (Invests 90C) is southwest of Hawaii…Tropical Cyclone 05E (Elida) offshore from Mexico

 

https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES18/ABI/SECTOR/hi/GEOCOLOR/20261971810-20261980200-GOES18-ABI-HI-GEOCOLOR-600x600.gif

Variable low clouds…high clouds in the vicinity

 

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

Localized showers 

 

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

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




~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

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

503am, it’s mostly clear here in upper Kula with calm winds, and a low temperature at my place of 53  degrees…with the relative humidity 82%

910am, mostly sunny with a few fair weather clouds around here and there.

135pm, it’s partly to mostly cloudy here in Maui County, although it still looks sunny down along the beaches. I saw a couple of sprinkles here in upper Kula when I got back from playing pickleball in Makawao, although they didn’t amount to much.

435pm, it’s still partly cloudy, and the trade winds as expected are increasing in strength

 

>>> Highest Temperature Thursday, July 16, 2026 – 121 at Stovepipe Wells, CA
>>> Lowest Temperature Thursday, July 16, 2026 – 34 degrees at Foxpark, WY

 

Hawaii’s Weather Highlights…as of Thursday evening: Locally breezy trade winds will remain through most of the weekend, before easing a bit early next week. Fairly typical summertime weather is expected through the week, with showers favoring windward and mountain areas.

Weather Commentary…as of Thursday evening: Dominant high pressure far north of the area will maintain locally breezy east-northeast trade winds through Saturday. By Sunday into early next week, the high looks to get disrupted just a little by a cold front passing by far north of the area. This will allow trade winds to weaken a little bit during the beginning of next week. Long range guidance then shows the high re-strengthening, and allowing trades to become breezy again during the second half of next week.

A ridge aloft will maintain stable conditions that will limit shower intensity, and keep windward rainfall totals on most islands less than a quarter of an inch for the time being. Aside from scattered afternoon showers on the Kona slopes, leeward areas will experience little rainfall.

A typical summertime shower distribution can be expected through the week into next week, with mainly windward and mountain showers with afternoon showers for the Kona slopes. Windward and mountain showers will also have a slight boost during the overnight/early morning hours, with all showers remaining mostly light.

 

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


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 Conditions…as of Thursday evening: As high pressure far north of the islands edges slightly south and east through this weekend and interacts with a couple of lows and troughs passing to the south and southwest of Hawaii, trades will remain fresh to strong. A Small Craft Advisory (SCA) is in effect for the windier channels and waters around Maui County and the Big Island through early Saturday morning. This SCA will likely need to be extended through at least Saturday night before weakening high pressure to the north allows winds to diminish once again into early next week.

A small, long-period west-northwest swell from former Super Typhoon Bavi will maintain similar surf heights along west-facing and north- facing shores tonight before gradually subsiding Friday into the weekend. This swell is overlapping for some west-facing shores with a gradually fading small, medium-period southwest Tasman Sea swell and will continue to produce somewhat below average surf for south-facing shores as both swells fade. North-facing shores return to flat to tiny surf by this weekend with the loss of the west-northwest swell.

Surf returns to near average for south-facing shores late Friday with a reinforcing small, long-period south-southwest swell. This swell then fades through the weekend. Then a moderate, long-period south swell will arrive Sunday and build through early next week, bringing the potential for above-average (though sub-advisory) surf.

Surf along east-facing shores will gradually build up a notch and become choppy as trades strengthen through the weekend. Early to midweek next week, there`s potential for a small to moderate, medium-period swell to arrive, generated from Tropical Storm Elida.

 

The Best Hawaiian Islands For Hiking, Surfing, and Beaches - AFAR


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


Eastern Tropical Atlantic:

Showers and thunderstorms associated with a tropical wave located southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands remain disorganized. Development, if any, should be slow to occur during the next day or two while the system moves generally west-northwestward at about 10 mph. By this weekend, the system is forecast to move into a hostile environment, and further development is not expected.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent
* Formation chance through 7 days…low…10 percent

 

Northeastern Gulf of America and Offshore of the Southeastern U.S.:

An area of low pressure is forecast to form this weekend over the northeastern Gulf of America. Some gradual development of this system is possible while it moves slowly northeastward over the northeastern Gulf and near the coast of the southeastern United States early next week.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent.
* Formation chance through 7 days…low…20 percent

 

>>> 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)

 

Northeast Pacific:

Tropical cyclone 05E (Elida)…is located about 770 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja California

ELIDA FORECAST TO BECOME A HURRICANE ON FRIDAY

According to the NHC Advisory number 10

Elida is moving toward the west near 10 mph. A turn toward the west-northwest is expected tonight and Friday, followed by a northwestward motion through the weekend. Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph with higher gusts. Strengthening is forecast during the next day or so, and Elida is expected to become a hurricane on Friday. Weakening is forecast to begin later this weekend and continue through early next week. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles from the center.

https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES19/ABI/SECTOR/eep/13/GOES19-EEP-13-900x540.gif

 

>>> Well Offshore of Southern and Southwestern Mexico:

A tropical wave located several hundred miles south of the coast of southern Mexico is producing a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions appear conducive for development of this system, and a tropical depression is likely to form by later this weekend while it moves west-northwestward to northwestward at 10 to 15 mph over the central portion of the Eastern Pacific.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…medium…40 percent
* Formation chance through 7 days…high…90 percent

 

>>> Eastern and Central east Pacific:

A broad area of low pressure is forecast to develop well to the south of Mexico during the middle to latter part of next week. Environmental conditions could support some gradual development of this system thereafter while it moves westward to west-northwestward across eastern and central portions of the Eastern Pacific.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 7 days…low…20 percent

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

 

Central Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclone

https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES18/ABI/SECTOR/tpw/13/GOES18-TPW-13-900x540.gif


>>> Well Southwest of the Hawaiian Islands:

Invest 90C

A broad area of low pressure located a few hundred miles southeast of Johnston Atoll is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms well to the east of its center. Some slow development of this system remains possible during the next day or so while it moves slowly northwestward toward the vicinity of Johnston Atoll. By this weekend, unfavorable environmental conditions are expected to limit any further development.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…20 percent
* Formation chance through 7 days…low…20 percent

 

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

>>> 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 Eruption in the Bismarck Sea

It’s a truism among oceanographers that there is more accurate mapping of the surface of the Moon and Mars than of the deep-ocean floor. That’s especially true for the Bismarck Sea, a relatively deep body of water north of Papua New Guinea. It’s an ocean basin with a geologically complex seafloor rife with faults, volcanic features, rifts, scarps, and active subduction and spreading zones at depths that make high-resolution sonar mapping challenging.

When satellites detected signs of an unexpected submarine volcanic eruption in the Central Bismarck Sea on May 8, 2026, volcanologists were confronted with the reality that no high-resolution maps of the area were available, and relatively little is known about the deep-water eruption setting. The new eruption is thought to be occurring along the Titan Ridge, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) southeast of the location of a submarine eruption in 1972. However, there is little clarity or consensus among scientists about precisely which volcanic feature may be erupting, the original depth of the currently active vent, or when it last erupted.

“The good news is that there are huge opportunities to explore and learn using both government and commercial satellite platforms already in orbit,” said Jim Garvin, the chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Read More: NASA Earth Observatory

Image: Floating pumice and green, discolored water extend southwest from the eruption site as a white volcanic plume drifts west overhead in this image acquired by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Terra satellite on May 15, 2026.