The latest update to this website was 832pm Wednesday evening (HST)

 

Air Temperatures – The following high temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday…along with these low temperatures Wednesday morning: 

84 – 71  Lihue AP, Kauai
81 – 73  Honolulu AP, Oahu
81 – 71  Molokai AP, Molokai
83 – 67  Kahului AP, Maui 
85 – 73  Kona AP, Hawaii
84 – 68  Hilo AP, Hawaii 

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

0.52  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.39  Waiawa, Oahu
0.21  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.30  Lanai AP, Lanai
0.35  Pukalani, Maui
2.82  Laupahoehoe, Big Island

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

18  Port Allen, Kauai
25  Kuaokala, Oahu
16  Molokai aP, Molokai
18  Lanai 1, Lanai
22  Kahului AP, Maui
13  Hilo Harbor, Big Island

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. 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 

A deep low far north, with an associated cold front nearing Kauai
(click for larger version)

 


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

 Heavy showers and thunderstorms remain offshore to the north and northeast…and to the southwest too

 

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

Light southerly winds…locally gusty

 

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

Showers locally…some remain heavy around Kauai and Oahu

 

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 Wednesday comments: I’m home here in upper Kula, Maui, Hawaii

Good day everyone, I hope you have a great Wednesday wherever you happen to be spending it.

518am, it’s partly cloudy this morning here in Kula, with a low temperature of 53.5 degrees at my place.

632am, clouds, at least here in my area of upper Kula, have increased since my last observation. Radar shows that there are many showers in the vicinity of the state, although they seem to be staying away from Maui at the time of this writing.

843am, it’s partly to mostly cloudy here in Kula, although I can see sunshine beaming down in the central valley here on Maui.

1220pm, it’s turned mostly sunny early this afternoon, at least here on Maui, along with off and on gusty kona winds. It’s starting to look like Oahu may catch the brunt of this wet weather episode, although time will tell.

220pm, at the time of this writing, the atmosphere here along the leeward slopes of the Haleakala Crater appears to be not shower prone at all. It’s mostly sunny and windy, although far from showery. However, looking at the latest satellite imagery, Kauai and Oahu are where the showers are…some of which are heavy.

508pm, clouds out ahead of the cold front, which will be moving over Kauai, are evident offshore to the south of Oahu, and southwest of Maui County. My high temperature today was a rather muggy 73.2 degrees.

653pm, it just started to sprinkle here in Kula, and there’s fog in this vicinity as well.

722pm, I was sitting here watching the weather with my lights off, and all the sudden a Hawaiian Owl (Pueo) flew very close to my weather tower! I honestly haven’t seen one in so long, and I consider that a very positive omen!

Significant flash flooding possible with kona low (Wednesday afternoon update)  / A developing kona low will bring the potential for a prolonged period of heavy rain and thunderstorms, beginning tonight and continuing into the weekend. The slow-moving low will remain far to the north, while associated rain bands are expected to develop and linger over portions of the state. Heavy showers forming within these bands may repeatedly move over the islands from the south, with high rainfall rates leading to significant and widespread flooding, especially over leeward areas.

Oahu is expected to see the greatest impacts initially, as the rain band develops tonight, and moving little through Thursday night. Heavy rain is also possible across portions of Maui County, particularly Molokai and Lanai. The rain band is expected to drift west on Friday, with the threat of heavy rain shifting towards Kauai, where the potential for heavy rain may persist through the weekend.

The flash flood threat has diminished farther east and the Big Island has been removed from the Flood Watch. Locally strong southerly winds remain possible, particularly across South Hilo and lower Puna Districts.

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview:  A kona low developing about 500 miles north of Kauai, will intensify and meander around well northwest of the islands into next week. The low has turned our local winds southerly, pulling copious moisture from the deep tropics over the islands.

The deep tropical moisture will converge along a cold front, and will produce a prolonged period of heavy rain over Oahu and possibly parts of Maui County tonight through Thursday. Excessive rainfall and flash flooding will be the main concern. Significant flooding will be possible over Oahu over the next few days and the threat will shift towards Kauai on Friday.

Other areas away from the main band could see spotty downpours and localized flooding problems as well. The weather over the Aloha State this weekend and beyond will depend highly on the later evolution and movement of the kona low far to our northwest.

Hawaii’s Weather Details:  A kona low has developed north of Kauai and will bring a multi-day heavy rain event mainly starting this afternoon over the western half of the state, and really ramping up over Oahu tonight. Not everywhere across the state will see the heavy rain and flooding impacts, but in the areas that do see heavy rain, significant flooding will be possible.

The best way to describe this unusual weather event, is like a fire hose shooting water. A steady stream of rain will be concentrated along a band, and latest model guidance is coming into better agreement that the fire hose will be focused mainly over Oahu.

For Oahu, numerous showers will be moving in throughout the day today from the south, with heavy rain showers and embedded thunderstorms ramping-up tonight. Confidence is increasing for the fire hose of rain to focus over Oahu tonight throughout the day Thursday, and persisting through Thursday night.

Initial rainfall estimates for Oahu is a widespread 4 to 6 inches of rain with isolated pockets of 8 to 10 inches through Thursday night. The most likely area for the heaviest rainfall totals will be over leeward and mountain areas. The time period for the heaviest rainfall rates should be starting around midnight tonight and persisting through Thursday, with steady 1 inch per hour rates and pockets of 2 inch per hour rates.

Heavier rates will be possible with any thunderstorms. Due to the widespread rain event, large rises should be expected over streams. Weather conditions should gradually improve Friday, but will still remain quite showery. For the weekend, there is still quite a bit of uncertainty with the rain coverage on Oahu.

For Maui County, although the current forecast is for the fire house of rain to be focused over Oahu, a slight shift toward the east could bring steady periods of heavy rain over parts of Maui County. For now, look for showers to continue to move in from the south through the rest of the day today, with an increase of moderate to locally heavy showers tonight through Thursday night.

The most likely area for the heavier showers will likely be from west Maui westward including Lanai and especially Molokai where they will be closer to the heavy bands of rain. Breezy east to east-southeast trades will fill in on Friday, which will bring stable conditions and drier conditions over leeward areas. As far as east Maui goes, passing showers will likely increase Friday. Over the weekend, we will likely see breezy to locally strong easterly trades. Some low level moisture could linger around the area, which could bring some showery conditions over the windward areas at times.

For Big Island, confidence is fairly high that the main moisture band will remain east of the Big Island. Some spotty afternoon showers will continue to remain possible, especially over the slopes, although the atmosphere should be too stable to produce heavy rain rates. Over the Kau and Puna districts, steady south winds will likely bring showery weather to the area but intensities should remain light to moderate.

A Flood Watch still remains in effect, although it may be dropped this afternoon. As far as winds, look for breezy southerly winds to pick up today, and become strong and gusty on Thursday and possibly Friday. Wind gusts of up to 40 mph will be possible across select localized areas downwind of terrain over Puna and South Hilo districts and areas just north of the Kona airport in the north Kona district.

For Kauai, showers will increase throughout the day today and tonight, especially over leeward areas. As the frontal boundary moves through this evening, shower coverage should decrease for most areas tonight, but increase over north Kauai where periods of moderate rain will be possible on Thursday.

Although it will be wet and showery at times through Thursday, the main heavy rain event will likely begin on Friday and likely persist through the weekend. There is still quite a bit of uncertainty regarding this weekend, as a vigorous trough swings through the area. Stay tuned for more details, but there is potential for a significant flooding event over Kauai starting Friday through the weekend.

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

Hawaii’s Marine Environment:  Low pressure developing north of Kauai will usher a cold front toward the state from the northwest. The front will advance eastward until stalling over Oahu late Thursday and weakening. The remnant boundary will then drift west during the remainder of the week. Heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected along and ahead of the front.

A series of overlapping south swells will maintain near to below average surf along south facing shores through the near term. Renewed energy out of the southerly quadrant will then fill in late tonight, bringing above average surf by Thursday. Surf remains elevated through the weekend.

The existing small northwest swell will peak. By tonight, a fresh northwest swell, associated with the developing low will spread into the area. The forecast peak is near to just below the High Surf Advisory threshold Thursday into Friday.

West facing shores see a rise in surf through the week, due to overlapping northwest and south swells wrapping into exposed areas. Surf along east facing shores remains well below normal through the weekend.

 

Hawaii, Maui, Lahaina, Rainbow In Front Of West Mauis Mountain Range With Sailboat In Ocean. - PacificStock

 

 

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

>>> Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 7 days…for the areas above

Northeastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> An area of low pressure is forecast to form several hundred miles to the south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec within the next couple of days. Gradual development is possible thereafter, and a tropical depression could form over the weekend while the system moves slowly to the west-northwest or northwest, remaining south of the coast of Mexico through early next week.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 7 days…medium…40 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:  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

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:  Young Whale’s Journey Highlights Threats Facing Ocean Animal

A young whale’s journey across the Mediterranean highlights the many threats facing ocean animals, researchers say.

Scientists from Greenpeace and the universities of Exeter and Haifa studied whales and dolphins in the Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Israel.

They found Cuvier’s beaked whales, bottlenose dolphins and sperm whales – including a young adult male previously seen off southern France.

The distance between sighting locations makes this the furthest recorded movement of a sperm whale in the Mediterranean – and means the whale made a hazardous journey.

Read more at: University of Exeter