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

 

The latest update to this website was Friday morning at 629am HST


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

5.43  Moloaa Dairy, Kauai
1.82  Punaluu Stream, Oahu
0.43  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.10  Lanai City, Lanai
2.92  Puu Kukui, Maui
2.33  Piihonua, Big Island


The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Friday morning:

13  Moloaa Dairy, Kauai – WNW
20  Palehua, Oahu – ESE 
18  Makapulapai, Molokai – E
18  Lanai 1, Lanai – NE
18  Summit, Maui – SE 
20  South Point, 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. 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.

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Big Blue…click twice for largest version

 

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Lots of thunderstorms in the deeper tropics…cold front far northwest 

 

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Well developed cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds (thunderstorms) near Kauai and Oahu

 

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Showers locally…some are heavy 

 

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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 at home here in upper Kula, Maui, Hawaii

It was clear with some low clouds here and there this morning in Maui County, with a low temperature at my place 54 degrees.


>>> Highest Temperature Thursday, May 14, 2026 – 110 degrees at Rio Grande Village, TX
>>> Lowest Temperature Friday, May 15, 2026 – 19 degrees at Peter sinks, UT

 

>>> Interesting Weather Web blog: Mauka Showers…2025-2026 Wet Season Numbers…And Here Comes El Niño!

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of Friday morning:  An upper level low will briefly move over our area today and tonight, enhancing threats for locally heavy rainfall and isolated thunderstorms. Look for periods of heavy showers along with isolated to scattered thunderstorms today across the islands in Kauai County, Oahu, and Maui County.

A wet trade wind weather pattern however will likely continue through Sunday morning for most areas. More typical trade wind weather will return from late Sunday into the end of next week, with brief passing showers as moderate to locally breezy trade winds continue to blow across the area.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of Friday morning: An unstable upper level low continues to drop into the islands from the north, with thunderstorms forming not far north of Niihau, Kauai, and Oahu. Expect periods of heavy showers along with isolated to scattered thunderstorms today across the islands in Kauai County, Oahu, and Maui County. A Flood Watch is in effect through this afternoon for these islands, due to the heavy rain and flooding threats across most of the state. This watch may need to be extended into the overnight hours for some areas, as this upper low pivots over Kauai, then weakens and drifts eastward across the state.

Unstable cold air aloft within this upper level low will enhance shower activity statewide, showers will become heavy at times with isolated to scattered thunderstorms. Higher rainfall rates will likely lead to flash flooding in some areas through at least the afternoon hours, and possibly into the overnight time period. This low will slowly weaken as it drifts eastward on Saturday, decreasing the threat for heavy rainfall, especially as the low departs the Hawaii islands on Sunday. A wet trade wind weather pattern however will likely continue through Sunday morning for most areas.

A broad high pressure ridge remains in place north of the islands through much of next week. Expect more typical moderate to locally breezy trade wind weather blowing across the Hawaiian Islands, from late Sunday into the end of next week. Brief passing showers will occur, favoring the windward mountain areas in the overnight to early morning hours.


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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 Environmental Conditions…as of Friday morning: An upper level low and its surface reflection trough north of Kauai will turn weakening winds more east southeast today and this weekend. The Small Craft Advisory (SCA) has been extended to cover those waters surrounding Maui County and Big Island through 6am Saturday. The close proximity of the upper low, along with disturbances coming up around the low from the south-southwest, will produce widespread rain with periods of locally heavy rainfall and scattered thunderstorms, across the nearshore waters.

A small, moderate period north northwest (320-330 degree) swell is coming down this morning, and will produce near to slightly above head high surf along many north facing shores today. This swell will gradually decline into the weekend.

A mix of small, medium to long period south swells will maintain small surf along south-facing shores into the weekend. A series of gale lows passing south of New Zealand should send small south swell into the southern waters through next week. Surf should lift to summer averages around Sunday, and this will hold through Wednesday of next week. Locally moderate to fresh trades will maintain rough and choppy surf along east-facing shores.

Tides will peak around 2.5 feet this weekend. Combined with ongoing trades and a small south swell bump, water levels will peak near 3.0 feet as early as Saturday. Minor overwash of low lying coastal areas will be possible during times of high tide. Minor overwash of low lying coastal areas will be possible during the afternoon high tides at this time.

 

 

Hawaii's unique climate creates perfect setting for rainbows | Daily Sabah


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

>>> Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

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

 

>>> Eastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

Today marks the first day of the eastern North Pacific hurricane season, which will run until November 30. Long-term averages for the number of named storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes are 15, 8, and 4, respectively.

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 7 days.

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

 

>>> 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 cyclone

>>> 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:  Combined Short-Term Effects of Air Pollutants Linked to 146,500 Premature Deaths per Year in Europe

Fine particles (PM?.?) were associated with around 79,000 preventable deaths, followed by nitrogen dioxide (NO?), ozone (O?) and coarser particles (PM?.?-??, particles with a diameter between 2.5 and 10 micrometres). These are among the findings of a new study conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, in collaboration with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center–Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), which provides the first Europe-wide estimate of short-term mortality associated with the combined effects of multiple pollutants across 31 European countries. The findings, published in Nature Health, support the development of impact-based early warning systems to help protect the population from the health effects of air pollution.

Although the overall health burden is dominated by long-term exposure, short-term air pollution can trigger acute physiological responses, such as systemic inflammation, autonomic imbalance and increased blood clotting, that elevate mortality risk over the following days. Recent studies have shown that daily pollution levels are linked to daily short-term increases in mortality, but important limitations remain. Most research focuses only on cities, overlooking peri-urban and rural areas; and they often fail to account for regional differences in vulnerability (such as age, baseline health, socioeconomic status or environment) and air pollution toxicity. In addition, pollutants are usually analyzed separately, making it difficult to understand their combined effects.

“Our study addressed these limitations by combining daily data on major air pollutants across Europe with the new mortality database from the EARLY-ADAPT project of the European Research Council (ERC), which covers the whole population in 31 countries representing over 530 million people,” explains Zhao-Yue Chen, researcher at ISGlobal and first author of the study. “This allows a more precise analysis of how short-term exposure to the major pollutants affects people differently depending on age, sex and cause of death.” The study analyzed nearly 89 million deaths recorded between 2003 and 2019 across 653 European regions.

Read More: Barcelona Institute for Global Health