Glenn James

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

 

The latest update to this website was at 1238pm Thursday aftern0on HST


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands Thursday aftern0on: 

9.44  Mount Waialeale, Kauai 
3.12  Schofield Barracks, Oahu
0.04  Honolimaloo, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.52  Kahikinui 1, Maui
0.42  Glenwood, Big Island


The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Thursday aftern0on:

29  Puu Lua, Kauai – NE
24  Kalaeloa, Oahu – SE
16  Makaena, Molokai – SE
16  Na Kula, Maui – NE
14  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.


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

   Tropical Storm Nolo west of Hawaii…Hurricane Rachel near Mexico


https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES18/ABI/SECTOR/hi/GEOCOLOR/20262741330-20262742120-GOES18-ABI-HI-GEOCOLOR-600x600.gif

Variable clouds are present over the island chain 

 

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…some heavy around Kauai and Oahu

 

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

453am, it’s partly cloudy here at my place, with the low temperature 61 degrees, relative humidity is 84%…with calm conditions

707am, it’s partly cloudy with still lots of volcanic haze in our air here in Maui County.

1220pm, partly to mostly cloudy with lots of vog.


Hawaii’s Weather Highlights
…as of Thursday afternoon:
Tropical Storm Nolo will gradually accelerate westward away from the state over the next several days. Elevated moisture content being drawn up in the southeast flow will maintain a wetter pattern for Hawaii through the end of the week. Then drier trades are expected to return over the weekend.

Weather Narrative…as of Thursday afternoon: A wetter pattern is expected to persist across the western half of the state through Friday, as Tropical Storm Nolo accelerates westward away from the state, and deep tropical moisture is drawn up in the convergent, moderate southeasterly wind flow. Moderate to heavy showers are expected to continue to stream into mainly Kauai and Oahu from the south, with rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour.

With the rainfall already received since Tuesday night for Kauai and Oahu, the main concern is the potential for nuisance flooding if rain bands train over a particular area and bring persistent heavy rain. Recenty, the moderate to heavy showers have been moving fast enough and have been dispersed enough in areal coverage, to avoid the need for flood advisories or flash flood warnings.

As this band of deeper moisture follows Nolo to the west, drier air will be ushered in by moderate to breezy east-northeasterly trade winds this weekend. This will not only minimize the shower activity and confine it to primarily windward areas, but also allow dew points to drop, bringing some relief from the mugginess of the past week.

Early next week, the trades will weaken in response to an approaching surface trough from the northeast, and then will weaken further heading into mid-week as broad troughing develops northwest of the state. In this lighter flow, land and sea breezes will become increasingly more prevalent, with clearing expected overnight, and clouds and a few showers developing over leeward and interior areas with daytime heating each afternoon.

Fire Weather:  Fire weather concerns will be low over the next couple of days, due to the lighter southeast winds bringing high relative humidities and scattered showers to the state. Drier air is expected to be ushered in over the weekend as moderate to locally breezy east-northeasterly trades return, which may increase the fire weather concern slightly to moderate levels. However, winds are expected to decrease early to mid-week next week, lowering the fire weather concerns once again.

 

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 afternoon: Moderate southeasterly winds will prevail through Friday, as Tropical Storm Nolo continues to slowly drift westward away from the Hawaiian Islands. Gentle to fresh east to northeast trades will fill back in across the waters this weekend.

The moderate, short to medium period, west to southwest swell originating from Nolo will continue for Niihau and Kauai through Friday night. Additionally, a small background south swell continues for the other islands. The next small, long period south swell energy will arrive Sunday afternoon, peaking on Monday, and then slowly decreasing through Wednesday.

Surf along other shores will remain small until moderate trades return by Saturday, providing a slight boost to east facing shores. Multiple rounds of tiny northwest to north swell energy will reach north and west facing shores starting early next week, as the storms tracking near the Aleutian Islands of AK become increasingly active.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Wednesday, September 30, 2026 – 107 degrees at Death Valley, CA


>>>
Lowest Temperature Wednesday, September 30, 2026 – 24 degrees at Foxpark, WY

 

Hawaii Landscape Photography | Tropical Island Art | Max Foster Photography


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 America: There are no active tropical cyclones

 

Northeast Pacific

Tropical cyclone 18E (Rachel) is located about 245 miles south of the southern tip of Baja CA

RACHEL STRENGTHENS WHILE SLOWLY MOVING WESTWARD

According to the NHC advisory number 19 

Rachel is moving slowly toward the west near 3 mph (6 km/h) and this slow west to west-northwest motion is expected the next couple of days. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 120 mph (195 km/h) with higher gusts. Rachel is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Additional strengthening is forecast the next day or so, before some gradual weakening this weekend. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 40 miles (65 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 150 miles (240 km). The estimated minimum central pressure is 950 mb (28.06 inches).

cone graphic

 

Remnants of Tropical cyclone 19E is located about 1025 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja CA – Last Advisory

NINETEEN-E DISSIPATES

According to the NHC advisory number 10 

The remnants are moving toward the east near 8 mph (13 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue for another day or so. Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph (45 km/h) with higher gusts. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1006 mb (29.71 inches).

cone graphic

 

>>> South of Southern Mexico:

An area of low pressure could form late this weekend or early next week south of the southern coast of Mexico. Thereafter, environmental conditions appear favorable for gradual development, and a tropical depression is likely form while the system moves slowly west-northwestward to northwestward.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 7 days…high…80 percent

 

Central North Pacific:

Tropical Cyclone 15E (Nolo) is located about 390 miles west of Lihue, Hawaii

NOLO POISED TO RE-STRENGTHEN INTO A HURRICANE BY THE WEEKEND

According to the NHC advisory number 45

Nolo is moving toward the northwest near 6 mph (9 km/h). This general motion is expected today, followed by a westward turn with a large increase in forward speed by the weekend. On the forecast track, Nolo should remain south of the main atolls of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. Maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph (95 km/h) with higher gusts. Nolo is forecast to become a hurricane by the weekend, and could become a major hurricane over the weekend. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles (165 km) from the center. The estimated minimum central pressure is 993 mb (29.33 inches).

cone graphic

 

Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Tropical Cyclone 26W(Choi-Wan)…is located approximately 110 NM north-northwest of Saipan

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/wp2626.gif

 

Southwest Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

 

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/abpwsair.jpg

Here’s the link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)



Interesting: 
Pressurized Experiments Could Help Wind Farms Generate More Power

A new way of simulating wind turbines in the field shows how tweaking turbine operation could unlock tens of thousands of dollars per turbine every year.

The world needs more wind energy. But anyone designing new wind turbines or trying to squeeze more power out of existing ones faces a stiff challenge testing new approaches. That’s because the atmosphere is a tough place for a controlled experiment.

Some researchers use wind tunnels to conduct tests, but scaled-down wind turbines in traditional wind tunnels can differ widely from conditions in the field. (Wind turbines are the largest rotating machines ever made.) The problem hampers not only development of better wind turbines, but also our understanding of basic questions like how much power to expect from a turbine when winds change direction.

In a new open access paper published in PNAS Nexus, researchers closed the gap between experiments in the field and the lab by using a wind tunnel that features high pressurization to simulate the flow physics in the atmosphere. With this approach, the researchers determined how the alignment of the turbine and its tip speed relative to the wind influence the power it generates, offering new insights into how to get more power from existing wind farms.

Read More: Massachusetts Institute of Technology