The latest update to this website was at 6pm Thursday (HST)

 

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

0.02  Kilohana, Kauai
0.12  Dillingham, Oahu
0.01  Molokai 1, Molokai
0.00  Lanai City, Lanai
0.06  Hanaula, Maui
0.08  Keahuolu, Big Island

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

24  Lihue, Kauai – NNE
15  Dillingham, Oahu – SW
20  Molokai AP, Molokai – SW
15  Lanai 1,  Lanai – SW
15  Kealia Pond, Maui – SW
15  Mauna Loan Obs, 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

 The next approaching cold front is near Kauai…and will move into the state

 

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

Variable clouds

 

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 here at home in upper Kula, Maui

It was cloudy early this morning, with a low temperature of 59 degrees at my place…with thick VOG!

105pm, I played Pickleball in Makawao this morning, and now that I’m home again, it’s partly to mostly cloudy on Maui….with VOG!

350pm, it’s very cloudy with sprinkles here in upper Kula

 

Weather Wit of the day: Alaska – Where they have northern lights instead of traffic lights

 

>>> Highest Temperature Thursday, January 29, 2026 – 86 at Yorba Linda, CA
>>> Lowest Temperature Thursday, January 29, 2026 – minus 28 near Forest Center, MN

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview: A surface ridge will maintain light winds, with land and sea breezes in most areas through tonight. A weakening front will increase showers late tonight across Kauai, with the showers spreading southeastward to the other islands Friday through Saturday. Moderate to breezy north to northeast winds will build behind the front.

Another stronger front is forecast to approach later in the weekend, bringing breezy southwesterly winds late Sunday through Monday. A band of heavier showers is expected to accompany the front as it moves through the islands late Monday through Tuesday, followed by breezy northwesterly winds.

Hawaii’s Weather Details:  Currently at the surface, a high is centered to the distant northeast, with a ridge axis extending southwestward into the eastern half of the state. Meanwhile, a weakening cold front is located approximately 70 miles northwest of Kauai. Light winds prevail across the state with daytime sea breezes across most locations. Satellite imagery continues to show a band of clouds and showers over Oahu and portions of Maui County, with afternoon clouds over the interiors of Kauai and the Big Island.

Guidance continues to show the ridge of high pressure slowly shifting southeastward tonight, as the weakening cold front approaches from the northwest. Some deeper moisture is expected to move in ahead of the front, and allow for the development of a few more showers across Kauai this evening, but rainfall amounts should be minimal. Otherwise, expect land breezes to develop across the rest of the state tonight allowing any lingering clouds and showers to clear.

Guidance remains in good agreement showing a weak cold front moving into Kauai after midnight tonight, then decaying as it shifts southeastward through Oahu and into Maui County on Friday, before stalling and gradually dissipating in the vicinity of Maui, and the Big Island Friday night and Saturday. The front will bring an increase in clouds and showers as it moves through, followed by a period of moderate to breezy north to northeast winds. The best forcing will remain well to the north of the state as the front moves through, so don`t anticipate any significant rainfall or flooding concerns with this feature.

The remnant moisture from the old front is expected to gradually lift back north of the islands Saturday night and Sunday, as yet another cold front approaches from the northwest. This front appears stronger, with moderate to breezy southwesterly kona winds developing in advance of the feature late Sunday through Monday. The front appears to move through the state late Monday through Tuesday, accompanied by a line of heavier showers with potentially gusty winds, followed by breezy northwesterly winds.

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:  Light winds will prevail through Thursday as a surface ridge remains over the islands. The background flow will remain out of the southeast for Maui and the Big Island waters, and out of the south to southwest over the Kauai and Oahu waters. While most coastal areas will experience typical overnight land breezes and afternoon sea breezes, terrain-induced accelerations will lead to brief periods of locally enhanced winds, where the flow parallels to the coast, particularly through the afternoon hours. Moderate to fresh northerly winds will gradually fill in on Friday, as a cold front moves into the area.

Surf along exposed north- and west-facing shores will remain around the advisory levels, then gradually lower. Offshore buoy observations to the northwest already show a downward trend, which should be reflected at the nearshore buoys as the swell eases.

A more significant northwest swell is expected through the second half of the week and weekend, from a broad and complex low that has evolved over the far northwest Pacific in the past few days. Latest analysis and satellite imagery show this system positioned over the far northwest Pacific near the western Aleutians, with a captured fetch focused at the islands within the 290 to 315 degree directional bands. This swell will begin building down the island chain Thursday and will be a long-duration event, with a peak centered around the Friday through Saturday time frame. Heights will exceed advisory levels by Thursday, then warning levels Friday through Saturday.

Impacts associated with the warning-level surf Friday through Saturday will likely lead to some water reaching areas that typically remain dry along exposed coasts, including vulnerable low-lying roadways and infrastructure. This likelihood will especially increase if the peak surf coincides with the overnight high tide cycle Friday night.

Surf along east-facing shores will remain small due to the lack of trades locally and upstream of the state.

Surf along south-facing shores will remain up before easing Thursday as a small, long-period south-southwest swell moves through.

 

6 Best Beaches in Oahu, Hawaii - Turuhi



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:

Tropical Cyclone 18P…is located approximately 262 NM northeast of Kingston Island – Final Warning

|

North Indian Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

 

South Indian Ocean:  

Tropical Cyclone 19S (Fytia)…is located approximately 120 NM east-southeast of Nacala, Mozambique

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/sh1926.gif

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:  Polar Bears Are Thriving on This Arctic Island, Even as Sea Ice Dwindles

In parts of the Arctic, polar bears are in decline as sea ice, which they depend on to hunt, disappears. That is not the case, however, on the Norwegian island of Svalbard, where bears have actually managed to grow more plump even as ice melts away.

Polar bears hunt by stalking sea ice in search of seals, but sea ice is shrinking across much of the Arctic, which is warming nearly four times faster than the world as a whole. Increasingly, ice forms later in the winter and melts earlier in the spring, which means bears spend less time hunting and more time fasting.

A study along the western edge of Hudson Bay, in Canada, found that, over the last half-century, the number of polar bears in the region dropped nearly in half, and the bears grew measurably smaller. The average female lost 86 pounds, the research found, while the average cub lost 47 pounds.

Read more at: Yale Environment 360

A polar bear with its cub in Svalbard, Norway.