The latest update to this website was at 1103am Friday (HST)

 

There’s a decent chance that I could lose power or connectivity again with this second kona storm. If that happens I’ll be back with more updates to this website as soon as I get back up to speed.

 

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

3.47  N Wailua Ditch, Kauai
15.44  Kaala, Oahu!
1.72  Puu Alii, Molokai
1.03  Lanai 1, Lanai
1.16  Summit, Maui
0.97  Puu Mali, Big Island

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

14  Makaha Ridge, Kauai – SSW
36  Kalaeloa, Oahu – SSW
50  Makapulapai, Molokai – S 
35  Lanai 1,  Lanai – SSE
33  Kaanapali, Maui – SE
31  Puuanahulu, Big Island – S

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

Variable clouds over the state 

 

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

Considerable cloudiness continues to arrive from the west 

 

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

  Showers locally…some are heavy

 

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 here at home in upper Kula, Maui

530am Friday morning, it’s becoming windy, with cloudy skies here at my place, with the low temperature 59.5 degrees, along with the relative humidity 76%.

815am, lots of rainbows around this morning here on Maui, with the next shower band moving the island as I write these words.

Here we go again, as yet another wet pattern is forecast to continue through the weekend across the state. Be prepared, but have heart…as there does appear to be some proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel” for Hawaii next week….at least for the leeward sides of the islands.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Thursday, March 19, 2026 – 110 degrees near Martinez Lake, AZ
>>> Lowest Temperature Friday, March 20, 2026 – 9 degrees at Mount Washington, NH

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of 922am Friday:  Two surface low pressure systems will move slowly northeastward through the Hawaii region into the weekend, producing periods of moderate to heavy rain, thunderstorms, and elevated threats for flash flooding. A combination of low level forcing and passing upper level troughs will drive these smaller scale heavy rain band and thunderstorm formations.

Additional weather threats include strengthening south to southwest kona winds on Saturday that will produce down sloping wind gusts in the 30 to 45 mph range, along steep north and east slopes of island mountain ranges lasting through Saturday night. Improving weather trends will develop from west to east on Monday, as we transition to a wet trade wind weather pattern lasting through the end of next week.

Short Term Update…as of 922am Friday: Ongoing severe flooding this morning, especially in northern Oahu. The Wahiawa Reservoir is in danger of overtopping the dam, and a warning for dam failure (not occurring yet, but could happen soon) has been issued in coordination with local dam authorities. Radar shows showers, many heavy, continuing across the state. The heaviest showers are currently over Oahu. The axis of heaviest precipitation is expected to expand east today and tonight, spreading over Maui County while also remaining over Oahu. The flood watch will obviously be continued.

Weather Details for the islands…as of 406am Friday: A large slow moving band of heavy showers and thunderstorms has produced 5 to 10 inches of rainfall over the past 6 hours across the northern half of Oahu, widespread catastrophic flooding is occurring. Travel in and out of Haleiwa has been cut off due to high flood waters in the area.

The satellite and radar imagery this morning shows a slow moving band of heavy showers and thunderstorms over northern Oahu, that brought widespread flooding to the northern half of the island continues to drift eastward. A few showers are back building over the island, with additional rainfall rates in the 1 to 2 inches per hour range. This convective system is passing north of the islands in Maui County this morning. However, we will need to closely monitor the track of this slow moving system for possible flooding as it continues to drift east.

Upper level troughing and a subtropical jet stream north of the islands continues to provide divergence aloft to help trigger heavier showers and a few thunderstorms over the next 24 hours. Threats for heavy showers and flooding will increase across the state into Saturday, with the kona low drifting closer to Kauai. A combination of low level forcing and passing upper level troughs will drive these smaller scale heavy rain band and thunderstorm formations. Some of these thunderstorms may become severe as wind shear and strong instability may lead to rotating strong thunderstorms producing damaging wind gusts and heavy rain threats.

The latest weather model guidance remains fairly consistent with this kona low, increasing confidence of an extended period of moderate to heavy rain falling across the state, along with periods of thunderstorms lasting into Sunday. A Flood Watch remains in effect for all Hawaiian Islands through Sunday afternoon.

Additional threats include strengthening south to southwest kona winds on Saturday, that will produce down sloping wind gusts in the 30 to 45 mph range along steep north and east slopes of island mountain ranges lasting through Saturday night. These strong wind gusts will likely uproot trees, as roots give way under saturated ground conditions, tree branches will break and fall, potentially producing another round of power outages for some local island communities.

Periods of icing and snowfall on the Big Island summits are possible above 12,000 feet elevation level, along with strong gusty winds during the Saturday night through Sunday time period.

Improving weather trends will develop from west to east on Monday as we transition to a cool, wet and breezy trade wind weather pattern lasting through the end of next week.

 

Here’s a near real-time Wind Profile of the Pacific Ocean – Zoom Earth – 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…as of 406am Friday: Light to moderate southerly winds will strengthen tonight, as surface low pressure west of Kauai, and an associated front stretching north of the state deepen. Moderate to locally strong south to southwest kona winds will prevail Friday and Saturday, and periods of heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected. The low will lift to the north of the state on Sunday, likely allowing moderate northerly winds and lower chances for rainfall to develop around Kauai.

On Monday, high pressure building north of the state will push a surface trough eastward over the islands. Fresh to strong northeast winds may require a Small Craft Advisory (SCA) over most waters, though variable winds could linger around the Big Island through the day. Fresh to potentially strong trade winds will persist on Tuesday.

Buoys are showing the north swell is a bit larger than expected, and this swell is only expected to increase into Saturday, which will keep moderate swell going through the weekend along north facing shores. A small, overlapping west-northwest swell is expected to arrive late Saturday and hold into Monday as well. Aside from areas exposed to wrapping north swell, surf along east facing shores will remain well below average through the weekend. Early next week, the development of northeasterly trade winds could bring a potentially larger pulse of medium period, north-northeast swell. This will allow rough surf to return to east facing shores, which may approach High Surf Advisory level.

A moderate south swell will slowly diminish, followed by a small reinforcing south-southwest swell this weekend into Monday. Smaller surf is expected along south facing shores through the remainder of the week.

 

Maui Rainy Day Activities - Things To Do When It's Raining On Maui



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 27P (Narelle)…is located approximately 358 NM northwest of Cairns, Australia

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/27P_201200sair.jpg

 

North Indian Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

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:  Does Ocean Saltiness Influence El Niño?

Researchers from the Nicholas School of the Environment found that variability in ocean salt content affects El Niño intensity.

Duke researchers found that ocean saltiness can influence the strength of El Niño, a climate phenomenon that can dramatically affect global weather. The results could inform development of more precise El Niño forecasts.

El Niño occurs every two to seven years, marked by wetter conditions in some parts of the world and drier weather in others. Existing research has overlooked the potential role of ocean salinity, or saltiness, in shaping El Niño events. Ocean salt is not uniform — some areas are saltier, some fresher, depending on rainfall, evaporation and other factors.

Variability in saltiness could potentially “influence ocean currents and thus climate phenomena like El Niño,” explains Shineng Hu, assistant professor of climate dynamics at the Nicholas School of the Environment, who oversaw the study.

Read More: Duke University