The latest update to this website was at 427pm Tuesday (HST)

 

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

0.02  Waialae, Kauai
0.31  Moanalua, Oahu
0.55  Honolimaloo, Molokai
0.01  Lanai City, Lanai
0.85  Na Kula, Maui
2.20  Honokaa, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) as of Tuesday afternoon:

16  Lawai, Kauai – E
15  Kii, Oahu – ESE
23  Molokai AP, Molokai – NE
20  Lanai 1, Lanai – ENE
28  Na Kula, Maui – ESE 
30  Kealakomo, Big Island – N 

 

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 stronger cold front is approaching to the northwest

 

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

The band of clouds associated with the cold front is breaking up…higher clouds north

 

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

Very few showers 

 

Please open this link to see details on any current Watches, Warnings and Advisories noted above

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Glenn’s Tuesday comments:  I’m here at home in upper Kula, Maui

It’s mostly clear with some low clouds around early this morning, with a chilly low temperature of 48 degrees at my place, with the relative humidity 80 percent.

1244pm, it’s a totally sunny day with just a few streaks of high cirrus clouds. I went up the mountain this morning and did a little skateboarding. Little because there was so much traffic going up and down, causing me to have to pull over too often. The two visitors pulled up right next to where I parked, and got out and started talking on their phones. I had come up to commune with nature and to get some skateboarding in, although got nixed in both bases.

247pm, we’re having some breezy kona winds here in upper Kula, Maui, while it’s partly cloudy…and very voggy.

 

Weather Wit of the day: Light Snow – When it falls on your neighbor’s driveway

 

>>> Highest Temperature Monday, January 12, 2026 – 84 near Ochopee, FL
>>> Lowest Temperature Tuesday, January 13, 2026 – minus 1 at Angel Fire, NM

 

It’s more like a summer day here in the islands today, rather than January 13th! This is opposed to what’s going on in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost community in the United States! BTW, the temperature in that live view was -20 degrees, yeah, like 20 degrees below zero! BTW2, that’s the frozen ocean just beyond the dwellings and such!

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview: An approaching cold front will prompt the wind flow to veer southerly, becoming breezy to locally windy by mid-day Wednesday. The front is forecast to quickly slide down the island chain Wednesday night into Thursday and bring a line of moderate to locally heavy rainfall with it. Seasonally cool and dry weather will return late Friday through the weekend as high press becomes re-established. Another cold front may affect the state by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

Hawaii’s Weather Details: Satellite imagery showed scattered low clouds, associated with a dissipated cold front, banking up along windward portions of Maui and the Big Island. Shallow build ups could also be noted over leeward Big Island, due to residual frontal moisture. Aside from some spotty light showers within the areas mentioned above, dry conditions prevailed.

Post frontal subsidence aloft brought mostly clear skies over the western half of the of the state. Zooming further out on the satellite loop, the frontal band from our next cold front can be seen northwest of Kauai, pushing southeastward at a healthy clip. Tonight, as the front edges closer to the islands, light to moderate easterly flow will begin to veer southeasterly and eventually southerly by Wednesday morning. Southerly and southwesterly kona winds begin to really ramp-up during the late morning hours and peak in the afternoon/evening across the smaller islands.

Widespread sustained winds 20 to 25 mph with higher gusts can be expected for most areas of the smaller islands. However, winds will be strongest over the ridge tops and downslope of terrain, where Wind Advisory criteria will likely be met. In addition to the winds, hi-res model guidance has been consistent over the last several runs, with prefrontal moisture with numerous showers northward over mainly Kauai and Oahu. Maui County and the Big Island, still under subsidence aloft, should remain mostly dry on Wednesday.

Both the GFS and ECMWF models are nearly identical in timing, moving the front and associated rain band quickly across Kauai Wednesday evening, Oahu and Maui County Wednesday night into Thursday morning, and through the Big Island by Thursday afternoon. Though some pockets of heavier rainfall may be embedded in the line, the speed of the system should help mitigate the flash flooding threat. That being said, minor flooding or ponding in poor drainage areas remain possible.

A slight chance of thunderstorms has been added to the forecast for Kauai and waters northward Wednesday evening and then Oahu and waters northward Wednesday night, to account for marginal instability along the frontal rain band. Similar to Monday’s system, the front will loose energy as it presses southeastward towards the Big Island. Post frontal, breezy northerly winds develop and carry in a much cooler and drier airmass….with overnight temperatures falling to around 5 degrees below normal for this time of year.

Friday through the weekend, as surface high pressure builds back to the north of the state, flow will veer northeasterly. Both high and low temperatures will remain slightly below seasonal norms. Subsidence aloft and the lack of much moisture in the lower levels, will lead to fair weather with limited shower activity. Long range guidance shows potentially yet another robust cold front to move over the state Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

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: The forward motion of a diminishing cold front has stalled near the Big Island. This front will fade into a trough and then drift westward across the islands, ahead of the next approaching cold front. This next strong cold front will sweep from west to east through the western islands on Wednesday morning, and once again stalling near the Big Island by Thursday afternoon.

A passing high pressure system far north of the islands will bring back easterly trade winds across Hawaiian Waters from Friday through Sunday. Winds weaken and veer from a more southeasterly direction over northwestern waters by next week Monday, as another cold front approaches the islands from the northwest.

The current extra large, long to medium period northwest (310-330 degree) swell will continue to produce warning level surf along exposed north and west facing shores. A High Surf Warning (HSW) remains in effect for these shorelines, and a High Surf Advisory (HSA) remains in effect for west facing shores of the Big Island. The northwest swell energy will fall below warning thresholds tonight, and the HSW will transition to a HSA for the same north and west facing shores lasting through Wednesday. A Small Craft Advisory remains in effect for most coastal waters exposed to the large northwest swell and some waters exposed to stronger winds.

Another extra large, long period northwest (310-330 degree) swell will build into the region by Thursday, likely producing another round of warning level surf along exposed north and west facing shores lasting through Friday, and lingering near advisory levels Saturday, before another reinforcing northwest swell briefly boosts surf heights back above warning levels on Sunday and Sunday night.

Surf along east facing shores will remain small through most of this week, due shifting wind directions from the passing fronts, while no significant swells are expected to impact the state from the south.

 

Maui Bucket List: 20 Best Things to Do in Maui, Hawaii



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:  There are no active tropical cyclones 

North Indian Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones 

 

South Indian Ocean:

Tropical Cyclone 14S (Dudzai) is located approximately 692 NM south-southeast of Diego Garcia

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/sh1426.gif

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/14S_131800sair.jpg

 

 

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: What Past Global Warming Reveals About Future Rainfall

“Proxies” in geologic record show rainfall was more intense, but less regular during the Paleogene.

To understand how global warming could influence future climate, scientists look to the Paleogene Period that began 66 million years ago, covering a time when Earth’s atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were two to four times higher than they are today.

New research by the University of Utah and the Colorado School of Mines reconstructs how rainfall responded to extreme warming during this period using “proxies,” or clues left in the geological record in the form of plant fossils, soil chemistry and river deposits. The results challenge the commonly held view that wet places get wetter when the climate warms and drier places become drier, according to co-author Thomas Reichler, professor of atmospheric sciences at the U.

“There are good reasons, physical reasons for that assumption. But now our study was a little bit surprising in the sense that even mid-latitudes regions tended to become drier,” Reichler said. “It has to do with the variability and the distribution of precipitation over time. If there are relatively long dry spells and then in between very wet periods—as in a strongly monsoonal climate—conditions are unfavorable for many types of vegetation.”

Read More: University of Utah