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

 

The latest update to this website was Sunday evening at 803pm HST


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

2.60  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
3.45  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.63  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.09  Lanai City, Lanai
1.87  West Wailuaiki, Maui
6.00  Pahoa, Big Island


The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Sunday afternoon:

17  Lawai, Kauai – E
29  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – SE
25  Makapulapai, Molokai – ENE
18  Lanai 1, Lanai – NE
30  Na Kula, Maui – ESE 
24  Upolu AP, Big Island – ESE


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

 

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Lots of thunderstorms in the deeper tropic southwest…cold front far northwest 

 

https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES18/ABI/SECTOR/hi/14/20261372130-20261380520-GOES18-ABI-HI-14-600x600.gif

Variably cloudy, with a mix of low, middle and high level clouds 

 

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https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/PHKI_loop.gif

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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 Sunday comments:  I’m at home here in upper Kula, Maui, Hawaii

It was mostly clear with some haze here this morning in Maui County, with a low temperature at my place 51.5 degrees…with the relative humidity 73%

1110am, cumulus clouds are gathering force mover and around the mountains, although our local beaches remain sunny late this morning.

222pm, it’s cloudy here in upper Kula, and we just had a light shower that didn’t amount to much…although my deck is wet nonetheless.

505pm, it clouded up again and we just another light to moderately heavy shower, although it just ended about 10 minutes after starting. I made a nice pot of soup, with vegetable broth, onions, celery, brussel sprouts, mushrooms, carrots, and some fire roasted diced tomatoes…I’ll grated some cheese on top when I eat dinner.

656pm, really nice sunset, with lots of orange lighting up the tops of the developed cumulus clouds, and the high cirrus clouds are starting to take on some nice color as well. The cloud cover is keeping the temperature rather warm at my place, with 66.2 degrees at the time of this writing.

819pm, there’s still some clouds around here in upper Kula, and thus the temperature remains relatively warm, with 63.6 degrees at the time of this writing…with the relative humidity 77%. This is in contrast to the temperature at the Kahului AP down near sea level, which is 78 degrees.

 

April Showers Bring May Flowers to Hawaii - Revealed Travel Guides
The Jacaranda Trees are going off here in upcountry Kula, Maui


>>> Highest Temperature Saturday, May 16, 2026 – 108 degrees at Death Valley, CA
>>> Lowest Temperature Sunday, May 17, 2026 – 11 degrees near Mackay, ID

 

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

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of Sunday evening:  A slightly unstable and somewhat wet trade wind flow will continue into Monday. An increasingly stable, moderate to breezy trade wind flow will develop Tuesday and Wednesday, and will persist into next weekend.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of Sunday evening:  Scattered heavy showers developed over select areas across the state, due to the higher than normal moisture values combined with some afternoon day time heating. As we head into the evening, the intensity of the showers should generally decrease. The one exception is over windward Big Island and possibly east Maui, where we are seeing frequent trade wind showers. Hilo sounding showed over 2 inches of precipitable water values, and a wet trade wind pattern could very well continue for the Big Island through the middle of the week, with frequent showers over windward areas.

Overall, broad troughing aloft combined with higher than normal precipitable water values, and moderate easterly trade winds will continue to produce brief downpours at times through the middle of the week. Showers will generally favor windward areas during the overnight and morning hours, with scattered leeward showers developing during the afternoons. Humidity levels will remain moist, which should make temperatures feel warmer than normal.

Increased stability and stronger trade winds are expected by Thursday. Latest global guidance from the GFS and ECMWF are in good agreement with a strong high developing far north of the state, which should result in windy conditions. Winds could very well reach Wind Advisory thresholds Thursday into Friday for select areas downstream of terrain. Drier conditions are also expected during this time, but scattered showers should continue to ride in with the windy trade winds, especially during the night and early morning hours.


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 Environmental Conditions…as of Sunday evening: Moderate to locally fresh easterly trades have returned. An upper level-low that plagued the state has moved off to the northeast, increasing stability and decreasing showers.

A small, medium-period north-northwest (320-330 degree) swell will continue to decline through tonight, with surf along north-facing shores following suit. A medium-period north-northwest reinforcement may provide another small bump in surf along north-facing shores by early Monday morning, followed by another small reinforcing swell on Tuesday.

Surf along west-facing shores will remain nearly steady through the rest of this weekend, as the northwest swell influence gradually declines, but a new, long-period south-southwest swell fills in.

A mix of small, medium- to long-period, south swells will maintain small surf along south-facing shores for the next several days. The long-period south-southwest swell described above will increase surf along south-facing shores through today. Additional small, medium- to long-period, south swell reinforcements will arrive through mid-week.

Moderate to fresh trades will maintain rough and choppy surf along east-facing shores for the next several days.

Tides will peak around 2.5 to 3.0 feet today. Minor overwash of low lying coastal areas will be possible during times of high tide.

 

 

Top 4 Kid-Friendly Beaches on Oahu


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will begin on June 1, 2026.

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:  Protected Area Managers Across Europe are Adapting to Climate Change

New research shows how climate change is reshaping protected area management, though more funding and scientific knowledge are needed to facilitate the process.

The Natura 2000 network, the world’s largest network of protect areas, aims at protecting important species and habitats across the European Union. Its traditional approach to conservation has focused on maintaining ecosystems in their historical conditions, but in a world characterized by a changing climate this may not be possible anymore, requiring adapting the conservation strategies.

Researchers conducted a large-scale survey across Europe aimed at Natura 2000 protected area managers, to investigate how they perceive and address the effects of climate change on biodiversity. The survey was conducted as part of the Biodiversa+ Scenarios for Protecting European Avian Re-distributions (SPEAR) project focused on bird conservation, which involved partners from several European countries.

Read More at: University of Turku

Birds in a Natura 2000 protected area. Birds are highly responsive to environmental changes, making them important indicators of ecosystem health.