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

 

The last update to this website was at 522pm Friday HST


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

1.06  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.48  Schofield East, Oahu
0.39  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
2.03  Puu Kukui, Maui
5.37  Piihonua, Big Island


The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Friday evening:

30  Port Allen, Kauai – ENE 
35  Kuaokala, Oahu – ENE
33  Molokai AP, Molokai – NE 
35  Lanai 1, Lanai – NE
40  Na Kula, Maui – ESE
39  Puuloa, 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

 

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Thunderstorms in the far southeast and southwest…cold front far northwest 

 

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Low clouds arriving on the gusty trade winds

 

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

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Showers locally 

 

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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 Aloha Friday comments:  I’m here at my friend Linda’s house in Corte Madera, Marin County, California, continuing on in my working vacation.

925am Hawaii time, it was cloudy this morning, with the clouds clipping the hill tops here in Marin. Linda and I drove over to the Eastwood Park pickleball courts, and I played 4-games. The weather was perfect, with a cool breeze and no sunshine until just when we were leaving. From there we went to the Good Earth market, and shopped for the next couple of days. I bought a large piece of pizza that I’ll have with my salad at lunch.

152pm Hawaii time, Linda is making Dandelion soup for dinner, which will be good. I bought a bottle of Le Merle Farmhouse Ale to celebrate Lei Day.

512pm, it’s past sunset, and the temperature has quickly dropped to 54 degrees.

Today is the May full moon, called the Flower Moon, and on the last day of the month will be the relatively rare blue moon.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Friday, May 1, 2026 – 99 degrees at Death Valley, CA
>>> Lowest Temperature Friday, May 1, 2026 – 7 degrees at Peter Sinks, UT

 

>>> Interesting weather web blog: Mauka Showers…Waialeale’s Rainfall Trend

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of Friday evening: Breezy trades weaken during the weekend as they deliver clouds and showers windward and mountains. Winds further diminish next week.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of Friday evening: Benign weather for the forseeable future, as trades deliver showers to windward and mountain areas, mainly during the overnight hours. Deeper moisture and a higher/weaker inversion beneath the resident closed upper low, will favor comparatively increased coverage over Windward Big Island and possibly Maui through Saturday.

Trades then weaken this weekend into early next week, as height falls spread across the Central Pacific. This will cut into shower coverage and make interior areas feel hotter. Extended guidance indicates further weakening of trades next week, with potential for a light/variable pattern establishing over the islands, as a weak and shallow remnant frontal zone approaches Kauai from the west.

Resulting sea breezes in the presence of high stability will produce little or no afternoon shower activity except perhaps over Kauai, where moisture along the aforementioned frontal zone will be slightly deeper.


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 Friday evening: A high pressure ridge remains to the north of the islands, driving trade winds to the region. The ridge will weaken through the weekend, as a front passes north of the islands. Winds in turn will weaken over the weekend, and further ease Tuesday into the middle of the week.

An incoming northwesterly swell will bring rising surf to north and west shores. The longer period energy has been slow to reach Buoy 51001 to the northwest of the islands. Surf heights could approach advisory levels during the peak of the swell arrival. This swell is expected to gradually ease through the weekend.

Another, slightly smaller northwest swell is expected early next week, maintaining elevated surf along north and west-facing shores. Looking ahead, guidance indicates yet another long-period northwest (320 deg) swell may arrive late next week, generated by a developing storm near Japan, that is forecast to lift northeast near the Kuril Islands over the weekend.

Surf along south-facing shores will trend up over the weekend, as a long-period south-southwest pulse arrives. Expect a peak later in the weekend and into Monday before lowering.

As trade winds weaken this weekend, expect surf along east-facing shores to trend downward.

 

 

Overhead view of the most beautiful beach in Oahu, Lanikai Beach!


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 Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

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

 

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

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

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

Here’s the link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)

 

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> Southwest Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

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



Interesting:  As Oceans Warm, Great White Sharks Are Overheating

The evolutionary edge that fueled great white shark dominance for millions of years could soon become its greatest downfall.

The ocean’s most iconic predators maintain warmer body temperatures than the surrounding seawater and are paying an increasingly steep price for it. As the oceans warm due to climate change, they now face the risk of potentially fatal overheating, according to a new study in Science.

Several large tuna species and sharks, known as “mesothermic” species for the way their bodies run hot, require more fuel to maintain their temperature and are thus confronting a “double jeopardy” of warming oceans and declining food, mainly from overfishing. As water temperatures climb, these species will be forced to relocate to cooler waters.

Read More at: Yale Environment 360