Glenn James

Hawaii Weather Today
Creator, Author, and Administrator for over 30 years 

 

The latest update to this website was 1236pm Friday afternoon HST


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

0.50  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.07  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.89  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.57  West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.89  Kawainui Stream, Big Island


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

29  Lawai, Kauai – ENE
30  Kii, Oahu – ENE
40  Makapulapai, Molokai – E
22  Lanai 1, Lanai – E
54  Na Kula, Maui – ENE
52  Puuloa, Big Island – N 


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.


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Big Blue…click twice for largest version

 

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A cold front far northwest 

 

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Variable low clouds over and around Hawaii 

 

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Localized Showers 

 

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




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Hawaii Weather Narrative
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Glenn’s Aloha Friday comments:  I’m with my friend Bob here at our vacation rental at Sea Ranch, Sonoma County, CA on a working vacation.

447am HST, it’s cloudy with light rain and gusty this morning in coastal Sonoma County, the low temperature was 55.5 degrees.

 

Interesting Weather Blog: Mauka Showers…Hawaii Rainfall Patterns During Recent El Niño Events

 

Hawaii’s Weather Highlights…as of Friday afternoon: A weakening high pressure ridge north of the Hawaiian Islands will keep trade wind speeds on the decreasing trend lasting into Saturday, then the ridge and wind speeds strengthen from Saturday afternoon into early next week. Passing showers are possible over windward and mountain areas during this time period, mainly during the overnight to early morning hours. The next best chance for statewide rainfall may develop from Monday into Tuesday of next week, as the cloud remnants from an old cold front drift across the islands on the trade winds.

Short Term Update: Trade showers were focused on Oahu this morning, mainly windward but also spilling over leeward areas occasionally. Winds were averaging 10 to 20 mph, with gusts over 30 mph at the usual windy spots (Kahului, for example).

Weather Narrative…as of Friday afternoon: A combination of satellite and radar imagery paints a wetter than normal picture for the windward mountain slopes of all Hawaiian Islands. Two parts to this passing shower story are upper air soundings, measuring trade wind temperature inversion heights in the 6,000 to 7,000 foot range, and deep easterly winds above the 30,000 foot level. Cloud heights remain elevated allowing passing showers to continue mainly during the overnight to early morning hours, favoring the windward mountain areas.

The large scale model guidance continues to show high pressure north of the islands weakening into early Saturday. Trade wind speeds will trend slightly lower during this time period. A stronger high pressure system builds in north of the state from late Saturday into the first half of next week, with more breezy trade winds blowing across the region. The difference in wind speeds will be subtle.

Weather wise a band of clouds associated with an old dissipated front will drift over the islands early next week from Monday night into Tuesday, increasing clouds and shower coverage. Long range model solutions are showing a weak upper low dropping into position just west of Kauai from Tuesday to Wednesday. Southeasterly winds aloft are pulling up remnants of this old frontal cloud band back over the islands, along with added upper level instability.

If this pattern develops as predicted by the models, then an extended wet weather pattern may linger into next week Thursday, especially over the windward mountain slopes of Maui and the Big Island. Both the American (GFS) model and the European (ECMWF) model are showing a flavor of this extended wetter pattern, with the GFS being the wetter of the two solutions. This pattern would likely produce another round of beneficial light to moderate rainfall.

Fire Weather: Wind speeds will trend lower today as the high pressure ridge north of the state weakens. Critical fire weather conditions will be limited by wind speeds for most areas, and by higher minimum humidity levels for the higher elevations that reach wind thresholds. Wind speeds will increase into the moderate to breezy levels by late Saturday with these slightly higher winds lasting into early next week. Temperature inversion heights near Maui and the Big Island today will range from 6,500 to 7,500 feet elevation.

 

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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 Conditions…as of Friday afternoon: A high pressure system north of Hawaii will slowly weaken today decreasing wind speeds across the marine areas. The Small Craft Advisory (SCA) has been trimmed back slightly and no longer includes the Northwest Kauai, Leeward Kauai, and Leeward Oahu waters, as winds have begun to diminish in response to weakening of the high pressure and seas have fallen with a fading north- northwest swell. These areas will still see conditions near, but not meeting, the small craft criteria.

Otherwise, the SCA is in effect for the remaining coastal waters. By tonight, the winds diminish and seas subside enough to drop all but the typical windy waters near Maui County and the Big Island from the SCA. Late this weekend, high pressure restrengthening northeast of the islands may bring strong winds back to all waters Sunday into Monday.

A moderate, north-northwest swell will continue to decline into the weekend. Moderate surf for north and west-facing shores will decrease to small levels by tonight. A new small, north-northwest swell will support continued small surf into Saturday, before the arrival of a more significant north swell. This moderate, long-period north swell arriving Saturday night may push surf back to advisory levels on Sunday for north and west-facing shores. Surf to at least moderate levels will last into Monday, before the swell really begins to fade on Tuesday.

Surf along east-facing shores will remain rough and choppy due to the strong trade winds today. East-facing shores may decrease slightly tonight and Saturday as trades ease early this weekend, but will increase again Sunday into early next week as trades restrengthen. South shore surf will stay tiny to small for the next few days.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Thursday, November 12, 2026 – 91 degrees near Florida City, FL


>>>
Lowest Temperature Thursday, November 12, 2026 – 11 degrees at Peter Sinks, UT

 

The best courses you can play in Hawaii | Golf Courses | Golf Digest


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 cyclone

Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones:

Gulf of America: There are no active tropical cyclones

 

Northeast Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

Central North Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> Well West-Southwest of the Hawaiian Islands (Remnants of Pena):

Showers and thunderstorms remain disorganized in association with the remnants of Pena. In addition, the system still lacks a well-defined circulation, and environmental conditions are only marginally conducive for redevelopment. The system is expected to continue moving westward, crossing the International Date Line later today.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent 
* Formation chance through 7 days…low…10 percent

 

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

 

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Here’s the link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)



Interesting: 
Arctic Wildlife Research Suffers as Geopolitical Competition Grows

Decades ago, one of the world’s largest subpopulations of nesting eider ducks spent its summers on tiny Mitivik Island, near the mouth of Hudson Bay. But as concern grew, in the 1990s, over their steep decline globally, the Canadian government set up a rudimentary research station near the island in the hopes of forestalling a collapse.

The modest investment paid enormous dividends over the next 30 years as Inuit partners from nearby Southampton Island, who hunt common and king eiders for food and feathers, worked with scientists from all over the world to solve the mystery of where the birds spent their winters and the causes of, and remedy for, their initial decline. In the field for months at a time, researchers also gained critical insights into how climate change, disease, diminishing sea ice, and polar bears were affecting bird populations.

As remarkably successful as the pioneering research station was, though, Canada’s Environment and Climate Change department quietly shut it down in 2024. By then, the number of nesting eiders had crashed again, from a high of 8,000 pairs to just a few hundred.

Read More at: Yale Environment 360