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

 

The latest update to this website was Friday evening at 510pm HST


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

5.69  Moloaa Dairy, Kauai
7.21  Tunnel RG, Oahu
1.39  Kamalo, Molokai
0.07  Lanai City, Lanai
2.74  Puu Kukui, Maui
4.40  Honolii Stream, Big Island


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

35  Lihue, Kauai – NNE
27  Kaneohe, Oahu – E
23  Molokai AP, Molokai – NNE
25  Lanai 1, Lanai – NE
29  Na Kula, Maui – ENE 
28  South Point, Big Island – ENE


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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Lots of thunderstorms in the deeper tropics…cold front far northwest 

 

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Well developed cumulus locally…lots of high and middle level clouds

 

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

It was clear with some low clouds here and there this morning in Maui County, with a low temperature at my place 54 degrees.

1030am, the leeward beaches continue to be quite sunny, although the rest of the islands here in Maui County have quickly increasing cloudiness.

1230pm, cloudy here at my place with the first few drops falling from the sky, although not enough to keep me from taking my second walk of the day

1pm, cloudy after a rather quick shower, with the drops starting out small, although the drops got larger and had me running to get back home in time to not get too wet. I’m about ready to head down to make my lunch, which I like to eat at 130pm. Today, actually everyday, I’m having kale, cheese, ham or cheese, beet, carrots, and today with guacamole and salsa to dip my chips in.

507pm, it’s still very cloudy, and our atmosphere has turned very hazy here on Maui as well…with no showers that I can see from my place here in Kula.


>>> Highest Temperature Friday, May 15, 2026 – 108 degrees at Death Valley, CA
>>> Lowest Temperature Friday, May 15, 2026 – 19 degrees at Peter sinks, UT

 

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

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of Friday evening: An upper level low will bring unstable conditions, heavy rain, and thunderstorms to parts of the state through tonight. A flood watch is in effect for central and eastern islands through 6am Saturday. This low will slowly move away from the state Saturday into Sunday, diminishing the chance for heavy rain. Wet trades will build back in Sunday through Tuesday, becoming more typical trades thereafter. This pattern should then last into next weekend.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of Friday evening: Showers and thunderstorms continue over the region, with the largest concentration of thunderstorms over Oahu and the near shore waters west of Oahu. Heavy rain was occurring, and gauges showed rapid rises on numerous streams across Oahu. Please exercise caution as water may flow over roads, and may be deeper than it first appears. Winds were gusting 25 to 35 mph near the stronger showers and thunderstorms, but otherwise winds were averaging 5 to 15 mph.

An upper level low centered near Kauai was moving slowly southeast. This low is expected to gradually weaken and move east and then northeast tonight. The cold air aloft associated with this low will help provide unstable conditions through tonight, and therefore the flood watch for Oahu and Maui County remains in place…plus the Big Island. Kauai seems to be too far west now to have a significant threat of flooding, so they were removed from the watch. Where the watch remains, it goes through 6am Saturday.

As the low moves away from the islands Saturday into Sunday, the atmosphere will become more stable, and even though lots of low level moisture will remain with us through Tuesday, the chance of flooding will decrease. Trade winds will return Sunday after another day of southeast winds Saturday. Once the trades return, they are expected to remain over the state through the end of next week. Initially, the increased moisture from this current system will bring wet trades Sunday through Tuesday. After Tuesday, more typical trade wind showers should be with us through the end of the week.


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: An upper low and its associated surface trough near Kauai is continuing to support unstable conditions across the western and central coastal waters. Thunderstorms capable of gusty winds, torrential downpours, extensive lightning, and possibly small hail will remain possible into the evening hours, primarily from the Kauai Channel eastward. Meanwhile, an advanced scatterometer pass showed that background flow has decreased below Small Craft Advisory (SCA) levels, so the SCA that was previously in effect has been cancelled. Background winds will remain slightly east southeasterly this weekend at moderate to fresh levels.

By Saturday, the upper disturbance will be moving northeast away from the state, with stability slowly returning to the region. As a result, expect decreasing thunderstorms and heavy showers across the waters. A more typical easterly trade wind patter will return next week.

A small, medium period north northwest (320-330 degree) swell that peaked last night will continue to slowly decline tonight. Surf along north and west facing shores will follow suit, easing during the weekend.

A mix of small, medium to long period south swells will maintain small surf along south-facing shores this weekend. A series of gale lows passing south of New Zealand should send small south swell energy into the southern waters through next week. Surf should lift to summer averages around Sunday and hold through Wednesday. Moderate to fresh trades will maintain rough and choppy surf along east-facing shores.

Tides will peak around 2.5 to 3.0 feet this weekend. Combined with a small south swell bump, water levels will peak near or above 3.0 feet as early as Saturday. Minor overwash of low lying coastal areas will be possible during times of high tide.

 

 

Hawaii's unique climate creates perfect setting for rainbows | Daily Sabah


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 Mexico: 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

Today marks the first day of the eastern North Pacific hurricane season, which will run until November 30. Long-term averages for the number of named storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes are 15, 8, and 4, respectively.

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

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:  Combined Short-Term Effects of Air Pollutants Linked to 146,500 Premature Deaths per Year in Europe

Fine particles were associated with around 79,000 preventable deaths, followed by nitrogen dioxide (NO?), ozone (O?) and coarser particles (PM, particles with a diameter between 2.5 and 10 micrometres). These are among the findings of a new study conducted by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, in collaboration with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center–Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), which provides the first Europe-wide estimate of short-term mortality associated with the combined effects of multiple pollutants across 31 European countries. The findings, published in Nature Health, support the development of impact-based early warning systems to help protect the population from the health effects of air pollution.

Although the overall health burden is dominated by long-term exposure, short-term air pollution can trigger acute physiological responses, such as systemic inflammation, autonomic imbalance and increased blood clotting, that elevate mortality risk over the following days. Recent studies have shown that daily pollution levels are linked to daily short-term increases in mortality, but important limitations remain. Most research focuses only on cities, overlooking peri-urban and rural areas; and they often fail to account for regional differences in vulnerability (such as age, baseline health, socioeconomic status or environment) and air pollution toxicity. In addition, pollutants are usually analyzed separately, making it difficult to understand their combined effects.

“Our study addressed these limitations by combining daily data on major air pollutants across Europe with the new mortality database from the EARLY-ADAPT project of the European Research Council (ERC), which covers the whole population in 31 countries representing over 530 million people,” explains Zhao-Yue Chen, researcher at ISGlobal and first author of the study. “This allows a more precise analysis of how short-term exposure to the major pollutants affects people differently depending on age, sex and cause of death.” The study analyzed nearly 89 million deaths recorded between 2003 and 2019 across 653 European regions.

Read More: Barcelona Institute for Global Health