The latest update to this website was at 505pm Tuesday (HST)

 

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

1.87  Waiakoali, Kauai
0.78  Kaala, Oahu
0.38  Kaunakakai Mauka, Molokai
0.27  Lanai City, Lanai
0.07  Lahaina, Maui
0.74  Pali 2, Big Island

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

24  Lihue, Kauai – SW
32  Kuaokala, Oahu – SE
28  Moloki AP, Molokai – S
27  Lanai 1, Lanai – SSW 
38  Na Kula, Maui – SW 
24  Mauna Loa Obs, Big Island

 

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 cold front is approaching from the northwest

 

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

Variably cloudy skies…with towering cumulus and thunderstorms near Kauai and Oahu

 

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

Showers locally…some are heavy

 

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 through the winter in upper Kula, Maui

It’s partly to mostly cloudy here in Maui County early this morning, with a low temperature of 58 degrees at my place, with the relative humidity 66 percent.

130pm, it’s cloudy here in Maui County with quite a bit of vog in the air…along with kona winds.

332pm, partly cloudy with quite a bit of blue showing, along with off and on gusty southwest Kona winds.

Weather Wit of the day: Do you notice that most of the weathercasters you see on TV start off by saying, “Good evening?” and then they spend the next five minutes telling you why it’s not.

>>> Highest Temperature Tuesday, December 16, 2025 – 87 near Glamis, CA
>>> Lowest Temperature Tuesday, December 16, 2025 – minus 8 at Presque Isle, ME

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview: An approaching cold front from the northwest, and pre-frontal convergence, will provide focus for showers and thunderstorms, that will primarily impact the western islands beginning this evening and lasting though the next several days. Showers could be heavy at times, especially Wednesday evening through Wednesday night.

A Flood Watch is now in effect for Niihau, Kauai, and Oahu through 6pm Thursday. High pressure will begin to build back in this weekend, with a drier pattern expected heading into next week. Easterly trade winds will return this weekend as well, reaching locally strong speeds early next week.

Hawaii’s Weather Details: Satellite imagery shows a line of showers and thunderstorms ahead of a surface cold front that extends southward across the northwest offshore waters. Radar imagery, GOES Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) data, National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN), and Global Lightning Detection (GLD) data all show that robust thunderstorms are ongoing across the northern offshore waters, and this line of thunderstorms has moved closer to the Hawaiian coastal waters throughout the day, as the front approaches from the northwest.

Meanwhile, some pre-frontal convergence within southerly flow over the island chain has resulted in some lighter scattered showers moving across the across mainly the western islands. Rainfall amounts have generally been on the lighter side when compared with the past couple of days, with most accumulations less than one quarter of an inch over the past 6 hours.

Tonight, the front will continue its approach from the northwest, and chances for rain and thunderstorms will increase over the western end of the state. Cooling temperatures aloft will increase instability. Hi-res guidance show variations of a similar solution- a couple of bands of showers and thunderstorms setting up over or near Kauai County and Oahu. Probabilities also highlight the potential for high rainfall rates greater than 0.5 inch per hour within these bands.

Periodic showers have the potential to become organized enough to quickly produce 1 to 2 inches of rain in spots. Given this, a new Flood Watch has been issued for Niihau, Kauai, and Oahu. Maui and Hawaii Counties will also receive some rain, but it will be much more limited as showers there, will primarily be a result of surface-based convection from lift created by the local daily breezes.

The front is expected to stall over the western end of the state, which will result in continued heavy rain and thunder chances through Friday. Instability, low level convergence, and lift appear to be maximized Wednesday evening into Wednesday night, which provides the best window for flooding concerns.

The weakening boundary will begin to lift away from the state on Friday, beginning a drier trend. Global models indicate that low level flow will become more easterly by Saturday. Upper ridging will form over the islands this weekend, and this subsidence will kick off several days of typical trade weather in the days leading up to Christmas. Model guidance is suggesting that a large North Pacific surface high will tighten the pressure gradient enough to strengthen trades back to locally strong speeds early next week.

Fire weather:  Increased moisture and shower chances, combined with light winds, will prevent critical fire weather concerns over the next few days.

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: A weak surface trough is near Kauai and another cold front is immediately west of the islands. This front maintains a chance for isolated thunderstorms over the western nearshore waters through at least Wednesday. Locally fresh south to south-southwest winds emerge in the meantime as the low digs south. Winds then weaken late this week followed by returning trades perhaps as early as Sunday.

A long period north swell has peaked and will continue to drop. Renewed energy out of the northwest quadrant (300-320) will elevate surf near the HSA threshold once again early Wednesday through Thursday.

East shores remain flat except where long period northwest and north swell energy wraps. South shores experience short period wind wave chop and south swell energy due to persistent south-southwest winds through the week.

 

Beautiful rainbow over Waikiki this morning. Looks like the rainbow was providing protection from the rain clouds. : r/VisitingHawaii|



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 and South Indian Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones 

South Indian Ocean:

Tropical Cyclone 07S (Bakung)…is located approximately 220 NM west of the Cocos Islands

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/sh0726.gif

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: New Window Insulation Blocks Heat, but Not Your View

Physicists at CU Boulder have designed a new material for insulating windows that could improve the energy efficiency of buildings worldwide—and it works a bit like a high-tech version of Bubble Wrap.

The team’s material, called Mesoporous Optically Clear Heat Insulator, or MOCHI, comes in large slabs or thin sheets that can be applied to the inside of any window. So far, the team only makes the material in the lab, and it’s not available for consumers. But the researchers say MOCHI is long-lasting and is almost completely transparent.

That means it won’t disrupt your view, unlike many insulating materials on the market today,

“To block heat exchange, you can put a lot of insulation in your walls, but windows need to be transparent,” said Ivan Smalyukh, senior author of the study and a professor of physics at CU Boulder. “Finding insulators that are transparent is really challenging.”

Read More: University of Colorado at Boulder

Image: Abram Fluckiger holds up a sample panel square that has five sandwiched layers of a new material nearly transparent insulation material called MOCHI, which was designed buy CU Boulder researchers in physics professor Ivan Smalyukh’s lab.