Glenn James
Hawaii Weather Today
Founder and maintainer for 30 years 

 

The latest update to this website was at 908pm Wednesday (HST)

 

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

0.29  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.22  Kaala, Oahu
1.22  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai City, Lanai
0.80  West Wailuaiki, Maui
3.28  Laupahoehoe, Big Island

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

25  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
31  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
29  Anapuka, Molokai – NE
33  Lanai 1,  Lanai – NE
40  Kealaloloa Rg, Maui – NNE
46  Kealakomo, Big Island – NNW

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

Clearing skies after the afternoon clouds

 

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

Low clouds arriving along the windward sides…on the gusty trade winds / middle level clouds moving by south of the state

 

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 

 

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

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Glenn’s Wednesday comments:  I’m here at home in upper Kula, Maui

533am Wednesday morning, with clear skies here at my place, with the low temperature a cold 45.5 degrees, along with the relative humidity 75%.

419pm, it’s mostly sunny here on Maui, other than the low clouds along the windward sides. It feels more like summer than early spring to me.

6pm, partly cloudy with a light shower here at my place in upper Kula.

833pm, the afternoon clouds and showers are clearing here in Kula, and as such, the temperature has slipped to a cool 53.8 degrees at my place.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Wednesday, March 25, 2026 – 106 degrees at Death Valley, CA
>>> Lowest Temperature Wednesday, March 25, 2026 – 7 degrees at Mount Washington, NH

 

I’ve become aware that we may be having what’s called a Super El Nino this year. Records show that this phenomenon occurs typically every 10-15 years. The strongest El Nino’s we’ve had in the recent past were in 1982, 1997-98 and 2015-16.

My weather mentor, Dr. Daniel Swain, a climate  scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, is being quoted as saying: “The vast majority of [the models], almost all, suggest at least a moderate strength El Niño by later this coming summer, and the majority really do go all the way into strong or extreme territory.”

Pulled from the State of the Climate report, here are some of the loudest echoes of the 2015 El Niño:

Record-smashing hurricane season in the central North Pacific

Sixteen tropical cyclones formed in or passed through the unusually warm central Pacific hurricane basin in 2015. That’s more than 3 times the 1981–2010 average of 4.7 cyclones per season, and 4 more than the previous record of 12, set in 1992 (also an El Niño year). In late August, the basin sustained three Category 4 hurricanes at the same time, which was a first, not just for the central Pacific basin, but for any basin during the modern record.

Here’s a satellite picture of what was going on in our Central Pacific during the summer of 2015

p.s. One more thing that Dr. Swain said yesterday, was that the extreme heat spell in the western United States over the past week or more, could easily become the new normal with time….yikes!


Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of 803pm Wednesday:  A drier and more stable trade wind pattern is expected through the weekend into at least the middle of next week. Showers should be mostly focused along windward and mountain locations. Nights will be cool in sheltered areas this weekend.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of 346pm Wednesday: Light trade wind showers were detected by radar along most windward coasts, but measurable rainfall has been limited. Satellite showed plenty of clouds along windward and mountain areas, and along the Kona coast.

Winds were brisk, averaging 10-20 mph with gusts 20-35+ mph. We are forecast to remain in a trade wind pattern for the foreseeable future…at least for the next 7-days and likely longer. Wind speeds will weaken slightly Thursday and Friday, then strengthen Saturday into Sunday, as a weak cold front moves through.

This front will bring another shot of dry air to the region. Dew points Friday through Monday should get into the mid 50’s (which is low) at times, allowing for cool nights for most areas. Another plus from the dry air will be enhanced evaporation, helping to eliminate standing water from all the recent flooding and perhaps aid cleanup efforts.

 

Here’s a near real-time Wind Profile of the Pacific Ocean – Zoom Earth – 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…as of 346pm Wednesday:  A low pressure system east-northeast of the islands and a high pressure system to the far north-northwest of the Hawaii region will keep northeasterly trade winds in the forecast through the week. A scatterometer pass this afternoon showed more extensive small craft winds through the Kaiwi and Kauai Channels, which has prompted an expansion of the Small Craft Advisory (SCA) which remains in effect through early Thursday morning. Winds will briefly ease on Thursday and Friday, likely falling below SCA thresholds. High pressure drops south from the Bering Sea through this weekend, leading to a strengthening pressure gradient and stronger trade winds through and north of the Hawaiian Islands. Fresh to strong trade winds bring a return of SCA conditions from Saturday into the first half of next week.

The forerunners of a small northwest swell have reached the northwest buoys and will arrive along the north shores tonight. The medium period swell is expected to peak around 3 feet on Thursday before gradually declining through the weekend. For east facing shores, short period wind wave energy from northeasterly trade winds will hold into the weekend. Strengthening northeasterly winds this weekend and a swath of gales associated with a low around one thousand miles northeast of the islands will lead to the potential for high surf advisories along north and east facing shores from Sunday into early next week.

For south facing shores, small background energy pulses will bring surf heights back above flat conditions Thursday evening into early next week.

 

Tropical Hawaiian Shore Photograph by Kerri Ligatich - Fine Art America



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: 

Tropical Cyclone 27P (Narelle)…is located approximately 238 NM north-northeast of Learmonth, Australia

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/27P_260000sair.jpg

 

North Indian Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

South Indian Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

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 Material Can Help Combat Water Shortages Where Water Is Needed Most

A newly developed plastic material of the same type as is used in baby diapers can collect clean and safe drinking water from the air.

Climate change, population growth, conflict and humanitarian crises are putting increasing pressure on the world’s water resources. That is why Norwegian researchers are looking into whether atmospheric water generators can become part of the solution.

This type of water generator extracts moisture from the air using moisture-absorbing materials and converts it into drinking water. But they need to become more efficient.

“The solution works well when the air is humid, but energy consumption becomes very high when the humidity is below 50 percent. This in turn makes the technology expensive and thus challenging to use in dry areas, where the need is greatest, says Roberto Mennitto.

Read More: Norwegian University of Science and Technology