Glenn James
Hawaii Weather Today
Founder and maintainer for 30 years 

 

The latest update to this website was at 428am Sunday (HST)

 

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

0.64  Kilohana , Kauai
0.71  Tunnel RG, Oahu
3.06  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.26  Lanai City, Lsnai
6.84  West Wailuaiki, Maui
2.70  Honokaa, Big Island

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

29  Barking Sands, Kauai – NNE
40  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE 
28  Anapuka, Molokai – NNW
33  Lanai 1,  Lanai – NE
35  Kealaloloa Rg, Maui – NNE
39  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

Thunderstorms south…a cold front far northwest

 

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Low clouds arriving along the windward sides…on the gusty trade winds / higher level clouds moving into the state from the west and south

 

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 Saturday comments:  I’m here in Corte Madera, Marin County, California

445am Hawaii time, I’m here at my friend Linda’s after a long day out in the public yesterday, flying between Maui and northern California. It’s clear and cool here, with a chilly 42 degree low where I am.

1152am Hawaii time, obviously I can’t tell you about how the weather is there in the islands, I mean first hand, like I do when I’m home in upper Kula. So, I’ll have to let you know how it is here in Marin County, which is sunny with high clouds, and the temperature here at my friend Linda’s house is a very warm 79.7 degrees. I must say that it’s really nice being here in California, even though of course I love Maui too.

245pm Hawaii time, it’s still very warm here in Corte Madera, although it’s early evening. I’m about to head out for my last walk of the day. Linda made a wonderful stir fry dinner for me, with tofu and all kinds of veggies…luck me!

453pm Hawaii time, it was a very warm day here, although now that it’s getting dark, the temperature has fallen to a more comfortable level…64 degrees…after a high of 80.

704pm Hawaii time, it’s clear with a temperature of 56 degrees just before I hit the hay. It was a generally nice day, just shy of being a bit too warm for my liking…and tomorrow is expected to be a couple of degrees warmer than today. I’ve been in California about 24 hours, and I haven’t quite got my feet on the ground yet (what with the 3-hour time difference), it usually takes me a couple of days to extract myself from Maui, and feel finally adjusted to the time differences in the two places.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Saturday, March 28, 2026 – 107 degrees near Ogilby, CA
>>> Lowest Temperature Sunday, March 29, 2026 – minus 2 degrees at Mount Washington, NH

 

I’ve become aware that we may be having what’s called a Super El Nino later 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, 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.

 

Interesting website: Mauka Showers…Double Trouble – Second Storm Produces Massive Flooding Problems in Hawaii



Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of 315pm Saturday: Moderate to locally breezy north-northeast trade winds expected tonight with some higher gusts over leeward areas. Scattered showers over windward and mountain areas are possible, with a passing trough. Drier and cooler air will fill in state wide by Sunday with scattered showers returning at the start of the work week.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of 315pm Saturday: Satellite and radar imagery show scattered clouds with some showers mostly along windward and mountain areas ongoing. For the rest of day we should see showers gradually decrease west to east as a drier airmass builds in over the state.

High pressure far north of the state should gradually strengthen our north-northeast trade winds tonight, with gusty winds expected over leeward areas. Gusty winds 40 mph over select leeward areas are possible. Sunday looks to be a windy mostly dry day. Some scattered showers will be possible over windward Big Island especially in the morning hours.

A cold upper level low will develop northeast of the state through Wednesday. While temperatures aloft will be cold and unstable, we will continue to remain on the dry side of the upper level low. While heavy showers are not expected, we should see scattered showers moving in with the trade winds especially over windward and mountain areas. Trade winds will gradually decrease throughout the first half of the upcoming week as the high weakens to our north. Trade winds should lower to moderate speeds towards the second half of the upcoming week.

 

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 315pm Saturday: A northwest swell will decline tonight. A new, short period north northeast swell will build in Sunday pushing surf heights along north and east facing shores to near advisory by the end of the day. Surf heights may reach advisory levels along both shorelines Sunday night into Monday before the swell begins to fade through the rest of the week.

Along south-facing shores, small background pulses will keep surf heights above flat conditions through early next week. Surf along west facing shores will be mainly small through the week.

A low pressure system northeast of the islands and a high pressure system to the far northwest of the Hawaii region will keep fresh to strong northeasterly trade winds into early next week. The low will weaken by midweek allowing winds to taper slightly. A Small Craft Advisory is posted for all Hawaiian coastal waters due to a combination of strong trade winds and seas from the incoming north northeast swell.

 



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

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

North 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 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:  Anticipating Mountain Water Shortages Using Artificial Intelligence

With climate change, mountain water resources are becoming a major issue. Their evolution—still difficult to grasp on a global scale—is at the heart of the MountAInWater project , in which researchers from the University of Lausanne are involved.

Coordinated by the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and funded by the philanthropic organization Schmidt Science*, this project brings together academic institutions from six countries in Europe and North America around an ambitious goal: to produce the first high-resolution global reanalysis of mountain water resources.

Within the project, researchers from the ICE group at the University of Lausanne will play a key role in developing artificial intelligence models to better understand changes in water resources. Concretely, data collected at four high-mountain reference sites—in the Canadian Rockies, the Andes, the Pamir, and the Himalayas—will be used to improve physical models capable of simulating tipping points related to the cryosphere (glaciers, snow, and permafrost), as well as water flows originating from mountain systems.

Read more at: University of Lausanne