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

 

The last update to this website was Tuesday afternoon HST


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

0.34  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.17  Maunawili, Oahu
0.42  Honolimaloo, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
2.64  West Wailuaiki, Maui
1.67  Spencer, Big Island


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

15  Lawai, Kauai – NE 
30  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – SE
28  Makapulapai, Molokai – ESE 
20  Lanai 1, Lanai – NE
27  Na Kula, Maui – NE
23  South Point, Big Island – NE


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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Thunderstorms in the deeper tropics…cold fronts moving by to the north

 

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Low clouds arriving on the trade winds…high clouds departing our area

 

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https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/PHKI_loop.gif

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Showers locally…some 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 Tuesday comments:  I’m here at my friend Linda’s house in Corte Madera, Marin County, California, as my working vacation concludes.

As I’ve been mentioning recently, I fly back to Maui this morning, and will be home in upper Kula this afternoon. I’ll resume my normal updates as soon as I get my computer set back up this afternoon.

324pm, my flight was easy, and my friend David picked me up at the airport, and we stopped by Whole Foods in Kahului on the way home. Obviously I’ve got my computer set up, and I’m in the process of updating all the information on this website. I stopped by friends goat farm and picked up a dozen eggs and a bottle of fresh Kefir.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Tuesday, May 5, 2026 – 105 degrees at Rio Grande Village, TX
>>> Lowest Temperature Tuesday, May 5, 2026 – 16 degrees at Bryce Canyon, UT

 

>>> Interesting weather web blog: Mauka Showers…Waialeale’s Rainfall Trend

 

At the Lake – a poem by Mary Oliver

A fish leaps like a black pin-then-when the starlight strikes its side —
like a silver pin. In an instant the fish’s spine alters the fierce line of rising
and it curls a little-the head, like scalloped tin, plunges back, and it’s gone.

This is, I think, what holiness is: the natural world, where every moment is full
of the passion to keep moving.

Inside every mind there’s a hermit’s cave full of light, full of snow, full of concentration.

I’ve knelt there, and so have you, hanging on to what you love, to what is lovely.

The lake’s shining sheets don’t make a ripple now, and the stars are going off to their
blue sleep, but the words are in place-and the fish leaps, and leaps again from the black
plush of the poem, that breathless space.

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of Tuesday afternoon:  Light winds, increasing humidity, and land and sea breeze conditions will persist through mid-week, as a series of fronts pass by north of the state. Showers will remain brief and primarily over interior and leeward areas during the afternoons. Rainfall chances may increase by the weekend as an upper disturbance approaches the region.

Short Term Update…as of Tuesday afternoon:  Forecast remains on track as a developing trough near Oahu breaks down the trade wind flow. The result is a transition to a dominant land and sea breeze pattern, featuring increased clouds and interior showers during the afternoon and evening hours. Kilauea eruption episode 46 started this morning. An Ashfall Advisory has been issued to highlight the possibility of tephra, ash, Peles hair and other lightweight pumice falling near and downwind of the eruption. Due to the trade winds breaking down and winds changing with height, material from the eruption may fall to the north and northeast of Kilauea, possibly in the Hilo area.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of Tuesday afternoon: The subtropical ridge will remain weak through mid-week, as a series of cold fronts pass well north of the state. This pattern has disrupted the typical trade wind flow, allowing land breezes to develop overnight into the morning. A more humid air mass will settle over the islands. This, combined with a weak front in the vicinity, and afternoon sea breeze development, will support localized cloud buildups and scattered showers over interior and leeward areas each afternoon.

Clearing is expected overnight as land breezes reestablish. By the latter part of the week into the weekend, moisture and rainfall chances may increase. Global guidance indicates an upper-level disturbance and its attendant cold front approach and move into the area. Uncertainty, however, remains high due to differences in model solutions regarding the timing and strength of these features, resulting in low confidence in the details.


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 Tuesday afternoon: High pressure northeast of the state will drive moderate to fresh trades. The trades will ease and shift southeasterly at light to moderate levels through tonight, as an approaching front merges with a trough north of the island chain. The trough will weaken the front passing by north of the area on Wednesday, bringing light and variable winds, with sea and land breezes present near the immediate coasts.

A new high building northwest of the state will bring a return of light to moderate trades Thursday and Friday, with the trades strengthening to moderate and fresh levels over the weekend. Winds and seas are expected to remain below Small Craft Advisory thresholds through at least Friday.

A moderate medium-period northwest swell will gradually lower during the next couple of days. A new long period swell will build Wednesday night and give a nice boost to north and west shore surf Thursday and Friday, followed by a gradual decline over the weekend into early next week.

A series of overlapping south swells will keep steady small surf rolling into south facing shores during the next week.

Surf along east facing shores will remain below normal during the next 7-days, due to the lack of strong trades over and upstream of the islands.

 

 

Hawaii, Oahu, Lanikai, Bikini-clad girl running in shallow ocean water along beach shoreline.


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

>>> Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

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

 

>>> Eastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

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: 

Tropical Cyclone 05W is located approximately 88 NM north-northwest of Puluwat

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/05W_051800sair.jpg

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/wp0526.gif

 

>>> Southwest Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones



Interesting:  Integrated Land Planning Is Necessary to Meet Climate, Food and Biodiversity Goals

While the world is a big place, humans are making greater and greater demands on the same areas of land. “This means that, unless we use the same land to serve multiple needs and coordinate this effort through planning, it is unlikely that we will have enough land for conservation, food and energy,” said Grace Wu, a professor in UC Santa Barbara’s Environmental Studies Program.

An international team of researchers looked into the tradeoffs between different land uses, revealing that strategic planning would enable progress toward global biodiversity, climate and sustainable development goals simultaneously. The study, published in Nature Communications, finds that, if an integrated method for land-use planning is employed, future land development would impact 15% fewer species and cut carbon loss by 19%.

The study provides a framework for multi-sector land-use planning that considers the, often overlapping, needs of nature conservation, agriculture and renewable energy. The paper maps these needs around the world, finding that the places needed to meet targets for protected land and productive land frequently intersect.

Read More: University of California – Santa Barbara