The latest update to this website was at 506pm Wednesday (HST)

 

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

0.64  N Wailua Ditch, Kauai
0.07  Bellows AFS, Oahu
0.42  Honolimaloo, Molokai
0.09  Lanai City, Lanai
1.21  Hana AP, Maui
2.01  Laupahoehoe PD, Big Island 

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

22  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
14  Kii, Oahu – E
16  Makapulapai, Molokai – ESE
15  Lanai 1,  Lanai – ESE
17  Honolua, Maui – ESE
25  Moana 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

Variable clouds with still quite a bit of moisture over the state

 

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

Middle level clouds moving over the state from the west 

 

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

526am Wednesday morning, there’s no wind, variably cloudy skies here at my place, with the low temperature 56 degrees, along with the relative humidity 75%.

925am, lots of middle level clouds, essentially no lower level clouds that I can see from here in upper Kula. My temperature is 65.4 degrees with the relative humidity 75%

508pm, it got foggy this afternoon, although that’s gone now with partly cloudy skies here in Maui County.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Wednesday, March 18, 2026 – 108 degrees near North Shore, CA
>>> Lowest Temperature Wednesday, March 18, 2026 – minus 12 degrees at Mount Washington, NH

 

– Potential for locally heavy rain Thursday into the weekend, with the highest probability for Maui County and Big Island.
– This upcoming system will not be as strong as the previous kona storm.
– An overall wet pattern to continue over the next 7-days across Hawaii

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of 316pm Wednesday: Benign weather continues into Thursday. A kona low then develops west of the islands bringing widespread rain and potential flash flooding Thursday evening through the weekend.

Hawaii’s Weather Details…as of 316pm Wednesday:  An elongated surface trough extending from a low in the NW Pacific, serves as the focus for a weak surface low development west of Kauai this evening. This low is forming within a corridor of  a very light wind field.

In advance of the low, deep layer subsidence prevails over the islands, in maintenance of benign weather tonight into Thursday. Mid-level forcing steadily increases Thursday into Saturday, allowing aforementioned low pressure to strengthen, and increasingly deep SW kona wind flow to deliver waves of moderate to heavy rainfall to the islands heading into the weekend.

Thursday night, satellite indicates ample upstream moisture in the form of a high coverage of low clouds, and a few thunderstorms well west of Kauai. This will be the initial moisture push into the forecast area late Thursday. Atmospheric oundings remain fairly saturated from moisture left in place by the last event.

The initial slug of moisture also arrives coincident with a moderate increase in conditional instability. These factors increase confidence in model depictions of deep convection with relatively high rain rates. Low-level convergence is sorely lacking during this time, but strengthening SW winds aloft will provide a background of widespread weak ascent Thursday night, suggesting disorganized but potentially widespread convection.

Friday, mid-level dry air sweeps across the far western end of the state leaving the deepest moisture over Oahu through Maui, the eastern extent of the moisture band further displaced from evolving forcing aloft. For this reason, the heavier rainfall on Friday will fall over Maui and Oahu as opposed to the Big Island.

Friday night through Sunday represents the peak of the event, as forcing strengthens considerably during this period, and multiple embedded troughs rotate around the parent trough and across the state. The rather weak area of upstream low pressure will begin to advance northeast and strengthen, which will aid in the development of enhanced surface convergence and better potential for organized heavy rainfall, somewhere in the central portion of the state Friday night into Saturday.

Large scale forcing and moderate right entrance jet support will peak late Saturday into Sunday leading to the greatest potential for heavy rainfall. Rain rates may be particularly intense during this time. However, the upper wave digs sufficiently deep that it will usher the heavy rain band south of the Big Island by Sunday night. Thus, the peak rainfall potential will coincide with an increasingly progressive heavy rain band.

The initially weak nature of the low and subtle surface convergence features lend themselves to lower than normal forecast confidence. A Flood Watch has been issued for Oahu, Maui County, and the Big Island with the highest confidence over Oahu and Maui County at this time. Flash flood potential for Kauai is non-zero, but low confidence does not support Watch issuance there at this time.

Note that saturated soils will favor increased flooding potential even though overall rainfall will not match the previous system. Finally, wind is of no concern this time around. Winds may peak in the 12-17 mph range, except with some higher gusts possible within deep convection.

Trades return late Monday or Monday night. The lingering moisture band remains in place during this time, and may provide a focus for enhanced trade wind showers over windward Big Island during the early to middle portion of next 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 406am Wednesday: Light to locally moderate east to southeast winds will slowly strengthen to moderate speeds by Thursday, as a ridge builds to the north of the state. Winds across the coastal waters will veer to the south by Thursday into the weekend. By this weekend, a weak low approaching from the west traverses across the state and begins to lift north on Saturday, which appears likely to maintain light to moderate southerly winds for the area.

Offshore NDBC buoy northwest of the islands continues to rise as this growing north-northwest swell continues to exceed guidance. Therefore, the High Surf Advisory has been extended for north facing shores of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai and Maui. Surf will gradually decline through Friday as the swell shifts out of the north and north-northeast. A new small to moderate long period west-northwest swell is expected to arrive late Saturday and hold through early next week.

Surf along south shores will see moderate surf just below High Surf Advisory (HSA) criteria as the long period south swell continues to fill in, and will hold through Thursday. Surf along east facing shores will remain well below average due to the lack of trades locally and upstream. The exception will be for east facing shores exposed to north-northeast swells Thursday through the weekend.

 

Hawaii Kauai Beaches: A Guide for Families -



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 229 NM north-northeast of Cairns, Australia

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/27P_190000sair.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: Reduced physical activity due to global heating will lead to rise in health issues, study says

Rising temperatures are making physical activity undesirable and even dangerous in many parts of the world, and as global heating worsens, it will further affect how much people are able to move.

Researchers analyzed data from 156 countries between 2000 and 2022 and modeled how rising temperatures may affect physical activity globally by 2050.

They found that each additional month with an average temperature above 27.8C would increase physical inactivity by an average of 1.5 percentage points globally, with an even higher increase of 1.85 points in low and middle-income countries.

Physical inactivity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers and mental health disorders, all of which shorten life expectancy, said the study’s lead author, Christian García-Witulski, a research fellow at the Lancet Countdown Latin America and a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina.

Reduced physical activity is already a big global health problem and is responsible for an estimated 5% of all adult deaths, according to the study, which was published in the Lancet Global Health journal. About a third of the world’s population fails to meet World Health Organization guidelines for weekly exercise.

The study projects that the increase in physical inactivity could contribute to about half a million additional premature deaths annually and $2.4bn – $3.68bn in productivity losses by 2050.

Read more…The Guardian