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

 

The last update to this website was at 515pm Thursday HST


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

0.77  Kilohana, Kauai
0.43  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.13  Honolimaloo, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
1.03  Puu Kukui, Maui
3.54  Honolii Stream, Big Island


The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Thursday evening:

29  Port Allen, Kauai – ENE 
29  Makua Range, Oahu – NE
30  Molokai AP, Molokai – NE 
35  Lanai 1, Lanai – NE
43  Na Kula, Maui – ESE
35  Pali 2, 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.

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 in the far eastern Pacific…cold front far northwest 

 

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 High level clouds moving by to the 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 

 

https://www.weather.gov/wwamap/png/hfo.png

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




~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Glenn’s Thursday comments:  I’m here at my friend Linda’s house in Corte Madera, Marin County, California, continuing on in my working vacation.

920am Hawaii time, today closely resembles yesterday, at least in terms of the weather. We have a deliciously warm sunshine along with a delightfully cool breeze off the nearby SF Bay.

109pm Hawaii time, I’ve got 4 more full days here in northern California, before I jet back to Maui next Tuesday morning. I’ve spend time in CA, Oregon, and Vancouver, Canada since I arrived last month. Am I looking forward to returning to Maui, well, yes and no.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Thursday, April 30, 2026 – 98 degrees near La Puerta, TX
>>> Lowest Temperature Thursday, April 30, 2026 – 9 degrees at Peter Sinks, Utah

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of Thursday evening:  Moderate to breezy trades will continue for the next several days. Showers are expected across windward and mountain areas, with limited spillover into leeward areas. A nearly stationary upper-level low northeast of the islands will enhance clouds and showers through Friday.

By the weekend, the upper low is forecast to move northeast away from the state, and wind speeds will decrease slightly. From Monday through the end of next week, trade wind showers, mainly windward and mountains, will continue across the island chain.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of Thursday evening: Moderate to breezy trade winds are forecast to continue, thanks to a series of high pressure systems that will move from west to east across the north Pacific over the coming week.

An upper-level low centered 600-700 miles northeast of the state is causing some local instability, resulting in deeper clouds and some enhanced shower activity across windward and mountain areas, with isolated showers reaching leeward areas. This upper-level low will remain nearly stationary through Friday, keeping some cold air aloft over the region. This will continue the risk of occasional moderate to briefly heavy showers.

The trade pattern will be with us for the next week. Wind speeds should weaken slightly Saturday into Sunday, as the upper-level low exits the region to the northeast. Periods of showers will continue to favor windward and mountain areas. From Monday through most of next week, expect trades to continue with only slight variations in day-to-day wind speeds. Showers will fall mainly windward and mountains, as usual in a trade wind pattern.

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 Thursday: An area of high pressure, centered to our north, will slowly move east through Friday, generating widespread fresh to locally strong trade winds across the local waters. A Small Craft Advisory is currently in effect for the typical windy channels around Maui County and the Big Island. By this weekend, a front passing far north of the state will nudge the aforementioned high further east and allow trade winds to decrease to moderate to locally fresh levels.

The current small, northwest to north-northwest (320-330 degree), swell will slowly decline into Friday producing small surf along north facing beaches. A North Pacific gale-force low will send a moderate, longer-period northwest swell toward the islands late Friday into Saturday, generating above average surf along north and west facing shores.

Surf along south-facing shores will remain small through the rest of this work week, with mainly background south to southwest swell expected. A small, long period, south-southwest pulse should arrive late Friday, giving a bump up to south facing shores through this weekend.

Surf along east-facing shores will remain slightly elevated through Friday, as trades remain fresh to locally strong. Trades will slowly weaken this weekend and allow surf along east-facing shores to lower.

 

 

Aulani resort has three infinity pools. Photo by Steve MacNaull


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:  There are no active tropical cyclones

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

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



Interesting:  The Colorado River Disappeared From the Geological Record for 5 Million Years. Scientists Now Know Where it Went

When drought grips the African savanna, an aging elephant matriarch leads her herd to water she remembers from decades past. In the cold Pacific, an older killer whale guides her pod to elusive salmon, sharing her catch when prey runs thin. And over the open ocean, a seasoned albatross traces vast, invisible routes it has refined over years, returning unerringly to feed its chick.

Across land, sea, and sky, these animals deploy memory, skill, and experience accumulated over long lives. So what happens when such older individuals are selectively removed through hunting, fishing, or other human pressures? Researchers say the loss may not be immediately visible, but it is profound: The knowledge that underpins population survival begins to disappear.

For decades, conservation has focused on numbers: how many animals remain in a population. But a growing body of research suggests this lens is too narrow, and that the loss of older animals can reshape populations in ways that simple counts fail to capture. “Not all individuals contribute equally,” says Keller Kopf, a senior lecturer at Charles Darwin University in Australia. “Older animals play roles that are often invisible in simple population counts.”

Read More at: University of California – Los Angeles