The latest update to this website was at 528am Friday (HST)

 

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

3.04  N Wailua Ditch, Kauai
4.88  Poamoho, Oahu
1.09  Molokai AP, Molokai
0.33  Lanai 1, Lanai
0.89  EMI Baseyard, Maui
0.87  Kamuela, Big Island

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

23  Moloaa Dairy, Kauai – SE
15  Palehua, Oahu – SE
17  Honolimaloo, Molokai – E 
16  Lanai 1,  Lanai – SSE
27  Nene Nest, Maui – SW
27  Kona AP, Big Island – S

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 over the state 

 

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

Considerable cloudiness continues to arrive 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…some are heavy

 

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 home in upper Kula, Maui

518am Thursday morning, it’s still calm, variably cloudy skies here at my place, with the low temperature 55.5 degrees, along with the relative humidity 80%.

813am, cloudy with the first shower of the day here at my place…which fell from the middle level clouds…as the tops of both the West Maui Mountains, and the summit of the Haleakala Crater are below the cloud bases.

140pm, I played pickleball in Makawao this morning, which was very fun, despite the crowd. I certainly cloudy here on Maui, and I just had a brief light shower here at my place.

230pm, cloudy/foggy with light rain here in upper Kula. The temperature has dropped to 65.4 degrees…with the relative humidity 75%

420pm, dense fog with a light shower, temperature here at my place 63.5 degrees

606pm, dense fog with a shower falling here in upper Kula…with totally calm winds.

901pm, partly cloudy with near calm winds, and the showers have stopped. The temperature has dropped to 61.8 degrees

Here we go again, as yet another prolonged wet pattern is forecast to continue through the upcoming weekend across the state. Be prepared, but have heart…as there does appear to be some proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel” for Hawaii next week.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Thursday, March 19, 2026 – 110 degrees near Martinez Lake, AZ
>>> Lowest Temperature Thursday, March 19, 2026 – 1 degree at Mount Washington, NH

 

… Flood watch through Sunday.
… Initial band tracks west to east this afternoon to Friday, followed by an intensification Friday night-Saturday night (peak of event).
… Highest rain likely focused on Oahu, Maui County and Big Island.
… While this storm may not be as strong as last week’s kona low, individual areas may be impacted differently than last week.
… Ground is saturated and requires less rain to produce flooding.
… No Molokai radar through at least Tuesday.

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of 837pm Thursday: Two surface low pressure systems will move slowly northeastward through the northern Hawaii islands into the weekend, producing periods of moderate to heavy rain, thunderstorms, and elevated threats for flash flooding. A combination of low level forcing and passing upper level troughs will drive these smaller scale heavy rain bands, and thunderstorm formations.

Additional weather threats include strengthening south to southwest kona winds on Saturday that will produce down sloping wind gusts in the 30 to 45 mph range, along steep north and east slopes of island mountain ranges lasting through Saturday night. Improving weather trends will develop from west to east on Monday as we transition to a wet trade wind weather pattern lasting through the end of next week.

Short Term Update…as of 837pm: Looking into the satellite images we see a small scale convergence boundary located in the Kauai Channel between Kauai and Oahu. This boundary continues to produce areas of heavy showers, and will slowly drift eastward towards Oahu through the overnight hours. A subtropical jet stream north of the islands continues to provide divergence aloft to help trigger these heavier showers and possible thunderstorms over the next 12 to 24 hours.

The strong wind gusts will likely uproot trees, as roots give way under saturated ground conditions, tree branches will break and fall, potentially producing another round of power outages for some local island communities. Periods of icing and snowfall on the Big Island summits are possible above 12,000 feet elevation level, along with strong gusty winds during the Saturday night through Sunday time period. Improving weather trends will develop from west to east on Monday, as we transition to a cool, wet and breezy trade wind weather pattern lasting through the end 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 301pm Thursday: Light to moderate southeast winds will strengthen tonight as surface low pressure roughly 300 nm west of Kauai and an associated front stretching north of the state deepen. Moderate to locally fresh south to southwest winds will prevail Friday and Saturday, and periods of heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected. The low will lift to the north of the state on Sunday, likely allowing moderate northerly winds and lower chances for rainfall to develop around Kauai. On Monday, high pressure building north of the state will push a surface trough eastward over the islands. Fresh to strong northeast winds will require a Small Craft Advisory (SCA) over most waters, though variable winds could linger around the Big Island through the day. Fresh to potentially strong trade winds will persist on Tuesday.

A small, medium period north swell continues a slow decline. Nearshore PacIOOS buoys show the swell from 345-360 degrees at around 4 feet 12 seconds. The swell will drop slightly as it shifts out of the north-northeast Friday. A moderate reinforcing north-northeast swell is due Saturday and Sunday, and a small, overlapping west-northwest swell is expected to arrive late Saturday and hold into Monday. Early next week, a potentially larger pulse of medium period north-northeast swell could produce surf near the High Surf Advisory level and contribute to the need for a SCA.

Aside from areas exposed to wrapping north swell, surf along east facing shores will remain well below average through the weekend. As northeast trade winds develop early next week, rough surf will return to east facing shores, and some areas exposed to the north-northeast swell may approach the advisory level.

The south swell that produced surf around the High Surf Advisory level yesterday is on a gradual decline. The PacIOOS buoy off of Lanai shows that the swell is down, with a further slow decline expected Friday. As this swell fades, a small south-southwest swell will arrive this weekend, then decline Monday. Smaller surf is expected along south facing shores through the remainder of the week.

 

12 Things to Do in Oahu When It Rains - Real Hawaii Tours



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 265 NM northwest of Cairns, Australia

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/27P_200000sair.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:  What are El Niño and La Niña, and how do they change the weather?

Getty Images A woman drinks water on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during a heatwave. She is wearing a black vest top and a light brown cap. Palm trees are visible in the background.

El Niño and La Niña are the two opposite states of a natural climate phenomenon called the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

El Niño and La Niña occur in the Pacific but can affect weather systems across the world.

The two states are often identified by sea surface temperatures in the tropical eastern and central Pacific Ocean. During El Niño, these waters are warmer; during La Niña, they are cooler.

The phases can also be distinguished by differences in atmospheric pressure. During El Niño, pressure is above normal at Darwin, Australia (western Pacific) and below normal at Tahiti, French Polynesia (central Pacific). For La Niña, the opposite is true.

In “neutral” conditions – neither El Niño nor La Niña – surface water in the Pacific Ocean is cooler in the east and warmer in the west.

Trade winds tend to blow east-to-west, and heat from the Sun progressively warms the waters as they move in this direction.

During El Niño, these winds weaken or reverse, sending warm surface waters eastwards instead.

In La Niña periods, the normal east-to-west winds become stronger, pushing warmer waters further west.

This causes cold water to rise up – or “upwell” – from the depths of the ocean, meaning sea surface temperatures are cooler than usual in the east Pacific.

The phenomenon was first observed by Peruvian fisherman in the 1600’s, who noticed that warm waters seemed to peak near the Americas in December.

They nicknamed it “El Niño de Navidad” – Christ Child in Spanish.

Read more…BBC