Last update to this website was at 811pm Wednesday evening, March 3, 2021
Air Temperatures – The following high temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday afternoon…along with the low temperatures Wednesday morning:
77 – 66 Lihue, Kauai
79 – 67 Honolulu, Oahu
77 – 66 Molokai AP
79 – 65 Kahului AP
85 – 69 Kona AP, Hawaii
80 – 65 Hilo, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands Wednesday evening:
1.62 Kilohana, Kauai
1.25 Schofield East, Oahu
0.52 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.88 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.88 Kawainui Stream, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Wednesday evening:
18 Port Allen, Kauai
27 Kii, Oahu
23 Molokai
35 Lanai
31 Kahoolawe
25 Maalaea Bay, Maui
29 Waikoloa, Big Island
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.
We see old cold frontal cloud bands approaching to the northeast
Variable lower clouds…lots of clear areas too
The trades are carrying clouds into our windward sides
Showers locally…mainly windward sides
Model showing precipitation through 8-days (you can slow this animation down)
Hawaii is on the 3rd line down from the top…and the 1st line to the right of the middle line (lightning is the blue dots)
Please click this link…to see current Watches, Warnings and Advisories noted above
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
>>> Glenn’s Wednesday comments: My low temperature this morning here in upper Kula was 44.5 degrees
This morning is turning out to be a real beauty, and very special day weatherwise…here in Hawaii!
Satellite imagery shows some low clouds arriving along the windwards, at least locally, while the leeward sides continue to be graced by mostly clear to partly cloudy conditions. In contrast, and as usual, the Kona slopes on the Big Island are clouding up as usual…early this afternoon.
Late afternoon finds sunny skies here in upper Kula, while clouds have increased markedly over along the windward coasts…looks like showers are falling over that way too.
750pm, calm winds here in Kula, with my outdoor temperature sensor reading 56.1 degrees
Broad Brush Overview: The gusty trades will persist, then lower to moderate levels Thursday and Friday. Fairly typical trade wind weather will persist through Thursday, with showers favoring windward areas, particularly at night and into the early morning hours.
A surface trough of low pressure will develop in the vicinity of the island chain Thursday night, then slowly shift westward Friday and Friday night. This in turn will bring wet trade wind conditions…particularly to windward sections of the smaller islands.
As the trough shifts westward a more typical, although slightly wetter than normal trade pattern will return over the weekend, with winds increasing back to strong levels. The trades will strengthen to windy levels early next week, with the wetter than normal trade wind conditions continuing.
Details: Weather maps show a high pressure system positioned to the northwest of the state, which will gradually weaken as it settles southeastward during the next few days. Strong trades are expected for the time being, then diminishing to moderate levels Thursday through Friday.
A weak surface trough will develop in the vicinity of the islands Friday, then shift westward Friday night, as a new strong high builds north of the state. This strong high will slowly settle southeastward through early next week, with strong winds expected over the weekend, and windy conditions developing for the first half of the next week.
Meanwhile, fairly typical trade wind weather will prevail through Thursday, with showers favoring windward and mountain areas. We should see things dry out nicely behind the current band of clouds and showers…paving the way for improved weather conditions.
Yet another band of clouds and showers, which can be seen in satellite imagery further upstream to the northeast of the state, will move through tonight bringing another increase in showers. Conditions to dry out Thursday, although high clouds will overspread the islands…as an upper level trough exists northwest of the state.
A weak surface trough will develop in the vicinity of the islands Thursday night, along the tail end of an old cold front. This trough will then edge westward Friday and Friday night. Moisture from the trough, combined with added instability from the trough aloft…will lead to an increase in shower intensity across the islands.
The potential for some locally heavy rainfall occur over windward areas. The deepest moisture appears to target particularly Kauai and Oahu. Once the surface trough shifts west of the state, we should see slightly wetter than normal trade winds develop for the weekend…which will continue into early next week.
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. Here’s the animated volcanic emissions graphic
Marine Environmental Conditions: Large trade wind-driven seas will maintain east shore surf at or above the High Surf Advisory (HSA) threshold. As trades over and upstream of the islands weaken, surf along east shores will decrease, becoming small Thursday. Increasing trade swell and an arriving northerly swell at the end of this week into the weekend will provide an increase in east shore surf.
A northwest swell will begin arriving, peaking surf along north and west shores late Thursday into Friday. The secondary north swell will arrive Friday and, in addition to the returning trade wind swell wrap, may boost surf heights to, or slightly above, HSA heights from the end of this week into the weekend.
Surf along south shores continues to pull in some trade wind swell wrap, with an expected decline with the weakening trades. A southwest swell will fill in tonight through Thursday, before slowly declining through the weekend…which will keep south shore surf from going flat.
World-wide Tropical Cyclone Activity
>>> Here’s a link to the latest Pacific Disaster Center’s Weather Wall…covering the Pacific and Indian Oceans
Atlantic Ocean: Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2021. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.
Caribbean: Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2021. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.
Gulf of Mexico: Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2021. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.
Eastern Pacific: Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on May 15, 2021. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.
Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)
Central Pacific: Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2021. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.
Here’s the link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)
Northwest Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones
South Pacific Ocean:
Tropical Cyclone 23P (Niran) is located approximately 196 NM east-northeast of Cairns, Australia
North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea:
Tropical Cyclone 22S (Marian) is located approximately 550 NM south-southwest of Cocos Islands…in the South Indian Ocean
Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
Interesting: What’s Happening to the Most Remote Coral Reefs on Earth?
Scientists from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation have published their findings on the state of coral reefs in the Chagos Archipelago, considered the last frontier for coral reefs.
In the middle of the Indian Ocean lies some of the last coral reef wilderness on Earth. The Chagos Archipelago, a collection of atolls, including Earth’s largest – the Great Chagos Bank– is home to reefs that have been largely undisturbed by humans for the last 50 years.
Some estimates indicate the Chagos Archipelago may contain more than half of the healthy coral reefs remaining in the entire Indian Ocean. These reefs are protected both by their remote location, and in one of the world’s largest no-take marine reserves—the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) marine protected area.
In 2015, scientists at the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation (KSLOF) came to the Chagos Archipelago to assess the status of the reefs. Over the course of two months at sea, an international team of scientists conducted thousands of surveys of the benthic and reef fish communities at over 100 locations across the archipelago.
This research was conducted as part of the Foundation’s Global Reef Expedition (GRE), a 5-year research mission that circumnavigated the globe to assess the health and resiliency of coral reefs.
“The Global Reef Expedition was designed to evaluate the status of the benthic and reef fish communities and assess the impact of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on coral reef ecosystems,” said Alexandra Dempsey, the Director of Science Management at KSLOF and one of the report’s authors. “One priority for us was to study reefs with minimal human disturbance, and there was no better place on Earth to do that than the Chagos Archipelago.”
Email Glenn James: 
Lou Says:
Hi Glenn,
It was actually Monday’s forecast where it mentioned the snow levels.
Cheers,
Lou
~~~ Hi again Lou, I see, in that case it’s difficult to know exactly what the issue was then. If you see something like this again…please let me know.
Aloha, Glenn
Lou Says:
Aloha Glenn,
Could you explain how the snow levels listed in the forecast for the summit of Haleakala are in the range of 8300′ to 8600′ the next 3 nights but the low temperatures listed for those same nights never reach freezing.
Mahalo,
Lou
~~~ Hi Lou, good to hear from you. Looking at this page on my website:
https://www.hawaiiweathertoday.com/maui.php?zone=HIZ022
I believe you’ve find no mention of a forecast of snow. I trust this information will clarify your question.
Aloha, Glenn
Butch Says:
Morning Glen,
Thanks for your great work, you have been a weather hero for many years! I started many early mornings in the 80’s watching your 15 minute MAUI FORECAST before sailing tourists to Molokini nearly every day.
I too have pondered the “Vog” issue for many years. Sometimes Gobi desert dust, salt spray for sure, fires etc. I recently found some “scientific data” you may want in your tool box. From the European Space Agency, check this out…
https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/global-forecast-plots
I hope this is of interest to you as many folks frequently ask you about this topic!
Keep up your great work & Thanks Again!
Aloha,
Butch
~~~ Hi Butch, nice to hear from you, wow, you have been paying attention to the weather closely for a long time! “Your weather hero”…thank you!
Yes, this haze issue is a tough one to put a finger on.
Even today, Thursday, as I look over towards the West Maui Mountains from here in Kula, I can see some haze. This time I think it has to do with the stronger than normal trades…which are gusting up towards 50 mph in some places (46 mph at the AP in Kahului).
I checked out the link you shared, thanks…interesting stuff.
Stay well my friend.
Aloha, Glenn
Lydia S Brandes Says:
Aloha Glenn,
Living in Kula I’ve noticed the views of Lanai and West Maui Mtns often appear hazy including days when the UH VOG Model shows no VOG blowing our way. It seems to happen despite different wind directions and conditions. Can VOG linger or are there other contributors to atmospheric haze? I was hoping you could shed some light on why we get this persistent haze?
Mahalo,
Lydia
~~~ hi Lydia, lucky we live Kula! As for the haze looking down into the central valley, yes, I often see it too…like today in fact (Wednesday). As you point out, the vog model shows SO2 being blown out over the ocean, to the west of the Big Island. So, my next thought is that with the very strong trade winds blowing, up to 50 mph in gusts locally, this haze may consist of dust, and or marine haze (salt spray)…or a combination of both. The truth is that I’m not absolutely certain what the source of this haze is. In other words, I’m guessing, and I really don’t know. Sorry I can’t be more definitive, more sure.
Yours is a good question however…one that I ponder over often in fact. Thanks Lydia!
Aloha, Glenn
Mr. Rich Says:
Hi Glenn–Regarding the four NWS maps, in blue, we are
guessing that the 4th, or lower one is providing the most real-time precip information in our local
area. I miss the old one, wherein you could click on
and zoom in to, your own locale, to see when the rain
might start or stop, fairly accurately! Am I missing
something here ?
Thanks as always–Rich, Kea’au Makai
~~~Hi Mister Rich, as for the radar images, they are offered by the NWS. These have replaced the old images, the ones which you preferred. I have no input on these, although I’m at least glad we have something to depend upon. So, no I don’t think your missing anything that I can see to do differently.
Aloha, Glenn