Glenn James
Hawaii Weather Today
Founder and maintainer for 30 years 

 

The latest update to this website was at 516pm Monday (HST)

 

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

0.37  Mount Waialeale , Kauai
0.05  Tunnel RG, Oahu
0.28  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.45  West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.69  Kona Hema, Big Island

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

30  Lihue, Kauai – NE
37  Kuaokala, Oahu – N 
30  Molokai AP, Molokai – NE
36  Lanai 1,  Lanai – NE
37  Kealaloloa Rg, Maui – NNE
36  Waikoloa 2, Big Island – NE

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

Thunderstorms far south…a cold front far northwest

 

https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES18/ABI/SECTOR/hi/GEOCOLOR/20260891840-20260900230-GOES18-ABI-HI-GEOCOLOR-600x600.gif

Low clouds arriving along the windward sides / higher level clouds moving into the state from the southwest

 

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 Monday comments:  I’m here in Corte Madera, Marin County, California on a working vacation.

523am Hawaii time, I’m here at my friend Linda’s house. It’s cloudy here, with a 46 degree low. BTW, of course when I say Hawaii time, it is 3-hours later here in California.

223pm Hawaii time, yesterday at this time it was 85 degrees at Linda’s house…today at the same time it is a much cooler 66 degrees, under cloudy skies and breezy conditions.

 

>>> Highest Temperature Sunday, March 29, 2026 – 103 degrees near Topock, AZ
>>> Lowest Temperature Monday, March 30, 2026 – 10 degrees at Mount Washington, NH

 

I’ve become aware that we may be having what’s called a Super El Nino later this year. Records show that this phenomenon occurs typically every 10-15 years. The strongest El Nino’s we’ve had in the recent past were in 1982, 1997-98 and 2015-16.

My weather mentor, Dr. Daniel Swain, a climate  scientist with the University of California, is being quoted as saying: “The vast majority of [the models], almost all, suggest at least a moderate strength El Niño by later this coming summer, and the majority really do go all the way into strong or extreme territory.”

Pulled from the State of the Climate report, here are some of the loudest echoes of the 2015 El Niño:

Record-smashing hurricane season in the central North Pacific

Sixteen tropical cyclones formed in or passed through the unusually warm central Pacific hurricane basin in 2015. That’s more than 3 times the 1981–2010 average of 4.7 cyclones per season, and 4 more than the previous record of 12, set in 1992 (also an El Niño year). In late August, the basin sustained three Category 4 hurricanes at the same time, which was a first, not just for the central Pacific basin, but for any basin during the modern record.

Here’s a satellite picture of what was going on in our Central Pacific during the summer of 2015

p.s. One more thing that Dr. Swain said, was that the extreme heat spell in the western United States recently, could easily become the new normal with time.



Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview…as of 322pm Monday: Moderate to locally breezy trades will prevail through Tuesday, decreasing slightly by mid-week, before easing to a more light and variable pattern by this coming weekend.

Shower activity will be kept to a minimum as a cooler and drier airmass remains over the Hawaiian Islands. A cold, upper-level trough makes an appearance late in the week, and may slightly enhance trade wind showers, but any meaningful rainfall remains unlikely throughout the week.

Weather Details for the Hawaiian Islands…as of 322pm Monday: An upper trough persists across the area, as well producing thick cirrus clouds over the eastern end of the state. A 1032 millibar surface high is centered far north of Hawaii, driving fresh to strong trade winds across the area. Trades will focus low clouds and showers across windward areas, but accumulations will be light. Atmospheric soundings show precipitable water values of 0.78 inches at Lihue and 1.26 inches at Hilo (influenced by the high clouds), so showers will be limited by the relatively dry airmass.

Some guidance hints at a slight increase in thunderstorm potential of around 10 percent over the Big Island, particularly along the southern slopes starting Tuesday afternoon. However, with moisture levels running exceptionally low, any storms that do form would likely be “dry” thunderstorms, producing lightning with little to no rainfall.

Looking ahead, the aforementioned high pressure system will gradually drift northeast and weaken around mid-week. This will allow trades to ease, becoming lighter and more variable by Friday into the weekend. At the same time, a weak upper-level trough may pass through late in the week. Even so, moisture remains limited, and any meaningful increase in rainfall still appears unlikely at this time.

 

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 322pm Monday: Fresh to strong NNE trades persist through Tuesday, driven by strong high pressure N of the islands. Winds ease during the second half of the week as a trough develops E of the state and high pressure shifts east. Another trough will develop N of the state towards the end of the week which will further weaken trades. The Small Craft Advisory has been extended through tomorrow due to winds.

A moderate short period NNE (020 degree) swell generated by a gale low NE of the state will hold through tonight. Spectral analysis indicates energy with this swell is spread throughout the spectrum, but the vast majority is contained within the shorter period bins. Observations indicate surf is underachieving as longer period energy insufficient to generate High Surf Advisory (HSA) level surf. The HSA has therefore been dropped. However, the MWS for harbor surges remains in effect through Tuesday given little change in surf conditions anticipated during the next 24 hours.

For other shorelines, surf along east facing shores will remain choppy and short-period due to the strong trade winds, with some areas also being exposed to the incoming NNE swell. South shores will continue to see small pulses from the southern hemisphere over the next few days. A storm-force low developing southeast of New Zealand over the next few days could send a moderate south- southwest swell the following week.

 

A breathtaking view from the Diamond Head summit in Oahu, showing the turquoise waters of the Pacific Ocean, the coastline of Waikiki with its high-rise buildings, and distant mountains under a bright blue sky with a few clouds.



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

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

North 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 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:  Global Atlas Will Track Human and Climate Impact on River Systems

Rivers are critical resources that affect everything from watersheds to agriculture to energy. But rivers, in turn, have been impacted by humans, often in the form of hydraulic infrastructure such as dams and wells.

A new project, led by Stefano Galelli, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering, will create a global record that shows how river systems around the world have changed under human influence over the last 75 years.

The project, Dynamic Atlas of Riverine Ecosystems and infrastructure (DARE), received a $5 million grant from Schmidt Sciences as part of the foundation’s Virtual Institute for Earth’s Water (VIEW) program, which aims to create a definitive account of the planet’s freshwater resources.

By using satellite data and computational modeling, the five-year project will track changes in river discharge, sediment transport, temperature and fish biodiversity in all the world’s rivers from 1950 to 2025.

Read More: Cornell University