Photo Credit: James Grenz

Hilo

Today: Scattered showers, mainly after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Calm wind becoming east northeast 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tonight: Scattered showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. East wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Friday: Scattered showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. East wind 5 to 7 mph becoming light and variable in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Kona

Today: Isolated showers after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. Calm wind becoming west southwest 5 to 7 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tonight: Isolated showers before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. North wind 5 to 8 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Friday: Isolated showers after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. Light and variable wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Waimea

Today: Scattered showers, mainly after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Northeast wind 9 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tonight: Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. East northeast wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Friday: Scattered showers, mainly after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. East northeast wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Kohala

Today: Scattered showers, mainly after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. East wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tonight: Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. East wind 8 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Friday: Scattered showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. East wind 9 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

South Big Island

Today: Isolated showers after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Breezy, with an east wind 14 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tonight: Isolated showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. Breezy, with an east northeast wind 14 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Friday: Isolated showers after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Breezy, with an east wind around 17 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Puna

Today: Scattered showers, mainly after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 77. North wind 6 to 10 mph becoming east in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tonight: Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. East northeast wind 5 to 9 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Friday: Scattered showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 77. East northeast wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Waikoloa

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. East northeast wind 5 to 8 mph becoming light and variable in the afternoon.

Tonight: Isolated showers before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 66. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Friday: Isolated showers after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Detailed Forecast

Synopsis

Expect a light trade wind pattern with localized sea breezes across leeward areas during the day, followed by night time clearing. total rainfall will be light. Trade winds will ramp back up by Sunday, reaching breezy levels once again through early next week.

Discussion

Satellite loop shows scattered to patchy broken low clouds across windward slopes, with mostly clear mauka and leeward areas. Radar and gages show rainfall amounts remain light, with almost no shower activity noted over land since about midnight. Trade winds are weakening in response to a trough passing far north of the state, putting a dent in the subtropical ridge. Light to moderate easterly trades are expected for today and Friday. Trades should be light enough for afternoon sea breezes across select leeward locations. This will lead to afternoon cloud build ups across leeward and interior areas. Scattered showers will be possible during the afternoons, but rainfall amounts should remain light.
Breezy trades will begin filling in from east to west late Saturday and we should see 15-20 mph trades across the state by Sunday. Scattered showers will once again be focused over windward areas and we should continue to see this pattern through early next week. A brief increase of trade wind showers are possible late Sunday into Monday as a weak trough passes near the state.

Aviation

Surface high pressure located far northwest of the islands will maintain mainly moderate trade winds through at least tonight. Satellite imagery shows widely scattered patches of low clouds with embedded showers upwind of the islands. Most of the showers have been light and favoring the windward and mountain areas. Do expect brief periods of MVFR ceilings with these clouds through out today. The trades are light enough to promote local sea breezes later this morning resulting in some spotty afternoon showers over the interior and lee areas. AIRMETS are not expected through out today.

Marine

Easterly trade winds will ease into the light to moderate range through Friday as the ridge weakens to the north. Pockets of fresh breezes, however, will remain possible in the typically windier channels and waters around the islands. Seas will reflect this and subside due to a combination of the lighter winds and a lowering south swell. Fresh to strong easterly trades and rough seas will return this weekend as the ridge builds.
Surf along south facing shores will slowly lower through Friday as the south swell moves out. A return to the summertime norm with small background energy is anticipated over the weekend into early next week. Looking into the long range, guidance shows a gale passing southeast of New Zealand later today through Saturday with seas climbing into the 20 to 30 ft range within Hawaii’s swell window. WAVEWATCH III reflects this and shows a decent southerly swell peaking at Pago Pago buoy early next week (7/12- 7/13 – late Tuesday). If this materializes, it should arrive locally by next weekend (7/16).
Surf along east facing shores will remain small due to the upstream trades being disrupted and lighter winds locally. Expect this trend to continue into the weekend. An upward trend will be possible late in the weekend through early next week as the trades pick back up.

HFO Watches/Warnings/Advisories

None.

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Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov