Today: Partly sunny with scattered showers. Highs around 83 near the shore to 68 to 73 at 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 10 mph shifting to the east in the afternoon. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Scattered showers. Lows around 66 near the shore to around 52 at 4000 feet. East winds up to 10 mph shifting to the west after midnight. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny with scattered showers. Highs around 84 near the shore to 69 to 74 at 4000 feet. East winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Kona
Today: Mostly sunny in the morning, then partly sunny with scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs 81 to 86 near the shore to around 68 near 5000 feet. West winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Scattered showers in the evening, then isolated showers after midnight. Lows 67 to 73 near the shore to around 53 near 5000 feet. Light winds. Chance of rain 30 percent.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
Wednesday: Mostly sunny in the morning, then partly sunny with scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs 82 to 87 near the shore to around 69 near 5000 feet. Light winds. Chance of rain 30 percent.
Waimea
Today: Mostly sunny with isolated showers in the morning, then partly sunny with scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs around 81 near the shore to 68 to 78 near 3000 feet. East winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Tonight: Partly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows around 66 near the shore to 53 to 59 near 3000 feet. East winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny with isolated showers. Highs around 82 near the shore to 69 to 79 near 3000 feet. East winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.
Kohala
Today: Mostly sunny with isolated showers in the morning, then partly sunny with scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs around 81 near the shore to 68 to 78 near 3000 feet. East winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
Tonight: Partly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows around 66 near the shore to 53 to 59 near 3000 feet. East winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny with isolated showers. Highs around 82 near the shore to 69 to 79 near 3000 feet. East winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.
South Big Island
Today: Breezy. Mostly sunny in the morning, then partly sunny with isolated showers in the afternoon. Highs around 85 near the shore to around 72 near 5000 feet. East winds up to 20 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Breezy. Isolated showers in the evening. Lows around 68 near the shore to around 51 near 5000 feet. Northeast winds up to 20 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Breezy. Isolated showers in the afternoon. Highs around 86 near the shore to around 73 near 5000 feet. East winds up to 20 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.
Puna
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
Today: Partly sunny with scattered showers. Highs around 83 near the shore to 68 to 73 at 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 10 mph shifting to the east in the afternoon. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Scattered showers. Lows around 66 near the shore to around 52 at 4000 feet. East winds up to 10 mph shifting to the west after midnight. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny with scattered showers. Highs around 84 near the shore to 69 to 74 at 4000 feet. East winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Waikoloa
Today: Mostly sunny in the morning, then partly sunny with scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs around 85 near the shore to 69 to 75 above 4000 feet. Northwest winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.
Tonight: Partly cloudy with isolated showers. Lows around 70 near the shore to 49 to 56 above 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 10 mph shifting to the southeast after midnight. Chance of rain 20 percent.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs around 86 near the shore to 70 to 76 above 4000 feet. Northwest winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30 percent.
Detailed Forecast
Synopsis
A weak surface ridge to the north will maintain light to moderate trade winds with localized land and sea breezes across sheltered areas into Thursday. Showers will favor windward slopes during the night and morning hours and will shift to interior and leeward areas each afternoon. Trades will likely strengthen Friday and hold into early next week, bringing the return of more typical trade wind weather to the island chain.
Discussion
Currently at the surface, a weak front is located around 400 miles north of Kauai, while a weak surface ridge is positioned around 275 miles north of Honolulu. The resulting gradient is producing light to moderate trade winds across the island chain early this morning, with land breezes present across most of Kauai and sheltered sections of the other islands. Infrared satellite imagery shows some high clouds streaming over the eastern end of the state and some low clouds moving into windward areas with the trades. Overall, partly cloudy conditions prevail in most areas, with a bit more extensive cloud cover over windward portions of the Big Island. Radar imagery shows scattered showers moving into windward areas, and a few light decaying showers spilling into leeward locales at times. Main short term focus revolves around rain chances and trade wind trends.
A weak ridge of high pressure north of the islands will remain nearly stationary through mid week, keeping the gradient loose and trade winds in the light to moderate range. The trades will be light enough to allow for overnight land breezes and daytime sea breezes in many leeward areas and even some windward sections over the western end of the state. The ridge will strengthen and lift northward Thursday, with breezy trades possible Friday through early next week.
As for the remaining details, a fairly stagnant weather pattern can be expected through Thursday, with showers favoring windward areas during nights and mornings, then transitioning over to interior and leeward areas each afternoon and early evening. A return to more typical trade wind weather featuring windward showers and the occasional leeward spillover is expected late Thursday through early next week.
Aviation
A frontal system moving north of the state will keep surface high pressure weak, allowing light to locally moderate trades to persist across the islands through the next couple of days. A few showers will mainly affect windward areas overnight through the early mornings, with cloud build-ups and scattered showers over leeward and island interiors during the afternoons. VFR conditions will prevail, though brief mountains obscurations may occur at times within showers.
No AIRMETs are currently in effect nor expected through this afternoon.
Marine
A cold front passing far north of the region will weaken the high pressure ridge far north of the state. Trade winds will remain light to fresh through Wednesday and then strengthen from Thursday onward as high pressure builds back into the region.
Small surf will continue along south facing shores as a mix of background long period south-southwest (200-220 degree) swells continue into next weekend.
Surf along exposed north and west facing shores will remain near the seasonal average each day through Tuesday. An out of season west-northwest (300-310 degree) swell is expected to fill in by Wednesday, peak Thursday, then decrease through the weekend.
Surf along east facing shores will remain small through the week due to the light trade winds expected through Wednesday. A slight increasing trend will start late Thursday as trade winds strengthen.
This comments section is a public community forum for the purpose of free expression. Although Big Island Now encourages respectful communication only, some content may be considered offensive. Please view at your own discretion. View Comments
