Weather Forecast

Hawaii County Weather Forecast for May 12, 2026

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Photo Credit: James Grenz

Hilo

Tonight: Mostly cloudy with numerous showers. Lows 60 to 69 near the shore to 50 to 55 at 4000 feet. North winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy. Numerous showers in the morning, then scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs around 79 near the shore to 63 to 68 at 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy with numerous showers. Lows 61 to 70 near the shore to 51 to 56 at 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Kona

Tonight: Partly cloudy with isolated showers. Lows 64 to 73 near the shore to 50 to 56 near 5000 feet. Light winds. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny with isolated showers in the morning, then partly sunny with scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs 82 to 87 near the shore to around 67 near 5000 feet. Light winds. Chance of rain 30 percent.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy with isolated showers. Lows 64 to 73 near the shore to 50 to 55 near 5000 feet. Light winds. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Waimea

Tonight: Breezy. Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 61 to 70 near the shore to 54 to 62 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Tuesday: Breezy. Partly sunny with scattered showers. Highs around 79 near the shore to 68 to 76 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Tuesday Night: Breezy. Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 61 to 71 near the shore to 55 to 63 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Kohala

Tonight: Breezy. Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 61 to 70 near the shore to 54 to 62 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

Tuesday: Breezy. Partly sunny with scattered showers. Highs around 79 near the shore to 68 to 76 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Tuesday Night: Breezy. Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 61 to 71 near the shore to 55 to 63 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

South Big Island

Tonight: Breezy. Partly cloudy with isolated showers. Lows around 74 near the shore to around 56 near 5000 feet. Northeast winds up to 25 mph decreasing to up to 15 mph after midnight. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Tuesday: Breezy. Mostly sunny with isolated showers. Highs around 85 near the shore to around 68 near 5000 feet. East winds up to 25 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy. Breezy. Isolated showers after midnight. Lows around 74 near the shore to around 56 near 5000 feet. Northeast winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Puna

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

Tonight: Mostly cloudy with numerous showers. Lows 60 to 69 near the shore to 50 to 55 at 4000 feet. North winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy. Numerous showers in the morning, then scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs around 79 near the shore to 63 to 68 at 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy with numerous showers. Lows 61 to 70 near the shore to 51 to 56 at 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Waikoloa

Tonight: Breezy. Partly cloudy with isolated showers. Lows 66 to 73 near the shore to 50 to 56 above 4000 feet. East winds up to 25 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Tuesday: Breezy. Mostly sunny with isolated showers. Highs 82 to 88 near the shore to 66 to 71 above 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 25 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy. Scattered showers after midnight. Lows 66 to 73 near the shore to 51 to 56 above 4000 feet. East winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Detailed Forecast

Synopsis

Breezy trade winds will continue through most of the week. Showers will favor windward and mauka areas, most frequently at night and during the early morning hours. An upper level disturbance may bring a slight uptick in trade wind shower coverage late this week into the weekend.

Short term update

Issued at 825 PM HST Mon May 11 2026
This evening, satellite and radar imagery continues to show low clouds and showers upstream of Kauai embedded within the trade wind flow approaching the Garden Isle. A few tweaks to shower chances have been made for the rest of the evening and tonight, primarily to increase PoPs, QPF, and sky cover on and near Kauai to trend towards the latest hi-res guidance and observations. Otherwise, the forecast remains on track.

Prev discussion

Issued at 324 PM HST Mon May 11 2026
Radar and satellite imagery show low-level clouds and isolated to scattered showers moving into windward and mauka areas on the east-northeasterly trade wind flow this afternoon. A weak surface trough remains near Kauai, allowing for a higher concentration of low-level clouds and showers to move over this end of the state. This boundary is expected to gradually lift north and dissipate by midweek. Otherwise, ridging at the surface and aloft will maintain stable, breezy trade wind weather across the state through at least Thursday with isolated to scattered showers favoring windward and mauka areas.
Heading into the weekend, model guidance suggests that a mid- to upper-level cutoff low will move over the region, bringing cooler temperatures aloft and increasing instability. At the same time, precipitable water values are expected to climb to 1.5 to almost 2 inches over the eastern end of the state. However, with ridging expected to continue to dominate at the surface, this setup will likely only amount to an uptick in trade wind shower activity through the weekend.

Aviation

Issued at 825 PM HST Mon May 11 2026
Stable trade wind weather through Tuesday. Isolated to scattered showers trapped within trades will primarily focus on windward exposures and likely have more of an impact on Kauai and Oahu. AIRMET Sierra remains in effect for mountain obscurations above 3000 feet along north through east areas of Kauai. Brief overnight mountain obscurations are possible across remaining island windward locations, but VFR will likely be the prevailing category.
AIRMET Tango remains in effect for low-level turbulence downwind of island terrain.

Marine

Issued at 324 PM HST Mon May 11 2026
High pressure remains in place north of the Hawaiian Islands this week in maintenance of fresh to locally strong trades continuing into next weekend. The Small Craft Advisory has been extended through tomorrow.
Small short period NW swell has been slow to arrive this afternoon but should bring elevated surf this evening into tonight for favored exposures. A long period NW swell arrives late Wednesday and peaks Wed night into early Thurs.
A small long period S swell has likewise been slow to arrive with long period energy just barely registering on the Barber's Point PacIOOS buoy. S swell energy remains at background levels into the weekend before a medium to long period SSW swell builds late Sunday into early next week. Slightly elevated surf along E facing shores continues until trades weaken this weekend.

HFO Watches/Warnings/Advisories

Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM HST Tuesday for Alenuihaha Channel, Big Island Leeward Waters, Big Island Southeast Waters, Maalaea Bay, Pailolo Channel.

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Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov

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