Hilo

Tonight: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 65 to 71 near the shore to 52 to 59 at 4000 feet. North winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Wednesday: Partly sunny with scattered showers in the morning, then mostly sunny with isolated showers in the afternoon. Highs 80 to 87 near the shore to 66 to 71 at 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 65 to 71 near the shore to 52 to 59 at 4000 feet. North winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Kona

Tonight: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows around 74 near the shore to 50 to 55 near 5000 feet. Light winds. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny with isolated showers in the morning, then partly sunny with scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs around 86 near the shore to around 70 near 5000 feet. Light winds. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers in the evening, then partly cloudy with isolated showers after midnight. Lows around 74 near the shore to around 52 near 5000 feet. North winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Waimea

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Breezy. Scattered showers in the evening, then isolated showers after midnight. Lows 64 to 72 near the shore to 56 to 63 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Breezy. Isolated showers in the morning. Highs 65 to 86. East winds 10 to 25 mph decreasing to up to 25 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy with isolated showers. Lows 64 to 72 near the shore to 56 to 63 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Kohala

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Breezy. Scattered showers in the evening, then isolated showers after midnight. Lows 64 to 72 near the shore to 56 to 63 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Breezy. Isolated showers in the morning. Highs 65 to 86. East winds 10 to 25 mph decreasing to up to 25 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy with isolated showers. Lows 64 to 72 near the shore to 56 to 63 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

South Big Island

Tonight: Mostly clear. Breezy. Isolated showers in the evening. Lows around 75 near the shore to around 56 near 5000 feet. East winds up to 25 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Wednesday: Sunny and breezy. Isolated showers in the afternoon. Highs around 87 near the shore to around 69 near 5000 feet. East winds up to 25 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear. Isolated showers in the evening. Lows around 75 near the shore to around 56 near 5000 feet. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Puna

Tonight: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 65 to 71 near the shore to 52 to 59 at 4000 feet. North winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Wednesday: Partly sunny with scattered showers in the morning, then mostly sunny with isolated showers in the afternoon. Highs 80 to 87 near the shore to 66 to 71 at 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 65 to 71 near the shore to 52 to 59 at 4000 feet. North winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Waikoloa

Tonight: Mostly clear. Breezy. Scattered showers in the evening. Lows around 75 near the shore to 51 to 56 above 4000 feet. East winds up to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30 percent.

Wednesday: Sunny and breezy. Isolated showers in the afternoon. Highs 84 to 91 near the shore to 67 to 75 above 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 20 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear. Lows around 74 near the shore to 51 to 56 above 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 10 mph in the evening becoming light.

Detailed Forecast

Synopsis

Moderate to locally breezy trade winds will continue through the rest of this week as high pressure builds over the region. A subtle increase in windward and mauka showers is possible on Wednesday, but in general, expect mostly dry and stable conditions into the weekend.

Discussion

Latest radar and satellite imagery this afternoon shows mostly dry conditions prevailing across the islands with relatively few clouds and almost no showers as high pressure builds over the region. Moderate to locally breezy trade winds are observed at most locations, with the highest gusts generally in the 20 to 30 mph range. Afternoon soundings from Hilo and Lihue show the trade wind inversion between 5000 and 6000 feet.
Guidance indicates that ridging will remain in place for the next several days, which will continue the breezy trades through the end of the week. As previous discussions have mentioned, guidance continues to show that a subtle plume of moisture will move across the islands during the day on Wednesday, which may bring a slight increase in clouds and showers over windward and mauka areas (though this would be subtle). Other than this, however, an overall dry trend will continue through the week with the typical summertime trade wind weather and dry, stable conditions. With the dry and breezy conditions throughout the rest of this week and into the weekend, we could see elevated fire weather concerns, especially across leeward areas.
Next week, a plume of moisture embedded within the trades could move into the islands by Monday or Tuesday, increasing windward and mauka clouds and showers once again.

Aviation

Moderate to locally breezy trades will persist through the forecast period. Low cigs and SHRA are possible over windward and mauka areas. MVFR conds possible in SHRA, otherwise VFR prevails.
No AIRMETs are in effect at this time. AIRMET Sierra may be needed overnight due to potential increases in low clouds and SHRA along windward and mauka regions. AIRMET Tango will continued to be monitored for low level turbulence.

Marine

A ridge of high pressure far north of the state will maintain fresh to locally strong trade winds throughout the forecast period. A Small Craft Advisory (SCA) is in effect for the windier waters and channels around Maui County and the Big Island through tonight and will likely persist throughout the week and into the weekend.
A series of small, medium period south (170-190 degree) swells are expected throughout the week with surf around the summer average expected late Wednesday through around Saturday. Surf heights should decrease Sunday into early next week as these swells fade. Choppy conditions will continue for east-facing shores through the forecast period due to the persistent fresh trades. Surf along north facing shores will remain nearly flat through the forecast period.
Peak high tides associated with the lunar cycle will lead to minor coastal flooding along shorelines and low lying coastal areas during the next few afternoons. A Coastal Flood Statement is in effect for minor coastal flooding this week.

Fire weather

Moderate to locally breezy trade winds are expected as high pressure builds over the state. Satellite imagery and latest guidance shows direr air filtering into the region as inversion heights lower to around 5,000 to 6,000 feet. Despite lowest relative humidities dipping as low as the mid 40s during the afternoon hours each day, wind speeds look to be a limiting factor, so not anticipating any fire weather headlines at this time.

HFO Watches/Warnings/Advisories

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

Big Island Now Weather is brought to you by Blue Hawaiian Helicopters.

Check out their Big Island Helicopter Tours today!

Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov