Hilo

Tonight: Cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 56 to 66 near the shore to 47 to 53 at 4000 feet. North winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Friday: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs around 76 near the shore to 59 to 64 at 4000 feet. North winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy with isolated showers. Lows 56 to 66 near the shore to 47 to 52 at 4000 feet. Northwest winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Kona

Tonight: Cloudy with isolated showers. Lows around 69 near the shore to 46 to 51 near 5000 feet. Light winds. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Friday: Mostly cloudy. Isolated showers in the morning, then scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs 78 to 84 near the shore to around 63 near 5000 feet. Light winds. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy. Isolated showers in the evening. Lows around 69 near the shore to 45 to 50 near 5000 feet. Light winds. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Waimea

Tonight: Cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 57 to 67 near the shore to 50 to 57 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Friday: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs around 75 near the shore to 63 to 73 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 15 mph decreasing to up to 15 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Isolated showers. Lows 57 to 67 near the shore to 49 to 57 near 3000 feet. East winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Kohala

Tonight: Cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 57 to 67 near the shore to 50 to 57 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Friday: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs around 75 near the shore to 63 to 73 near 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 15 mph decreasing to up to 15 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Isolated showers. Lows 57 to 67 near the shore to 49 to 57 near 3000 feet. East winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

South Big Island

Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Scattered showers in the evening. Lows around 71 near the shore to around 52 near 5000 feet. Northeast winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Friday: Cloudy. Scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs around 81 near the shore to around 62 near 5000 feet. East winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy. Isolated showers in the evening. Lows around 71 near the shore to around 51 near 5000 feet. Northeast winds up to 10 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Puna

Tonight: Cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 56 to 66 near the shore to 47 to 53 at 4000 feet. North winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Friday: Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Highs around 76 near the shore to 59 to 64 at 4000 feet. North winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy with isolated showers. Lows 56 to 66 near the shore to 47 to 52 at 4000 feet. Northwest winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Waikoloa

Tonight: Cloudy. Lows around 69 near the shore to 47 to 52 above 4000 feet. East winds up to 15 mph.

Friday: Mostly cloudy. Isolated showers in the afternoon. Highs 78 to 83 near the shore to 61 to 67 above 4000 feet. Northeast winds up to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows 65 to 71 near the shore to 46 to 51 above 4000 feet. East winds up to 15 mph.

Detailed Forecast

Synopsis

Trade winds will be with us through the weekend. There will be the usual showers, mainly windward and mauka. Things start to change Monday as our low level flow will shift to southeasterly, then becoming southerly by Wednesday. Moisture will increase and the potential for heavy rain and flooding may return Tuesday night into Wednesday night, perhaps lasting several days.

Short term update

Issued at 824 PM HST Thu Apr 2 2026
IR satellite from this evening shows a layer of high clouds streaming west to east over most islands, thickest between Oahu and the Big Island. Meanwhile, near the surface, RADAR has been picking up on some light showers moving in on the trades. Over the past six hours, several windward and mauka sites on each island picked up a couple hundredths of an inch of rainfall. The highest standout amounts were reported at the Puu Kukui gage in the West Maui mountains with 0.31″ and Puu Alii gage in the east Molokai mountains with 0.18″. Small tweaks were made to the forecast to account for the latest trends, such as lowering precipitation chances slightly for Kauai. However, the short term forecast remains largely intact. Moderate to locally breezy trades will continue to drive in scattered showers through Friday morning, mainly affecting windward and mauka sides of the islands.

Prev discussion

Issued at 345 PM HST Thu Apr 2 2026
Radar and satellite show lots of high clouds passing quickly over the state this afternoon, along with isolated mostly light showers, mainly over the Kona district on the Big Island. Winds were typical trades, out of the NE through ESE at most locations and averaging 10 to 15 mph with occasional gusts 20 to 25 mph.
In the short term, we continue to have a solid trade inversion set up around 5500-6500 feet MSL. This, along with relatively dry air at low levels, will keep us mostly dry through the weekend.
Early next week, the first of a potential series of upper level troughs will move by north of the state. This will shift low level winds around to SE and start to bring increased moisture from the south. Tuesday into Wednesday, the moisture appears to increase enough to significantly raise the chance of moderate to heavy rain over the area, and winds may become southerly. There is still a good deal of model spread on how strong this next potential system will be and how much rain may be headed our way. However, the potential for heavy rain and flooding is there, and this will be watched carefully. Confidence in the forecast will increase, as always, as we get closer in time. Please keep yourself updated through the weekend for the latest forecasts.

Aviation

Issued at 824 PM HST Thu Apr 2 2026 Moderate trade winds will persist through the 24 h period, with brief showers favoring windward areas overnight through the early morning periods. These showers could bring periods of MVFR CIGS/VSBYS. Otherwise, VFR conditions will prevail across the state.
AIRMET TANGO remains in effect across the state for moderate turbulence between FL280 and FL380. This will likely persist into Friday.

Marine

Issued at 824 PM HST Thu Apr 2 2026
Weakening high pressure north of the islands will shift eastward over the next few days, leading to a weakening of the trade winds into the moderate to fresh range. Winds begin to veer east to southeast early next week ahead of a front approaching from the northwest. A Small Craft Advisory remains in effect for the typically windier waters around Maui County and the Big Island through Friday morning, and will likely be extended through tomorrow afternoon. Periods of locally strong winds are possible for the windier waters through tomorrow afternoon.
The short period northeast swell will continue a gradual decrease through the weekend as the northeast trade winds slowly diminish. As a result, surf along north- and east-facing shores surf will gradually decline through the rest of the week, but will still retain a little size and chop due to the moderate to locally breezy trades. A small, medium period northeast swell is also possible mid-next week.
North- and west-facing shore surf will remain small to tiny until the arrival of a small, medium-period west-northwest (310 degree) swell Friday night and a second small, medium-period northwest (340 degree) swell late Saturday. A small to moderate medium-period west- northwest swell looks to arrive early next week and fills in by mid- week. Along south facing shores, expect small reinforcements to provide periods of small surf through the weekend until a slightly larger long period south swell fills in early next week. However, veering local winds may lead to increasingly choppy conditions through the week.

HFO Watches/Warnings/Advisories

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

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