Photo Credit: Braden Jarvis

West Kaua’i

Rest Of Today: Breezy. Mostly sunny with isolated showers. Highs around 82 near the shore to around 72 above 3000 feet. East winds up to 25 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Breezy. Isolated showers in the evening, then scattered showers after midnight. Lows around 72 near the shore to around 62 above 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 25 mph decreasing to 10 to 15 mph after midnight. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Sunday: Mostly sunny with isolated showers. Highs around 82 near the shore to around 72 above 3000 feet. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

South Kaua’i

Rest Of Today: Breezy. Partly sunny with scattered showers. Highs around 80. East winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Tonight: Breezy. Mostly cloudy with scattered showers. Lows 69 to 75. East winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Sunday: Partly sunny. Breezy. Numerous showers in the morning, then scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs around 80. East winds 15 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Kaua’i Mountains

Rest Of Today: Breezy. Mostly cloudy with numerous showers. Highs 71 to 76 in the valleys to around 63 above 4000 feet. East winds 10 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Breezy. Numerous showers in the evening, then frequent showers after midnight. Lows 62 to 67 in the valleys to around 56 above 4000 feet. East winds 10 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80 percent.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy. Breezy. Frequent showers in the morning, then scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs 71 to 76 in the valleys to around 63 above 4000 feet. East winds 10 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 80 percent.

North Kaua’i

Rest Of Today: Breezy. Partly sunny with scattered showers. Highs 71 to 81. East winds up to 20 mph increasing to 10 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Breezy. Scattered showers in the evening, then numerous showers after midnight. Lows 65 to 72. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Sunday: Breezy. Partly sunny with scattered showers. Highs 71 to 81. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

East Kaua’i

Rest Of Today: Breezy. Partly sunny with scattered showers. Highs 72 to 81. East winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Scattered showers in the evening, then numerous showers after midnight. Lows 63 to 75. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy. Numerous showers in the morning, then scattered showers in the afternoon. Highs 72 to 81. East winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Detailed Forecast

Synopsis

Breezy to locally strong trades will continue through early next week. A typical trade wind pattern will prevail during this time with showers focused over windward and mauka zones, especially overnight and during the early morning. Trades will gradually ease around the midweek time frame as a cold front passes to the north.

Discussion

Guidance remains in good agreement and depicts the gusty easterly trades holding through early next week as strong high pressure remains anchored to the north. Typical trade wind conditions will be the result, with the best chance for showers favoring windward and mauka locations overnight through the morning hours as pockets of moisture move through. A weak upper low drifting westward overhead combined with an area of enhanced moisture moving through have led to showery conditions for many windward and mauka locations this morning – with some managing to push into leeward locations periodically with the elevated inversions in place. Rainfall summary reflects this and depicts totals ranging from a quarter to three quarters of an inch over the past several hours across the state. Conditions should improve later today as this pocket of moisture and the weak upper low continue westward. Similar to yesterday, peak wind speeds in the typically windier locations will hover around/just below the wind advisory threshold of 30 mph through the weekend before slightly easing to breezy levels early next week.
For the extended period (Tuesday night-Friday), guidance remains in decent agreement and depicts the ridge weakening as an upper trough and its attendant cold front pass to the north. If this materializes, the gradient will weaken and allow the trades to relax beginning around Wednesday, then potentially enough for a land and sea breeze regime to become established through the second half of next week. Although confidence in the details remain low this far out in time, the tail end of the aforementioned front passing to the north is projected to hangup north of the state through this time. This pattern transition would result in mostly dry conditions prevailing, except for afternoon showers that manage to develop over leeward areas or where sea breezes form.

Aviation

Breezy trade flow will persist through the remainder of today and allow for scattered to numerous showers along the windward portions of the islands. Brief periods of MVFR ceilings and visibility may be associated with this activity. Isolated showers expected elsewhere.
AIRMET TANGO remains in effect below 9000 feet over and immediately south through west of mountains.

Marine

High pressure north of the state will keep strong to near Gale force trade winds blowing through early next week. A Small Craft Advisory (SCA) is now in effect for all coastal waters through 6 PM Sunday. This SCA will likely need to be extended for most marine zones through Monday and for the typically windier areas through Tuesday. A front approaching from the northwest is expected to gradually ease the trade winds Wednesday through late next week.
Surf along south facing shores will remain elevated through early next week. South shore surf should drop below the summertime average Tuesday through Friday.
Surf along north facing shores will remain minimal through the middle of next week. A new moderate sized medium period northwest swell will build Wednesday night and Thursday, and give a noticeable boost to north shore surf by Friday.
East shore surf should remain elevated and near seasonal levels through early next week due to the strong trades over and upstream of the islands. A gradual decline in east shore surf is expected Wednesday through Friday as the trades ease.

HFO Watches/Warnings/Advisories

Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM HST Sunday for all Hawaiian waters,

Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov