Maui Weather Forecast for February 27, 2021
West Side
Today: Isolated showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Breezy, with an east northeast wind 11 to 16 mph increasing to 17 to 22 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight: Isolated showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 69. Windy, with an east northeast wind around 23 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Sunday: Isolated showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Windy, with an east northeast wind 20 to 28 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
South Side
Today: Scattered showers after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight: Scattered showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 67. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Sunday: Scattered showers after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. Breezy, with a light and variable wind becoming east northeast 13 to 18 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
North Shore
Today: Scattered showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. Windy, with an east northeast wind 17 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight: Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68. Breezy, with an east northeast wind 20 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Sunday: Scattered showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. Windy, with an east northeast wind 21 to 24 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Central Maui
Today: Scattered showers, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Windy, with a northeast wind 13 to 23 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight: Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. Breezy, with a northeast wind 16 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Sunday: Scattered showers, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. Windy, with a northeast wind 18 to 28 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Upcountry
Today: Scattered showers, mainly after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 66. East wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Tonight: Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 55. East wind 9 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Sunday: Scattered showers, mainly after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 66. Breezy, with an east northeast wind 8 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
East Maui
Today: Occasional showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 78. Breezy, with an east wind 14 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Tonight: Occasional showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Low around 64. Breezy, with an east wind 13 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Sunday: Occasional showers. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 78. Breezy, with an east wind 10 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Lanai City
Today: Scattered showers, mainly after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 74. Windy, with a northeast wind 18 to 23 mph increasing to 24 to 29 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 41 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Tonight: Scattered showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. Windy, with a northeast wind 26 to 29 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Sunday: Scattered showers, mainly after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 73. Very windy, with a northeast wind 26 to 31 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Kaunakakai
Today: Scattered showers, mainly after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Breezy, with an east wind 13 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight: Scattered showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Breezy, with an east northeast wind 17 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Sunday: Scattered showers, mainly after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. Windy, with an east northeast wind 20 to 29 mph, with gusts as high as 41 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Detailed Forecast
Synopsis
Strong and gusty trade winds will continue into early next week, while a trough aloft keeps the island atmosphere unstable. Clouds and showers will focus over windward areas, with some occasional heavy downpours. Increasing moisture near Maui and the Big Island will bring a more widespread threat of heavy windward showers, and a slight chance of thunderstorms. Typical trade wind weather will continue through much of next week, with showers favoring windward and mauka areas and spreading into leeward communities from time to time.
Discussion
Currently at the surface, a 1041 mb high is centered around 1550 miles northeast of Honolulu, while another 1037 mb high is centered around 1450 miles northwest of Kauai. In between these two highs, a nearly stationary south-southwest to north-northeast oriented front is located around 850 miles northwest of the Garden Isle. The gradient over the local area remains rather tight early this morning, with breezy trade winds prevailing across the entire island chain. Infrared satellite imagery shows mostly cloudy to overcast skies in most windward areas, while clear to partly cloudy conditions prevail in most leeward locales. Radar imagery shows scattered to numerous showers moving into windward and mauka areas, with a few showers spreading into leeward communities from time to time. Main short term concerns revolve around the Flash Flood and Winter Weather headlines, as well as the trade wind trends through the weekend.
High pressure northeast of the state will settle southward and weaken during the next couple days, while the high northwest of the state builds eastward and strengthens to around 1044-46 mb by late Sunday and Sunday night due north of the island chain. This high will settle southward and weaken slightly early next week, followed by a new 1044 mb high building northwest of the state during the middle to latter part of next week. Overall, breezy to windy trades are expected to continue through the weekend and into early next week, with the trades peaking late Sunday through early Tuesday. Wind Advisories will likely be required once again for portions of the state during this time. The trades should ease a bit for the middle and latter part of next week, but will likely hold at moderate to breezy levels.
As for the remaining weather details, the island atmosphere will remain unstable through the weekend and into next week, due to the presence of a persistent trough aloft, and its associated cold pool. As a result, inversion heights will be pretty much eliminated, allowing for heavier showers to affect windward areas and sending showers into leeward communities more regularly as well. While these showers will be progressive and will not linger over any one area for a prolonged time, high-resolution and global model guidance continues to indicate the likelihood of repeated development over the windward slopes of Maui and the Big Island during the next couple days. This persistent rainfall is expected to lead to increasing ground saturation and rising levels in streams and rivers, with additional rainfall potentially resulting in flash flooding as the weekend progresses. As a result, a Flash Flood Watch (FFA) remains in effect for windward portions of Maui and the Big Island. An expansion of the FFA to windward portions of the other islands is not anticipated.
The cold temperatures aloft and deeper-than-normal moisture means that the Big Island Summits will receive periods of wintry weather, with the primary threats being freezing rain or drizzle leading to icy roadways, although snow showers will mix in as well. A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect through Monday morning, and may need to be extended as the trough aloft lingers well into next week.
Aviation
Early this morning, shower activity along with MVFR level clouds and visibility have become more widespread along eastern sections of Maui and the Big Island. This trend is expected to continue throughout the day, with occasional heavy showers and even a few thunderstorms possible in these areas. AIRMET Sierra remains in effect for tempo mountain obscuration for Maui, but it is possible that this will need to be expanded to include the Big Island later this morning as showers and cloud cover continue to gradually increase. For the rest of the state, VFR conditions should prevail with showers favoring north through east sections of the islands.
Additionally, strong high pressure remains in place northeast of the main Hawaiian Islands. This will keep winds breezy to locally strong today, though they will not be quite as strong as the previous couple of days. AIRMET Tango remains in effect for low- level mechanical turbulence over and immediately south through west of the mountains of all islands. For now, AIRMET Tango also accounts for sustained surface wind speeds of 30kts in the Alenuihaha Channel and south of the Big Island, but this may be allowed to expire this morning as wind speeds weaken slightly.
Marine
With robust high pressure remaining far north of the area into next week, trade winds will remain breezy to strong over coastal waters.
Also, seas will remain elevated and rough with the persistent strong trades over the next several days. Thus, a Small Craft Advisory (SCA), for winds and seas, has been posted through Sunday afternoon for all coastal waters, and may need to be extended beyond that time frame.
With locally generated wind waves, and strong trade winds upstream from the state, surf along east-facing shores will remain large and turbulent. To account for this, a High Surf Advisory will remain in effect through Sunday night for Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and the Big Island. Too, some of this trade wind energy will wrap around into adjacent northern and southern exposures.
As the current northwest swell fades, a reinforcing small to moderate northwest swell will fill in and peak late today into early Sunday. The next following northwest swell will likely be larger than this weekend’s and raise surf to near advisory levels along northern and western exposed shores, beginning late Wednesday into early Thursday. Lastly, south-facing shores will see surf boosted modestly by small swells from the southern hemisphere, along with wrap from the east by the trade wind swell.
HFO Watches/Warnings/Advisories
High Surf Advisory until 6 AM HST Monday for Kauai Windward, Oahu Koolau, Olomana, Molokai Windward, Maui Windward West, Windward Haleakala, South Big Island, Big Island North and East.
Flash Flood Watch through Sunday afternoon for Maui Windward West, Windward Haleakala, Haleakala Summit, South Big Island, Big Island North and East, Big Island Interior.
Winter Weather Advisory until noon HST Monday for Big Island Summits.
Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM HST Sunday for all Hawaiian waters,
Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov