Maui Weather Forecast for April 09, 2021
West Side
Today: Sunny, with a high near 80. East northeast wind 8 to 13 mph becoming light east.
Tonight: Isolated showers after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. Breezy, with an east northeast wind 7 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming northeast 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon.
South Side
Today: Sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming west southwest around 6 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. Light and variable wind.
Saturday: Isolated showers after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 80. Calm wind becoming northwest around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
North Shore
Today: Isolated showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. Breezy, with an east northeast wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Tonight: Isolated showers before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. Breezy, with an east wind 9 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. East wind 6 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.
Central Maui
Today: Sunny, with a high near 78. Breezy, with a northeast wind 7 to 12 mph increasing to 16 to 21 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph.
Tonight: Isolated showers after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Breezy, with a northeast wind 6 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday: Isolated showers before noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. North northeast wind 6 to 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Upcountry
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66. Calm wind becoming west northwest 5 to 7 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. Light and variable wind.
Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 66. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph in the afternoon.
East Maui
Today: Scattered showers, mainly before noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 76. East northeast wind 6 to 10 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 58. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Saturday: Scattered showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 76. East northeast wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Lanai City
Today: Sunny, with a high near 72. Breezy, with a northeast wind 14 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Breezy, with a northeast wind 13 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 73. Northeast wind 7 to 13 mph.
Kaunakakai
Today: Sunny, with a high near 77. East northeast wind 9 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. Breezy, with a northeast wind 9 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. East northeast wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light east southeast in the afternoon.
Detailed Forecast
Synopsis
High pressure north of the area will continue to funnel in cool temperatures on moderate northeasterly trades through tonight, with passing showers favoring windward and mauka areas. Over the weekend the trades will diminish, allowing land and sea breezes to develop in the more sheltered areas. Showers will favor windward slopes and coasts at night and during the morning, with a few showers developing over interior and leeward areas each afternoon. The trades will be on the increase through the first half of next week, with more typical trade wind weather returning.
Discussion
Currently at the surface, a 1034 mb high is centered around 1650 miles north of Honolulu, while a 1015 mb low is located around 750 miles northeast of Hilo. These features continue to deliver cool northeasterly trade winds to the island chain early this morning. Infrared satellite imagery shows partly to mostly cloudy conditions in windward areas, with clear to partly cloudy skies in most leeward locales.Radar imagery shows scattered showers moving into windward areas, with a few decaying showers making it over the mountains and into leeward communities. Main short term concern revolves around trade wind trends during the next couple days.
Very little change is expected in the overall weather pattern through tonight. High pressure north of the state and low pressure to the northeast, will continue to funnel in cool temperatures on moderate northeasterly trades. Passing showers will favor windward and mauka areas, mainly during the early morning hours and at night, with a stray shower or a few sprinkles reaching leeward sections from time to time.
Over the weekend, a strong upper level trough will dig southeastward and over the islands, amplifying the surface troughing to the east of the state. This will ease the trade winds into the light to locally moderate range, allowing land and sea breezes to develop in some of the more sheltered areas. Showers will favor windward slopes and coasts at night and during the early morning hours and interior and leeward locales during the afternoon and evening. A more active shower pattern is expected on Sunday as the upper trough passes overhead, and it’s not out of the question that a thunderstorm or two could develop, particularly over the Big Island slopes in the afternoon.
The upper level trough will slide further east early next week, pushing the surface trough further away from the island chain. This will allow a new strong high building northwest of the state to gradually become more dominant. As a result, we expect a slow strengthening of the northeasterly trades through the middle of next week. Fairly typical trade wind weather can be expected during this time, although it may be slightly wetter on Monday as the upper trough exits to the east. Otherwise, showers are expected to favor windward and mauka areas through the period, with a stray shower occasionally spreading leeward. The remnants of an old front may move into the islands late next week, bringing an increasing in shower coverage.
Aviation
Moderate to locally breezy northeast trade winds will persist through this afternoon. Winds are expected to gradually weaken over the next twenty-four hours as the ridge of high pressure to the north weakens and retreats northward. AIRMET Tango for low level mechanical turbulence to the lee of higher terrain will likely be canceled later this morning.
Bands of scattered light showers, steered by the trade winds, can be seen on satellite streaming towards the islands. Showers will continue to impact mainly north and east facing slopes and coasts, but isolated spillover showers are possible across leeward areas of the smaller islands. AIRMET Sierra is now in effect for mountain obscuration across Windward Big Island. Mountain obscuration could also become an issue on Kauai later today.
Regarding interior and leeward Big Island, weak land breezes this morning will give way to light sea breezes this afternoon. Cumulus build- ups are expected to redevelop along south and west facing slopes throughout the afternoon and evening, but a capping inversion around 08 kft will limit shower activity.
Marine
With the high pressure ridge eroding northwest of the islands, trade winds have been easing. However, a Small Craft Advisory does remain in effect through this afternoon for the typically windier zones around Maui County and the Big Island. Winds will likely then remain light to moderate over all areas into early next week.
The current north-northeast swell will continue to slowly decline through the weekend, though surf along north- and east-facing shores will remain somewhat elevated through tonight. South shore surf will remain small, with a boost possible this weekend into early next week with energy moving in from the southern hemisphere. For north- and west-facing shores, a small, medium period, northwest swell is forecast to arrive early next week.
HFO Watches/Warnings/Advisories
Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM HST this evening for Maalaea Bay, Pailolo Channel, Alenuihaha Channel, Big Island Leeward Waters, Big Island Southeast Waters.
Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov