First Alert Forecast: The winds are back...and strong

News admin August 1, 2026 0 Comments

First Alert Forecast: The winds are back…and strong

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – It may be too windy for kite flying but the winds are a welcome feeling after days of hot steamy weather. Sunshine today with some cloudy skies from time to time. Not a whole lot of rain in the forecast for today.

View the latest weather conditions here.

Sunshine, some clouds but strong winds: A strong high-pressure system north of Hawaii and got a little stronger this morning. This is causing really windy conditions in the mountains and ridges, especially on Maui County and Hawaii Island. The downslope winds will be strongest through this afternoon.

Tomorrow, expect more sunshine with an easing of the winds: The high-pressure system will move east, which means the pressure difference that’s causing the strong winds will ease up. Trade winds will return to normal summer levels, and conditions will get drier overall. You can expect less rain on the windward and mountain areas, and the leeward sides will stay pretty dry.

Early to Mid-Next Week: Trade winds will weaken even more as Tropical Storm Genevieve weakens and moves far away from Hawaii, but will block the trade winds while it travels northward. This also means that Genevieve will throw up moisture into the trade wind flow, bringing typical scattered showers back to the windward and mountain areas. Weather models suggest a tropical upper-level trough (basically a dip in the jet stream) could move near Kauai by mid-week, and extra moisture might move across the state. If that happens, expect more clouds and an increase in moderate to heavy showers, especially for the western islands.

Small Craft Advisory in effect for all nearshore waters, which means boats need to be careful. Waves could get over 10 feet tall during this time. The current south swell will keep getting smaller today. A small to medium swell from the east has been spotted at buoys throughout the day. This swell was created by Tropical Storm Genevieve way out in the East Pacific, and combined with strong wind-driven waves from the trade winds, it’s making waves bigger along the east-facing shores. East-facing beaches will have the biggest surf this weekend, and then the waves will gradually get smaller over the next several days.

North-facing beaches will stay pretty flat with tiny waves. West-facing beaches will also have tiny waves, except in spots where the south swell can wrap around and hit them.

Download the HNN Weather app from the Apple App Store or Google Play for the latest updates from your First Alert Weather Team: chief meteorologist Jennifer Robbins, meteorologist Drew Davis, and weather anchors Guy Hagi, Ben Gutierrez, and Billy V.