First Alert Forecast: Enhanced rainfall possible over windward sides

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A band of moisture is heading south of the islands and will bring extra rain chances to the eastern part of the state through Monday. After that, things should dry out and stay drier for a few days in the middle of the week.

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View the latest weather conditions here.

Strong winds will keep blowing across the islands through the weekend. A band of moisture is moving toward the islands from the southeast.

The western side of the state: Mostly dry with some high, wispy clouds. Eastern side: Hawaii Island saw increasing clouds and rain showers last night; some of that wet air may spread up the island chain to bring showers to windward and central areas of Maui, Molokai, and possibly Oahu today.

The Big Island will get the most rain. Because of the moisture and daytime heat, there’s a small chance of one or two thunderstorms may pop up over the Hawaii Island’s interior areas in the afternoon.

Monday thru Thursday: The winds will calm down a bit and become moderate to breezy. The air will dry out by the middle of the week, which means it won’t feel as humid and sticky.

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Beyond Thursday: Cyclone tracking

It’s harder to predict what happens after Thursday because there’s a tropical weather system about 1,400 miles away that meteorologists are watching closely. There’s an 80 percent chance it could develop into a tropical cyclone (a spinning storm system) over the next week. It’s too early to know if it will affect Hawaii, but experts will keep monitoring it closely.

Oceans & Coastlines: A Small Craft Advisory remains in effect for the typical windy channels and waters around Maui County and the Big Island through Sunday afternoon. This advisory many need to be extended further, as borderline conditions will prevail through at least Wednesday. Later in the week, the focus will shift to the deep tropics southeast of the state. A tropical cyclone could develop and have an effect on local winds, seas and weather as early as Friday. Continued small overlapping south-southwest swells will produce south shore surf near August average this weekend and near to above average Monday and Tuesday. A larger swell will arrive Tuesday night and may push surf to the High Surf Advisory level late Wednesday through Friday. Along east-facing shores, short-period trade wind swell will generate surf just below August average through Thursday. Depending on how potential tropical cyclone development plays out southeast of the islands, an increase in southeast swell is possible Friday and next weekend. Surf along north-facing shores will remain flat to tiny through the week. Due to a combination of peak monthly high tides and water levels running higher than predicted in a few locations, minor coastal flooding will be possible this afternoon high tide with peak conditions Monday through Wednesday.

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.

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