Tropical Storm Nolo strengthen once again to a hurricane this afternoon away from the islands. Drier air mass will encompass the region tonight into the weekend.
The high pressure ridge will build back over the Hawaii region with drier easterly trade wind weather returning just in time for the weekend. Lower humidity levels and mostly sunny skies will prevail through Sunday.
AIRMET Sierra remains in effect for mountain obscuration above 2000 feet over Kauai, Oahu, and above 2500 feet over portions of the Big Island. Conditions will improve for all islands as drier weather returns by Saturday morning.
Issued at 352 PM HST Fri Oct 2 2026
As Hurricane Nolo continues to strengthen and moves farther west away from the Hawaiian Islands, its influence on local weather will wane. Gentle to fresh east to northeast trade winds will fill back in on Saturday, along with drier air settling over the area. A Small Craft Advisory may be needed for the typically windy waters and channels by late this weekend for locally strong trades. By the middle of next week, troughing developing northwest of the islands may cause the trade winds to weaken and veer out of the southeast once again.
A moderate, medium-period west to southwest swell originating from Nolo that has been affecting Niihau and Kauai will quickly fade tonight. Meanwhile, a small background south swell continues for other islands, holding surf mostly steady along south facing shores through the weekend. A new small, long-period south swell, originating from a large fetch of gale force winds southeast of New Zealand earlier this week, is forecast to arrive beginning Sunday and peak Monday through Wednesday.
Surf along north-facing shores saw a small bump today as a small, short to medium period swell moved into the region. This will peak late today, then decline into the weekend. Another increase in small north shore surf is possible early next week as a small, medium- period northwest swell arrives this weekend and peaks on Monday. This will be followed by a slightly larger long-period northwest swell peaking on Wednesday. Surf along east facing shores will see a slight boost and become more choppy as easterly trades build back into the region this weekend.
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