Oahu and Kauai residents can expect a minor reprieve from the week's humidity as light trade winds return today, bringing with them a chance for some afternoon showers over the more interior and western reaches of the islands. The change in weather will be most notable on Saturday when the moisture currently west of the Big Island will move northwest, ushering in increased stability as moderate trades take over next week, as reported by the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
According to the National Weather Service, there is a "slug of low-level moisture" which is on course to combine with these returning trades to potentially fuel afternoon showers, especially over the leeward slopes of the aforementioned islands with the risk of them turning heavy due to a lingering upper-level low, the combination of the moisture, the sea breeze pattern could entail some minor, nuisance-type flooding the emerging weather pattern points toward a drier and more stable week with 590+dm mid-level ridging coming to dominate.
In terms of aviation, a surface trough near Kauai has been inching westward, leading to a scattering of showers and the possibility, albeit low, of temporary mountain obscurations as heavy showers could develop and move ashore from the south later today; a tightly held detail that was gleaned from the same National Weather Service report. Although there are currently no AIRMETs in effect, pilots should be aware of conditions favoring mountain obscuration this afternoon, as well as light icing over Maui and the Big Island due to high-level clouds stemming from an upper-level jet stream. Boaters should be aware that starting tomorrow, trade winds will get stronger. This may lead to a Small Craft Advisory by Sunday or early next week, especially near Maui County and the Big Island. Today, expect moderate to fresh easterly winds moving from east to west.
For surfers, south-facing shores will see a small increase in waves from a longer-period swell lasting through the weekend. Meanwhile, north-northeast swells are weakening, but a small northwest swell should continue through Sunday evening, as per the National Weather Service.
