Light to moderate south to southwest winds have developed over the islands and will continue to diminish through tonight as Tropical Storm Lowell moves farther northwest of the area. Aside from a showers over the Big Island and east Maui, rainfall should be limited tonight. A diffuse band of moisture will move onto Big Island Wednesday and may bring a renewed threat of heavy showers, while sea breezes trigger spotty afternoon showers across the rest of the state. Trade winds will slowly build over the state late Wednesday and Thursday, but conditions will remain somewhat wet. Drier trade wind weather is expected to develop Thursday night and Friday.
Southerly flow remains over the islands with now Tropical Storm Lowell north of the main Hawaiian Islands. Lowell will continue to weaken and move further away from the islands, and through much of Wednesday, the southerly flow will remain. Periods of MVFR conditions are likely, mostly over Kauai and the Big Island where pockets of moisture are moving through. AIRMET Sierra for mountain obscuration remains in effect for these islands. Some improvement is possible overnight, however anticipating the AIRMET to remain in place much of the night.
With light southerly winds expected, not anticipating any AIRMETs for turbulence through Wednesday.
Tropical Storm Lowell is now beginning to exit the offshore waters to the north. A Small Craft Advisory (SCA) remains in effect for the waters around Kauai for 10 foot seas through midnight as seas are forecast to drop rapidly. For the western offshore waters, conditions are expected to improve late tonight as Lowell moves further north, and the Tropical Storm Warning is likely to end by Wednesday morning. For Wednesday, light and variable winds will gradually transition to light to moderate easterly trade winds through the remainder of the week.
Surf along south facing shores has diminished below advisory criteria, but remain choppy from a mix of southwest and west swells from Lowell that continue to quickly fade. These are still producing advisory level surf for west facing shores of the Big Island this evening, but these are expected to diminish by the morning hours. A moderate, medium-period south swell originating southeast of New Zealand will linger for the next few days, keeping south shore surf heights from dipping below the September averages (5 ft) until the weekend when surf heights will become small.
Surf along east facing shores remains elevated tonight but will approach more seasonal levels on Wednesday. That swell will then fade gradually through the next several days. Surf along north facing shores experienced a solid rise due to Lowell this morning. This swell will quickly fade through the week as Lowell weakens and tracks away from the islands.
Flood Watch through Wednesday afternoon for Big Island East-Big Island Interior-Big Island North-Big Island South-Big Island Southeast-Big Island Summits-Kohala-Kona.
High Surf Advisory until midnight HST tonight for Kohala-Kona.
Small Craft Advisory until midnight HST tonight for Kauai Leeward Waters-Kauai Northwest Waters-Kauai Windward Waters.
