Forecast: Wet, windy winter weather ahead for the weekend into next week

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - NWS has issued a Flash Flood Watch for the Hawaiian Islands; unsettled weather will be with us this weekend till about the middle of next week. A cold front with move thru the Hawaiian Islands from Niihau to Hawaii Island where it is slated to stall tonight and Saturday tomorrow. This will mean heavy showers and thunderstorms are possible. The front will stall near Hawaii Island bringing Maui and Hawaii lots of wet weather. A low pressure system will form just to the northwest of Kauai on Saturday and Saturday night, causing the winds to turn southerly on Sunday and persist into early next week.

Storm Warnings, High Wind Warnings and Blizzard conditions are expected on the higher summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on Hawaii Island, windy conditions on Haleakala. Hawaii could see 4-8 inches of rain this weekend; that means possible flooding could occur. Winds could also be very gusty near thunderstorms that could happen statewide.

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Huge life-threatening waves, perhaps some of the biggest of the winter season will happen this weekend as a large NNW swell is on the way up today, peaking tomorrow. A High Surf Warning will likely be posted for the North and West shores of most islands this weekend. East shores will be trending downward and south facing surf will get some very light energy later this week.

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