Hawaii

Weather stations are being built across Hawaii to assist in forecasting for extreme flood, fire events

Published

11 months ago

January 21, 2025

Weather stations are being built across Hawaii to assist in forecasting for extreme flood, fire events

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa are working to install a statewide tool to measure the ebb and flow of the atmosphere.

A mesonet is an interconnected network of automated weather stations that measure several atmospheric conditions.

So far, 62 stations have been installed across the island chain by researchers at UH Manoa, and over 100 are planned.

The name of this project is Hawaii Mesonet, which is modeled after similar work in other states. Most notably, the Oklahoma Mesonet assists in monitoring for approaching severe weather and tornadoes on the great plains.

Hawaii, historically, has been sparse in terms of weather data, meaning it is often hard to tell what is happening in more remote parts of the state. With this new mesonet, forecasters and weather models will have a clearer picture when it comes to forecasting the diverse microclimates across the island chain.

The recorded data from the mesonet sites is uploaded into future weather models, providing more information to the computer which results in a higher-quality forecast.

Hawaii News Now had the opportunity to look at one of the newest mesonet stations.

Dr. Thomas Giambelluca, project lead for the Hawaii Mesonet, explained, “The data provided by these stations really revolutionizes our ability to anticipate and prepare for and minimize risk during extreme events such as floods and wildfires.”

This new network is not only a tool for forecasters and emergency managers to protect both life and property; it also assists the agricultural sector of Hawaii.

The new weather monitoring stations also measure soil temperature and moisture, providing invaluable data to farmers across the state.

Giambelluca also emphasized the importance of finding continued funding for this network. He said that the program will be “asking the state Legislature to commit to supporting the remaining amount we need.”

Learn more about the Hawaii Mesonet on Instagram @hiclimateportal.

The collected data is also publicly available here.

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Related Topics:Featured Flood Forecast hawaii hawaii mesonet Mesonet UH Manoa university of hawaii weather monitoring station wildfire

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Hawaii

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines expands Hawaii flights from Las Vegas

Published

2 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines expands Hawaii flights from Las Vegas

Southwest Airlines is adding more routes from Sin City to the Aloha State.

The airline, which is headquartered at Dallas Love Field, will fly from Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas to Hilo International Airport starting Aug. 6, 2026. The service will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, pairing with existing service between Las Vegas and Honolulu.

“When I took office, I pledged to strengthen ties with the ‘Ninth Island’ — Las Vegas, where many Hawaiʻi-born residents live,“ Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda said in a statement. ”Southwest’s renewed service shows its dedication. Quicker flights across the Pacific means more convenience for our local families and another chance to support our hometown airline.”

Hawaiian Airlines is Hilo’s dominant carrier, offering more than 105,000 available seats this month, according to Cirium Diio Mi data. Southwest was second, offering more than 54,000 available seats.

“We heard you, Hilo,” Adam Decaire, Southwest’s senior vice president of network planning and network operations control, said in a statement.

“Las Vegas is important to you, and you’re important to us..”

This month, Southwest offered 146 flights between Las Vegas and Honolulu, totaling more than 25,000 available seats, according to data from Diio by Cirium. Southwest first began flights from the western U.S. to Hawaii in 2019. The airline currently flies to the Hawaiian islands from Las Vegas and Phoenix, and from California cities Sacramento, San Jose, Oakland, Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego.

Southwest does not operate direct flights to Hawaii from Dallas.

The Hawaii route expansion comes at a time when Southwest is weighing the possibility of building a more than 12,000-square-foot lounge at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, according to documents previously viewed by The Dallas Morning News.

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Hawaii

Hawaii’s ‘Tokyo Toe’ honored outside Honolulu Hale

Published

14 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Hawaii’s ‘Tokyo Toe’ honored outside Honolulu Hale

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Spirits were high for the University of Hawaii Night outside of Honolulu Hale on Thursday, Dec. 18.

A special member of the UH football team was honored by the mayor. Even though it is called University of Hawaii Night, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi had one team in particular that he wanted to give praise to.

“We’re here tonight especially for the football team, given the great winning season they’ve had. But I really want to include the coaches in that, coaches never get enough credit,” Blangiardi said.

The star of the show was UH’s kicker, who is commonly known as the “Tokyo Toe,” who was honored with a proclamation that declared Dec. 18 as Kansei Matsuzawa Day.

“Consensus all-American, first in the school’s history, all of this deserves celebration,” Blangiardi said. “Kickers have always been my favorite guys, but this guy here is off the charts. You got to give him credit where credit is due, you know?”

The all-American kicker stayed humble despite the accolades and said he could never have done it without the local community.

“Because of the coaches, because of my teammates, that’s the biggest reason why I am here right now, so I want to appreciate everybody supporting me throughout my journey,” Matsuzawa said.

Hawaii’s athletic director had some good news in terms of the Rainbow Warriors being televised in the islands for fans who prefer to watch the games at home.

“Pay per view is a thing of the past, we’re not going to have that any longer, I’m committed to that, and we’re certain about that,” UH athletics director Matt Elliott said. “We are in the process of working on what is the next phase of our media rights deal, so, waiting for the Mountain West to finish their job, which is to figure out the national rights and partners, and then we’ll turn our focus on the local rights.”

Matsuzawa will take the field as a Warrior one last time against the University of California on Christmas Eve in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

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Hawaii

I flew to the ‘least touristy’ island in Hawaii on a 9-passenger plane. I’d only suggest this trip to certain travelers.

Published

1 day ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

I flew to the ‘least touristy’ island in Hawaii on a 9-passenger plane. I’d only suggest this trip to certain travelers.

Often described as Hawaii’s “least touristy” island, Molokai hosted around 30,000 visitors in 2024, a minuscule percentage of the millions of tourists who came to our state.

Home to about 7,400 residents, much of the island’s land remains dedicated to agriculture, cultural preservation, and rural areas.

The island has no big-box resorts, not much nightlife, no permanent traffic lights, and limited visitor infrastructure. The tight-knit community has historically resisted large-scale tourism to protect its slower pace of life.

Until 2016, travelers could reach Molokai by ferry from my hometown of Lahaina, but the service was discontinued due to competition from commuter air travel and declining ridership, Maui News reported.

Today, small commuter planes are the only way to access the island.

I paid $190 for my round-trip ticket from Maui, and the turbulent 20-minute flight quickly made it clear to me why this trip isn’t for everyone.

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