To strengthen Hawaiʻi’s flood and wildfire early warning systems and improve the state’s response to natural disasters and climate change impacts, a team of researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, in partnership with the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), is installing an advanced network of 100 weather monitoring stations across the state to enhance weather and climate monitoring and forecasting. The data collected can also be used for water resource management, agriculture, ranching, ecosystem and cultural resource protection and more.
The 61st weather station of the system, called Hawaiʻi Mesonet, was installed next to a Honolulu Board of Water Supply reservoir on the top of Mariner’s Ridge in Hawaiʻi Kai in December 2024. The system is already providing real time data that is also available to the public through an easy-access web interface. Once the remaining 39 stations are deployed over the next two years, the Hawaiʻi Mesonet will fill a critical gap for Hawaiʻi. According to Tom Giambelluca, project lead for the Hawaiʻi Mesonet, “Before the project began, Hawaiʻi was one of only 20 stations without a comprehensive statewide weather monitoring system.”
“It’s about being able to be as prepared as possible, especially when you consider recent events like the devastating Los Angeles wildfires and the terrible Lahaina fire here at home,” said Giambelluca, a long-time professor in the Geography and Environment Department, and former director of the UH Water Resources Research Center (WRRC). “For instance, the system that is constantly collecting data on soil moisture can tell us in real time if an area is highly susceptible to fires or flooding. This same data collected over time can be used by farmers and ranchers.”
Hawaiʻi‘s unique landscape
Building a network like this is all the more important in Hawaiʻi as the state’s unique landscape and climate patterns create significant variability in temperature, rainfall and other factors. For example, annual rainfall in West Maui can differ by more than 140 inches within one mile, requiring precise and localized data to inform decision-making.
The network requires approximately $600,000 annually for operations, maintenance and data management. Currently, the NOAA National Mesonet Program covers 40% of the cost. The program is seeking additional state funding from the legislature for the DLNR Commission on Water Resource Management to support the UH program. Hawaiʻi State Rep. Linda Ichiyama says she is a supporter.
“The Hawaiʻi Mesonet represents a critical investment in the safety, resilience and sustainability of our island communities,” said Ichiyama. “This advanced weather monitoring system will empower us to make informed decisions in the face of increasingly severe weather events and climate challenges, like we are seeing in Los Angeles now. Supporting this initiative ensures that Hawaiʻi is better equipped to protect our communities, manage our natural resources, and plan for a more resilient future.”
Real-time insights
Each station is equipped with cutting-edge sensors that measure rainfall, air temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, air pressure, solar radiation and soil conditions at multiple depths. Sensors scan every second, recording averages and statistics every five minutes. Data is transmitted every 15 minutes, ensuring real-time insights for weather forecasting, emergency management, water resource planning and more. The data captured by the Hawaiʻi Mesonet is publicly available on the UH Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal.
“The network spans the whole archipelago, so we are able to get information in places that previously we had no access to,” said Ryan Longman, UH Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center consortium program director. “We can monitor and analyze weather phenomena such as extreme winds and heavy rainfall events, with much more accuracy now than we had in the past. We are also using the data to create climate maps that can give us high resolution information anywhere and those maps are already being used by a range of stakeholders. Ranchers, resource managers, water managers are all using those maps to get information on the ground at site specific locations even in places where a mesonet station doesn’t exist.”
The Hawaiʻi Mesonet has secured more than $1.5 million in funding for equipment from the National Science Foundation, with additional contributions from the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and state funding to the DLNR Hawaiʻi Commission on Water Resources Management. Installation costs are supported by WRRC and the UH Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Scholarship.
For more information about the Hawaiʻi Mesonet, visit WRRC’s website.
