# Sunday, October 4, 2026

© 2026 Morning Update · Hilo Morning Briefing · Sun, 04 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT · 6:00

https://morningupdate.org/hilo-mornings/episodes/hilo-morning-briefing-sunday-october-4-2026/

Maya: Aloha, Hilo! Good morning — it is Sunday, October fourth, twenty twenty-six, and this is the Hilo Morning Briefing. I am Maya.
Devon: And I am Devon. Welcome to the windward side of the Big Island, where rain is frequent and rainbows are basically a daily special. We have your week-ahead weather, coastal conditions, tonight's night sky, arts and entertainment, and three local stories.
Maya: Let us start with the week ahead, and it is a very Hilo kind of week. This morning brings a high near seventy-nine degrees with a sixty-five percent chance of showers. This is the wet side of the island, so keep the umbrella within arm's reach.
Devon: Tomorrow is the wettest day of the week. High near seventy-eight, low around seventy, and an eighty-two percent chance of rain. If you have plans outside tomorrow, have a plan B.
Maya: Tuesday starts to dry out a little. High near eighty, low near sixty-eight, and a forty-seven percent chance of showers. Wednesday is the best day of the week — high near eighty-two, low near sixty-six, and only a thirty-three percent chance of rain. That is your window for anything you need to do outside.
Devon: Then the clouds build back up. Thursday, a high near eighty-three, low around seventy, and a fifty-seven percent chance of showers. Friday, a high near seventy-eight, low around seventy-two, fifty-nine percent chance of rain. And Saturday, a high near seventy-eight, low near sixty-six, with a fifty-two percent chance of showers. Classic trade-wind weather — warm, humid, and rainy at times, exactly how October usually feels on the east side.
Maya: A quick reminder that we are still in hurricane season, which runs through the end of November. Nothing is threatening the islands this morning, but after the summer we have had, keeping your emergency kit ready is a good idea all season long.
Devon: On to coastal conditions. Seas off the east side are running around five feet today, with water temperature near eighty-one degrees. Not a rough day, but the east-facing shores can pick up chop quickly in trade-wind weather, so check the surf before you go in.
Maya: And now the night sky, always a treat around here. Tonight the moon is a waning crescent, about thirty-four percent illuminated, and it does not rise until around one thirty-six A M, so the early evening sky will be nice and dark. Saturn will be shining in the southeast after dark, a great target for binoculars or a small telescope.
Devon: Also, the International Space Station makes a low pass in the southwest sky at about six fifty-five P M. It will be fairly low, just sixteen degrees up, so find a clear spot on the horizon.
Maya: And here is a thought for you — the summit of Mauna Kea is less than an hour from Hilo by road, and its thirteen thousand eight hundred feet put the observatories up above most of the clouds that hang over town. If the showers roll in over Hilo tonight, the sky up there is often a completely different story.
Devon: On to arts and entertainment, and the calendar is filling up. At the historic Hilo Palace Theater downtown, the Friends of the Palace Theater open their twenty twenty-six fall musical, Little Shop of Horrors, running from October ninth through the twenty-fifth.
Maya: That same weekend, metal fans get the third annual Big Island Metal Bash, October ninth and tenth at the Grand Naniloa Hotel. And at the end of the month, the Palace Theater turns haunted — The Haunted Palace, an immersive haunted house with more than twenty scare zones, runs October thirtieth and thirty-first.
Devon: And mark your calendars for October twenty-fourth: the Hawaii Island Festival of Birds returns to the Grand Naniloa Hotel. It is a full-day, family-friendly celebration of the island's native birds, with a bird fair, guest speakers, hula, and trivia. Keiki twelve and under get in free.
Maya: Now to local news, and the first story is a big one for the whole island. The Hoh-lay Sea Arch — the iconic ninety-foot natural arch at the end of Chain of Craters Road in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park — has collapsed into the Pacific Ocean.
Devon: Park rangers say it was standing on September twenty-third, when the park briefly closed during Tropical Storm Nolo, and by the time it reopened on September twenty-eighth, the arch was gone. The exact moment it fell is unknown.
Maya: The National Park Service says the collapse was not entirely unexpected. The coastline had been weakening for years — the twenty eighteen Kilauea eruption fractured the cliffs, the original overlook closed in twenty twenty, and heavy surf broke off part of the arch's base later that year. But it is still a dramatic loss. A five-hundred-fifty-year-old landmark, gone in a single stormy week. And the park is warning visitors to stay behind the barriers near the site — the cliffs there are unstable and dangerous.
Devon: Story number two is one the whole island is still living with. Hawaii is working through what officials are calling storm fatigue after a relentless summer. Hurricane Lala raked the Big Island back in August without ever making landfall, and still swept roughly a hundred homes off their foundations in the Puna and Ka'u districts, flooded roads, and knocked out power for days.
Maya: Then came more storms, including Tropical Storm Nolo in late September, which added to the damage. Mayor Kimo Alameda told reporters the island mostly dodged the worst of Nolo, but the emotional toll is real — people are anxious every time the forecast turns. Recovery work is still underway across the island, and the federal emergency declaration is still helping coordinate assistance.
Devon: Our third story is good news for healthcare in Hilo. State Senate Vice President Lorraine Inouye announced the release of five million dollars in state funds for critical infrastructure work at Hilo Benioff Medical Center.
Maya: The money will go toward plumbing repairs and air conditioning system improvements at the hospital's acute care facility, including upgrades to the operating room's air conditioning. Senator Inouye said the investment will help the medical center keep meeting the community's healthcare needs for years to come, and thanked the governor for releasing the funds.
Devon: That is the briefing for this Sunday, October fourth. A wet and warm week ahead on the windward side, five-foot seas, Saturn in the evening sky, and a busy October on the arts calendar.
Maya: Mahalo for starting your morning with us. Take care of each other, stay dry, and we will see you tomorrow. Aloha!