Preliminary analysis of the diurnal variations in airflow pattern on the island of Maui is presented. Model output of surface winds from the high-resolution (3 km) MM5/LSM model at the University of Hawaii shows good agreement to surface and buoy observations. The validation period (July 2003) takes place during the summer trade-wind regime due to fact that there are diurnal variations in airflow that can be difficult for numerical models to forecast. These deviations are due to the mountainous terrain, and Maui’s topography exceeds 10,000 feet on Mount Haleakala.