Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / June 23-24, 2013

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday:

82  Lihue, Kauai
83  Honolulu, Oahu
81  Molokai
88  Kahului, Maui
85  Kona, Hawaii
83  Hilo, Hawaii

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops on Maui and the Big Island…as of 830pm Sunday evening:

Kailua Kona – 80
Hilo, Hawaii – 74

Haleakala Summit –   M (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 39 (13,000+ feet on the Big Island)

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,800 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. This web cam is available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon shining down during the night at times. Plus, during the nights you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise and sunset too… depending upon weather conditions. Here’s the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui – if it’s working.

Aloha Paragraphs

Small Craft Wind Advisory…around parts of Maui County
and the Big Island

Locally strong summertime trade winds, with off and on passing
windward showers…some in the leeward sections too

The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Sunday evening:

24  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
37  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – NE
25  Molokai – NE
33  Lanai – NE
33  Kahoolawe – ESE
33  Kealakomo, Big Island – NE

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Sunday evening:

2.23  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.53  Waiawa, Oahu
0.50  Molokai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Lanai
0.35  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.44  Mountain View, Big Island

We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean. Here’s the latest NOAA satellite picture – the latest looping satellite image… and finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands.

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Trade winds rather strong and gusty…then slightly lighter again starting Tuesday onwards. Here’s a weather chart showing a near 1026 millibar high pressure system located to the northeast of our islands…with a second slightly stronger near 1030 millibar high pressure cell to the northwest. Our trade winds will remain active, and locally strong and gusty into Monday. Looking further ahead, our trades will ease up a little Tuesday onwards.

Trade wind weather pattern will prevail, with off and on windward showers. Satellite imagery shows a thinning swath of high and middle level clouds over the state…which is dispersing at the moment. These clouds should light up for sunset, at least locally this evening. Here’s a larger satellite picture showing the extent of these upper cirrus. At lower levels, there’s patches of cumulus and stratocumulus clouds surrounding the islands. Here’s the looping radar image, showing these showery clouds passing by along our windward coasts and slopes, and over the offshore waters as well…with a few over the leeward sections on the smaller islands at times. It appears that the islands from Molokai up through Oahu and Kauai, should have the most showers tonight.

These common windward showers have been quite numerous during the last 36 hours or so. As we get into Monday and Tuesday, these will become less frequent.  An unusual out of season cloud band, or an old cold front called a shearline, may be pushed down into the state by the trades on Wednesday, bringing back an increase in windward showers for a few days then, most noticeably on Kauai and Oahu. There’s a chance that these showers will drop down over Maui County and the Big Island later Thursday into Friday. I’ll be back with more updates this evening, I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.