Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / February 24-25, 2014

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

78  Lihue, Kauai
84  Honolulu, Oahu
77  Molokai
82  Kahului, Maui
84  Kona, Hawaii
80  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 743pm Monday evening:

Kailua Kona – 77
Lihue, Kauai – 69

Haleakala Summit –   39  (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 36  (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.

Aloha Paragraphs

Generally light winds, locally a bit stronger from the north
and northeast…with relatively cool weather into the middle
of this week

A couple of weak cold fronts/cloud bands will bring a few
showers to the north shores and slopes over the next several
days, then the chance of a more active cold front arriving
during the weekend…bringing locally heavy rains over
much of the state into early next week – first on Kauai

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

22  Mana, Kauai – NW
22  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
14  Molokai – NNE
23  Lanai – NW
22  Kahoolawe – NNE
16  Kula 1, Maui – NW
18  Upolu airport, Big Island – NE

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Monday evening (545pm totals):

0.13  Kilohana, Kauai
0.11  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.04  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.39  Haiku, Maui
0.87  Pahala, 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 ~~~

Generally light to locally moderate breezes from the north to northeast today through Wednesday, bringing slightly cooler air into our area. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. Here’s a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…centered on the Hawaiian Islands. ~~~ We find  low pressure systems far northwest, north and northeast of the state, with their associated cold fronts trailing to the south. Meanwhile, we see a high pressure system well offshore to the northeast of the state…with an elongated ridge of high pressure extending west into the central part of the state. Winds will generally be on the light side, although locally a bit stronger from the north to northeast winds…keeping a slight cool edge to our area. We will find strengthening southeast winds later Thursday into Friday, then shifting further to the south and southwest into the weekend…ahead of a cold front.

Satellite imagery shows a weak cold front just to the north of Kauai, along with scattered low level clouds elsewhere…especially around the Big Island.  Much of the rest of the state remains quite clear to partly cloudy, which should continue into Tuesday. Here’s the looping radar image, showing generally light showers over the ocean near the Big Island, with hardly any elsewhere at the time of this writing. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see generally clear to partly cloudy skies across much of the state, with clouds forming over and around the mountains locally. The frontal boundary may finally get close enough to bring a few showers to Kauai, although not likely much further into the state than that.

We’ll see the arrival of a couple of weak cold fronts during this first half of the week…bringing a modest increase in clouds and showers. Looking further ahead, the models are suggesting that a stronger cold front will approach the state from the northwest later Friday into the weekend. The front will bring showers (prefrontal showers) out ahead of it, and as the front pushes down through the state during the weekend into early next week. There are apt to be gusty winds coming up from the southeast through southwest ahead of this cold front. The models continue showing all the necessary ingredients for a period of showers, first on Kauai and Oahu, then down to Maui County…and finally the Big Island Sunday night into Monday. I’ll have more to say about this upcoming wet weather event as we move through this new week. I’ll be back early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Monday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui, at the 3,100 foot elevation, at my upper Kula, Maui weather tower, the air temperature was 58.6F degrees at 610am on this Monday morning. The breezes are coming in from the north, and is triggering my wind chimes into action. I can see lots of stars twinkling above, as its still dark. Although, when I went out on my weather deck a few minutes ago, I could see some gray looking clouds over along the north shore, being carried this way…and over the West Maui Mountains too. As it gets lighter in a little while, I’ll come back and give you a better idea what’s happening with our weather here on Maui. It’s now 650am, and light enough for me to see clouds moving in over Maui, coming over us on the cool northerly breezes. These breezes are carrying a few light misty showers and drizzles locally through the Central Valley. Here in Kula, my weather deck is a bit wet from a few light showers.

~~~ It’s early afternoon at 1255pm here in Kula, under partly cloudy skies, light winds…with an air temperature of 69.4 degrees. The light misty showers that fell early this morning, are now long gone. There’s still a relatively chilly northern breeze, keeping the air temperature slightly lower than it otherwise would be. We can see that minor cold front just to the north of Kauai, using this looping satellite image. It’s difficult to know exactly what it will do, although it may just fizzle out, or at least be fairly insignificant in its influence over Kauai…and however much further it can migrate down into the state. The main thing is, that it won’t amount to much, in terms of rainfall for the state.

~~~ We’re into our early evening hours now, at 520pm, with slightly chilly north breezes, partly cloudy skies, and an air temperature of 65.8 degrees. It was a beautiful day in my opinion, with that delightful coolness to the air, although the sun remained tropically warm at the same time. It was dry just about everywhere in the state, with just a few drops down on the Big Island locally. The cold front just north of Kauai isn’t very robust, which is an understatement. It may be able to inch its way southward towards Kauai, although then again…it might peter out before arriving just as easily. We’ll have to wait until tonight into early Tuesday morning to see just how far into the tropics it can make its way. Now at 650pm, the temperature has fallen quickly to 60.4 degrees. Now, at 820pm, the thermometer has dropped to 56.8 degrees, while I make this update in my turtle neck long sleeve shirt…and thick down vest. It won’t be long before I crawl under my warm down comforter, with a thin fleece blanket on top of that…maybe I’ll even wear my wool socks to bed tonight!

Interesting video called Gravity Glue…with Michael Grab – Thanks Nancy Lorenz of Sebastopol, California / full screen is best

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th.
Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea:

Gulf of Mexico:

Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico.

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

Eastern Pacific: The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15th through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary

Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.