Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs / May 15-16, 2010

May 15-16, 2010

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday afternoon:

Lihue, Kauai – 81
Honolulu, Oahu – 86
Kaneohe, Oahu – 80
Kaunakakai, Molokai – 82
Kahului, Maui – 86
Hilo, Hawaii – 80
Kailua-kona – 82

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level around the state – and on the highest mountains…at 5pm Saturday evening:

Barking Sands, Kauai – 83F
Kapalua, Maui – 73

Haleakala Crater –    57 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 39 (near 14,000 feet on the Big Island)

Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Saturday afternoon:

0.32 Mount Waialaele, Kauai  
0.68 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.10 Molokai 
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.64 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.80 Kawainui Stream, Big Island

Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a dissipating 1024 millibar high pressure system to the east-northeast of the islands. Meanwhile, the bottom edge of a cold front is moving by to the north of the islands, with a new 1026 millibar high pressure system pushing it eastward…to our northwest. The trade winds will remain moderately strong…locally strong and gusty through Monday.

Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with this Infrared Satellite Image of the islands to see all the clouds around the state during the day and night. This next image is one that gives close images of the islands only during the daytime hours, and is referred to as a Close-up visible image. This next image shows a larger view of the Pacific…giving perspective to the wider ranging cloud patterns in the Pacific Ocean. Finally, here’s a Looping IR satellite image, making viewable the clouds around the islands 24 hours a day. To help you keep track of where any showers may be around the islands, here’s the latest animated radar image.

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of near 14,000 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The tallest peak on the island of Maui is the Haleakala Crater, which is near 10,000 feet in elevation. These two webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon rising just after sunset for an hour or two! Plus, during the nights and early mornings you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise too…depending upon weather conditions.

Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest weather information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Here’s a tracking map covering both the eastern and central Pacific Ocean. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here. Of course, as we know, our hurricane season won’t begin again until June 1st here in the central Pacific.

 Aloha Paragraphs

Tropical art…Steve Memering

The trade winds will prevail as we move through the rest of this weekend…and then likely through all of the upcoming new week ahead.  A small craft wind advisory remains in place over those windiest coastal and channel waters…from the Alenuihaha Channel, between Maui and the Big Island, and around parts of the Big Island too. Winds have increased over the summits on the Big Island, where a wind advisory is now active into early Sunday morning.

The windward sides will find a few showers, although not many…with the leeward sides remaining dry for the most part.  Looking at this IR satellite image, we see just scattered clouds upstream of the windward sides of the islands. These clouds will bring a few showers, although nothing overbearing. In order to get a better look at what’s happening, we can check out this even larger satellite picture, which shows a fairly large swath of high cirrus clouds streaming up from the deep tropics, carried along by an arm of the subtropical jet stream…to the south and southeast of the Big Island…extending all the way over towards Mexico.

It’s Saturday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s narrative.

The trade winds will remain with us well into the future. They will be quite dry however, with just a few, mostly overnight showers along our windward sides. May 15th was the beginning of the 2010 eastern Pacific hurricane season, which runs through the last day of November. Here in the central Pacific, our hurricane season begins on June 1st, and runs through the end of November as well.

Friday evening after work I went to see a new film, one that I’ve been looking forward to seeing for quite a while. It was the new Iron Man 2 (2010) film, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, along with Mickey Rourke,



Scarlett Johansson



,  Samuel L. Jackson, 



Don Cheadle…among others. A synopsis: billionaire inventor Tony Stark confronts powerful forces as the armored superhero Iron Man. The fact that Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson star in this film, doesn’t hurt one little bit, smiling! The critics are giving this film a B- grade, while the users are rating it higher at A-. Here’s the trailer for this film, which seems to really capture the essence of this action film. I really enjoyed this film, and would have to agree that it deserves close to an A grade! It was action packed, and full of wild adventure. I found that I had a smile on my face many times during this film, and I heard the theatre erupt in laughter on more than one occasion, which is always a good sign. I suppose the next film that I’ll be drawn into seeing, will be the new Robin Hood adventure, which opened this weekend.

~~~ I had a great day today, which started off by doing some putting, like in golf, down at the Country Club in Spreckelsville…near Paia. I must admit it wasn’t one of my better sessions, with not even one putt that went in the hole on the first try. Oh well, I still had fun out on that windy golf course. I then took the short drive to Baldwin Beach park, and sat on the sand by the waters edge for about an hour. I got in the ocean and swam around, which was refreshingly cool. I was getting hungry after that, so I went to one of the restaurants in Paia town, and had a salad and pizza. I sat by the window and watched the traffic, both foot and car, go by on the Hana Highway. Shopping at the health food store was my next thing, and then came home. I threw a load of laundry in the washer, and my next thing will be to go out and hang it on the line. This evening I don’t have any plans, so will eat some of that leftover pizza, after taking a walk. I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you happen to be spending it, and perhaps will meet me here again on Sunday! Aloha for now…Glenn.

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