Weather Details

February 14-15 2006

Weather Chart — Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a trough of low pressure to our east, and a ridge of high pressure to our NW.  As the trough moves westward over the state, our winds will become lighter from an easterly direction through Thursday. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those funny weather symbols mean.

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 only available during the daylight hours here in the islands…that is unless there’s a big moon rising just after sunset for an hour or two!

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

Aloha Paragraphs

The Hawaiian Islands are located between a high pressure ridge to our NW, and a trough of low pressure to our east. This pressure configuration puts a NE wind flow across our area of the central north Pacific. NE winds bring air into the state from more northern latitudes, thus the cooler temperatures of the last few days. This chilly reality will continue today, with temperatures taking a turn to the warmer side Wednesday and Thursday. The winds will eventually become SE by Friday into the weekend, bringing a total end to our tropical cool snap.

The latest computer forecast models bring the trough, located to our east, westward over the Hawaiian islands during the next couple of days. This in turn will cause our local winds to calm down in strength, and take a turn to the east. There may not be very much of an influence as this trough moves overhead. Although, there may be some increase in showers along our windward sides. Sound a little wishy washy do I, well, there is a measure of uncertainty, and it may take another day or so to be sure whether or not the showers will increase then or not.

A little further down the road, this trough will edge over to the west of the islands. This will pose a more pronounced threat of showers. At the same time, a pool of cold air will slide over the state too, causing at least some degree of instability in our local air mass. It appears that there will at least be some showers around, although the way it looks from here, the bulk of that moisture will be taking aim on the windward coasts and slopes of the individual islands.

It’s early Valentines Day evening, here in Kula, Maui, Hawaii. When I left Kihei after work, it was 75F degrees, and now about an hour later, it’s 59F here at home. I can hear a cock Pheasant calling in the distance, I like his quick qwak, qwak. I ran into a little shower coming up through Pukalani, and I can see that it showered here recently as well. A friend called from Haiku this afternoon, and she said it had been raining off and on today, some of which had been quite heavy. I made it to the beach today at lunch, and enjoyed that time out in nature, although I must admit the water was chilly when I first dove in. I had a couple of Valentines invitations for dinner, and yet what I most felt like doing was coming home. I have a new novel I’ll be starting, and I’m looking forward to cracking that open after dinner. I hope you had a lovely day, on this especially romantic holiday! I’ll be back early Wednesday morning with the next narrative, be well until then my friends. Aloha for now…Glenn.