February 27-28 2006

Air Temperatures — The following maximum temperatures were recorded across Hawaii Monday:

Lihue, Kauai – 74F
Honolulu, Oahu – 76
Kaneohe, Oahu – 73
Kahului, Maui – 77
Hilo, Hawaii – 76
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 83

Temperatures early Tuesday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 4 a.m. hour:

Kailua-kona – 75
Hilo airport – 64

Precipitation Totals — The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals during the last 24 hours (as of Tuesday morning) on each of the major islands, including:

6.20 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.74 POAMOHO 2, OAHU
0.02 MOLOKAI
0.01 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
2.98 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
3.21 GLENWOOD, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart — Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a high pressure system far NNW of the islands. This high has an elongated ridge running from its center SE to a location well offshore to the east and NE of the islands. At the same time we have a pair of lows, one far to the NE, and another far to the NW, with light to moderate and locally gusty winds from the SE…with island blocking happening downstream from the Big Island and Maui. 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 animated radar image.

Aloha Paragraphs



Riding waves Hawaiian style

The Hawaiian Islands just came through a much cloudier than usual weekend. A large majority of those clouds consisted of the high and middle level varieties. Although, there were enough lower level clouds, that there were numerous showers falling around in places too. The spread of precipitation types ranged between light sprinkles, all the way across the precipitation sprectrum to locally heavy rain in some areas. The largest total I saw was the generous 6.60 inch amount at Mount Waialaelae on Kauai.


It appears that Monday will have much less cloudiness, and drier conditions too. However, as the computer forecast models have been pointing out for the last week, there is a definite threat of wetter weather on our horizon. A rather deep low pressure system to the NW of the state, has lots of showers associated with it. As we move into the Tuesday through Thursday time frame, we may very well see this moisture edging over our islands, with locally heavy rains the result…with the island of Kauai, nearest the low pressure system, having the greatest threat of wet weather.


We will see increasing clouds and showers later Tuesday and Wednesday, again with the heaviest amounts likely on the Kauai end of the island chain. Monday’s satellite images show tons of clouds and showers poised to the west through NW of the islands. This area of deep moisture should migrate eastward, bringing a period of locally heavy showers, with even the chance of thunderstorms to our area. As the threat of this moisture increases soon, we’ll be dealing with the prospect of localized flooding over the western islands.

We should start to prepare for another bout of winter weather. Fortunately, it won’t last forever, with some clearing expected as we move into Thursday or Friday. The winds will be from the SE or south Tuesday through Thursday, with trade winds returning Friday into the coming weekend. Thursday or Friday will likely be a transition day, with gradually improving weather starting this weekend. It’s difficult to give this pending wet weather a positive spin, after the cloudy and showery weather we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks!

Despite the clouds and showers, I ended up having a great weekend anyway. Friday night after work I started the weekend by seeing a great snowboarding film called First Descent. Then Saturday morning I went surfing at one of my favorite surfing spots on the Lahaina side, called 1000 peaks. Sunday it was back over to the west side, for a kayaking adventure with the numerous whales that are around now. I’m feeling rather tired from all the physical exercise, although uplifted from those two fun excursions in the ocean.


It’s early Monday evening here in Kula, Maui.  There was actually some sunny periods today, well, partially sunny. The winds are starting to swing around to the SE today, which is bringing volcanic haze up over Maui from the Big Island. This evening there are lots of clouds around, multi-level cloudiness is how I would describe it. I just read a great book, called Isaac’s Storm, by Erik Larson. It’s was quite a page turner, especially during the second half of the book, when the big hurricane hit Galveston, Texas back in 1900. The cover of the book says: A man, a time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History. If you like books like this, it may be a book to read. The beach at lunch today was fine, that is except for the gusty trade winds that caused lots of foamy whitecaps, and chased folks off the beach in places this afternoon. The strongest wind gust I saw was the 48 mph at Maalaea Bay! My body loosened up today, after my ocean swim, considering all the surfboard and kayak paddling I did this past weekend. I hope you have a great Monday night, along with an invitation to meet me here again early Tuesday morning for the next completely updated weather narrative, jam packed with the latest weather news about this pending wet weather coming our way soon. Aloha for now…Glenn.