Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs

March 24-25 2006

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across Hawaii Friday:

Lihue, Kauai – 81F
Honolulu, Oahu – 78
Kaneohe, Oahu – 82
Kahului, Maui – 83
Hilo, Hawaii – 81
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 78

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a low pressure system to the NW of the islands, with its associated trough to our west. This will keep mostly light winds around, tending SW to south, locally quite breezy. 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 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…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


What fun exploring the beach!
Photo: Douglas Peebles

The pesky low pressure system to the NW of Hawaii, along with its associated trough of low pressure to our west…is keeping the islands shower prone. This low and trough continues to pump deep tropical moisture over the Aloha state from the deeper tropics to our south and SW. This threat of locally heavy rainfall is serious enough…that the NWS forecast in Honolulu has extended the flash flood watch for the entire state through late Saturday.

The heaviest rains of late have shifted from Kauai and Oahu, down over the south central islands in the chain recently. This put Lanai, Molokai and Maui under the wettest portion of the inclement weather conditions Thursday night. The largest rainfall total, as of early Friday morning, was the overly generous 8.36″ at Mahinahina, a small community on the upper west side of Maui. Speaking of Maui, there were very heavy duty thunderstorms that fired off during the night, with spectacular lightning displays!

The latest weather maps and computer forecast models are indicating, that this unsettled weather producing trough to our west, will remain stuck in place for a while longer. This is not good news, as while it is there, the threat of rain, some locally heavy, will continue. We thought we might see some easing of the precipitation threat this weekend, although now, that hopeful sign is fading. As a matter of fact, the models show this trough parked out to our west through the weekend into Monday.

The counterclockwise winds, in relation to the trough, will keep kona winds blowing across our area. These winds are warm, and moisture laden. They have generally been quite light, although there have been stronger breezes in places too. There are no marine warnings or advisories in place currently. The atmosphere remains unstable enough, that we may very well see more thunderstorm cells forming. In addition, there have been numerous reports of waterspouts over the nearby ocean…which are simply tornadoes that form over water. It’s been windy atop the Big Island summits, with a wind advisory active up there Friday.

It’s early Friday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I start this sunset commentary.  I had a plan to see a new film this evening after work, but then glanced at the latest satellite image. What I saw changed the course of the plan, and I immediately high-tailed it back home. I’ll add this radar image too, so you can see the nature of what is heading my way. Of course by the time you read this, it may have come and gone already. At any rate the NWS just put out a severe thunderstorm warning for Maui, Oahu and the Big Island. This means that there could be strong and gusty winds, hail, and heavy flooding rainfall. I figured that I didn’t want to miss all this, sitting inside a movie theater. So here I am, whipping out this commentary, so I can get out on my weather deck, and observe this thing coming in. I have a whale watching kayak trip planned for Saturday morning, which I’m very much looking forward to as well. I went to the beach at lunch today, and it was totally sunny for a change! The water was SO INCREDIBLY NICE, and I enjoyed bodysurfing a few small breaking waves. Ok, that’s it for now, unless it hails or something, and I can’t resist getting back online to tell you all about it later. Otherwise, I’ll be back Saturday morning with the next updated narrative. Aloha for now…Glenn.

p.s. I’m delighted with the response to all the businesses who have added their links to the left hand margin on all my webpages! I’d like to suggest that you check them out, as they offer valuable services and products. I want to highlight them individually over the next couple of weeks, with today’s business being Lani Kai…a brand new, fully remodeled, luxury vacation condo ideally located in sunny South Maui adjacent to some of Hawaii’s most beautiful beaches. Lani Kai, or “Heavenly Ocean” in Hawaiian, is your luxurious home base for exploring the best that Maui has to offer.

Added Feature: Fact: this website receives between 6,000 and 18,000+ page impressions per day, depending upon the weather and the season. As of early Saturday morning, March’s total count has been 296,867. That’s a lot of folks looking at all the pages on this site, including the new and useful links on the left hand margin. You can have a link from this popular website, directly to yours. It may be a good way to increase traffic to your own website. This placement on the Links List is available for $50 per month, with a three month minimum. That brings with it three months of possible higher than normal visitors to your business for just $150. My hope is that it will provide an important way that you can increase the presence of your site to lots of internet viewers. It may be a good way to highlight your internet business to folks who have an interest in most things Hawaiian. Please email me, or leave a message in the reply box below, if you have some interest in this proposal. A link to your site will be displayed along the left hand margin of all the pages on this website, in alphabetical order. There is one spot left in this three month quarter. Then in June, I’ll start accepting new businesses again…that is if any of the current businesses decide to drop out. There will be a waiting list started after one more link signs up.