Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs

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

Lihue, Kauai – 80F
Honolulu, Oahu – 81
Kaneohe, Oahu – 77
Kahului, Maui – 86
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 84

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1032 millibar high pressure system to our north. This pressure configuration will cause mostly light-moderately strong trade winds to blow Monday and Tuesday. 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

The Hawaiian Islands remain under a canopy of high and middle level clouds Sunday, although there will be breaks in the cloud cover in places today…allowing sunshine to break through at times. Some of the ingredients are still in place to keep our overlying atmosphere somewhat shower prone. Those meteorological elements include: lots of tropical moisture; cold air aloft; and favorably inclined winds. These conditions will keep the threat of a few showers around Sunday. The NWS forecast office in Honolulu has a flash flood watch back up for Niihau, Kauai and Oahu. So that there’s a continued chance of showers, although less and less likely now.

A low pressure system, the one that has been out to our west for so long, is starting to play a smaller part in our Hawaiian Island weather picture now. The prospect for improving weather conditions is steadily developing. The latest computer forecast models show that we begin more quickly digging out of this inclement weather pattern now, as we move forward from here. There are still some showers to move through, although after the weekend, and as the trade winds return now, we should be looking at a return to more typical early spring weather conditions just up ahead. As those trade winds return, we may see showers passing along the windward coasts and slopes for a few days.

Looking at the latest satellite image I see some fairly well developed cumulus clouds in our area, although offshore at the moment. Radar too shows some pretty good showers falling over the ocean out there. This suggests that there is still a threat of showers in the forecast, occurring just about anywhere. The latest word from the models is that our long lasting trough of low pressure will be moving away, only to be replaced with yet another one. This will have the influence of causing perhaps wet trade winds along our windward sections. Hopefully, the leeward sides will see more sunshine, and with much less the threat of showers going forward.

It’s early Sunday evening here in Kula, Maui. I feel the warm sunshine on my bare back, with the air temperature inside my weather tower at the moment, 620pm…69.8F degrees. There were many towering cumulus clouds that formed during the day, some of them sparked thunder. A friend and I kayaked out into the ocean south of Makena. We saw lots of colorful fish, and greatly enjoyed being out of doors on such a nice day. The weather has finally broken back into a more pleasant reality, or at least almost has. There have been some heavy duty thunderstorms popping-up in several places today. As I glance over towards the West Maui Mountains, I see a major thunderstorm raging over the slopes there. A friend called me, who lives near the banks of the Iao Stream, and told me the water is flooding out of the mountains, but at the moment staying well within its bounds. The “road ahead” looks favorably inclined from a weather perspective. We still have to get through tonight however, with the threat of thunderstorms back in the forecast. The trade winds are blowing, and will remain active through the rest of this work week at least. I love this weather! I’ll be back early Monday morning with the next narrative update. Have a great night, Aloha for now…Glenn.

p.s. I can’t help but get back online and talk a little about the thick fog bank that has started blowing in. I walked out on the weather deck in bare feet, although with a red turtle neck on, long pants…and was breathing in the watery cloud droplets. It dropped visibilities incredibly, with just the close-by scenery in sight. The banana fronds are making this little sound, and the wind chimes are singing sweetly in the moisture laden breeze. It’s like being inside a cloud, which is one of favorite things. I just heard a cock pheasant call out from the pasture down the hill. The fog is glowing the most incredible red right now, as the high clouds way up there reflect the last sunrays of the day. It has been a most pleasant day, and my new computer, including the new editing tool, is working like a charm. I’m happy!