April 3-4 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 80F
Honolulu, Oahu – 81
Kaneohe, Oahu – 79
Kahului, Maui – 85
Hilo, Hawaii – 78
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 84

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

Lihue, Kauai – 73
Hilo airport – 67

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:

2.71 MT WAIALAELAE, KAUAI
0.18 POAMOHO 2, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.22 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
0.71 GLENWOOD, BIG ISLAND

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 trade winds are blowing through the coconut palm trees again now
 

The Hawaiian Islands are punching back into a more normalized trade wind weather pattern now. These trade winds will blow thanks to a moderately strong 1032 millibar high pressure system, stationed far north of here now. These trade winds will blow in the light to moderately strong range, with wind speeds ranging between about 5-25 mph in general. The latest computer forecast models indicate that these breezy trades will continue to blow for quite a while…gaining some strength during the second half of the week.

There’s still some atmospheric destabilizing low pressure around the Aloha state today, as there was during this past weekend. The direct influence of this upper low pressure trough will keep whatever clouds that are around, slightly more shower prone than usual. This past weekend saw large towering cumulus clouds, and even some thunderstorms firing off too. This trough is in the process of moving away, but will still be close enough today for the added threat of some localized heavy showers, which occurred over the Big Island slopes.

This long lasting trough will have departed our area by Tuesday for the most part, allowing a break in the showery weather. This will set the stage for several days of good weather, especially along the leeward south and west coasts of the islands. The windward sides will likely find just the usual passing showers, brought in by the moderately strong trade winds. This favorably inclined early spring weather pattern will stick around for several days, giving us nice weather…finally! 

The computer forecast models show another trough of low pressure moving over the state, or close to it later in the week. This trough doesn’t appear like it will be one that will make the entire state shower prone though. This next trough should however make for somewhat wetter conditions along the windward coasts and slopes across the Hawaiian Islands. The leeward sides, in contrast, shouldn’t see much of this precipitation, and may well remain dry during this period. I’ll keep an eye on this situation, adding more updates as they become available.

It’s early Monday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin today’s Sunset commentary.  Today was a really nice day, with lots of sunshine beaming down in most areas. There were reports of hail on the slopes of the Big Island, but otherwise, fair weather prevailed. Everyone I ran into was exclaiming what a nice day it was! On a personal note, I was thrilled when I started getting emails telling me that folks on the mainland had heard me interviewed on National Public Radio this morning. I was on their Morning Edition program talking about the flooding of late here in the islands. It was kind of cool hearing my voice, and knowing that lots and lots of people across the nation were hearing particulars about how the flooding had been. You folks, the regular readers of this website, already knew all about it of course. I had a lunch meeting at the Seawatch restaurant in Wailea, so wasn’t able to get to the beach today. Therefore, I’ll be looking forward to getting back into my daily routine Tuesday. It’s just before sunset, and warm up here in Kula, and even warmer down near the coasts. The warmest temperature around the state at 6pm Monday evening was the 79F degree reading at Kailua-kona on the Big Island. There’s that special golden glow right now, shining on the walls of my weather tower, just as the sun slips down into a bank of low clouds offshore. I hope you have a great Monday night, and that you’ll plan on joining me here again come Tuesday. Aloha for now…Glenn.

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