May 24 – 25 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 81F
Honolulu, Oahu – 79
Kaneohe, Oahu – 81
Kahului, Maui – 87
Hilo, Hawaii – 82
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 84

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

Kaneohe, Oahu – 73
Molokai airport – 63

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

0.12 WAILUA, KAUAI
0.57 WILSON TUNNEL, OAHU
0.05 MOLOKAI
0.07 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.35 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
0.52 PAHOA, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1030 millibar high pressure system located to the NE of the islands. This high has a ridge extending SW, located close to the islands now, which will  keep light SE winds blowing through Friday. 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 available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon rising just after sunset for an hour or two! Plus, during the nights and early mornings you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise too…depending upon cloud conditions.

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

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Beautiful sunset in Hawaii



A period of lighter than normal winds will prevail across the Hawaiian Island for the time being. An area of low pressure to the NW of the Aloha state, along with its associated cold front, will keep a high pressure ridge close to our area through Friday. This close proximity of the ridge is what’s keeping the trade winds from blowing, as they normally would this time of year. We’ll see the air flow coming from the ESE or SE over the open ocean. Although as the winds spread around the Big Island and Maui, most of the state will be in a wind shadow…with sea breezes during the days, and land breezes at night.

The sun is directly overhead here in Hawaii now, which is called Lahaina noon. All this insolation (incoming solar radiation), combined with the lighter winds now, will result in the atmosphere feeling very warm…and locally humid. The high temperature in Kahului, Maui hit a very warm 87F degrees Tuesday. Everywhere at sea level, rose to at least 80F degrees Tuesday, and would have been higher were it not for the afternoon cloud cover than limited the maximum temperatures. The nights will be locally cooler than usual, so that overnight temperatures will dip into the 60F’s at most sea level locations.

When the winds get this light, we often call it a convective weather pattern. This means that mornings will often be quite clear, with the sunshine heating up the surface of the islands. This in turn sets up rising air currents, leading to late morning through afternoon cloud developments over and around the mountains. These afternoon cumulus clouds can drop showers, often leaving the coasts quite sunny and dry. This light wind convective pattern will last through Friday, and will give us fairly decent weather conditions…especially along the beaches.

The latest weather models show the low pressure system to our NW moving away by the weekend. This will allow high pressure to build again to the north of the islands. This will bring back the trade winds, blowing in the light to moderately strong range then into next week. As the trades starting blowing, we’ll settle back into a normal trade wind weather pattern. This implies that there will be lots of warm to very warm Hawaiian sunshine around on the leeward beaches. The windward sides of the islands will find the return of passing showers at times…mostly during the night and early morning hours.

It’s early Wednesday evening here in Kula, Maui, just before sunset. It remained quite sunny most of the day down near the ocean, a very nice day indeed. As the day wore on, the clouds stacked-up over and around the mountains, progressively getting darker and more threatening in appearance. As I was driving up the mountain towards Kula, I finally ran into a few sprinkles, although never enough to turn my wiper blades on. The winds were light again today, although there was some relief from the heat, which came in the form of onshore flowing sea breezes…at least right down on the beaches. When I went by the beach at lunch, I could see that the ocean had that lovely bluish green color to it, making it almost irresistable! The sun just poked out of the cloudsjust now, giving a quick blast of yellow sun rays…which are flooding the inside of my weather tower at the moment. A nearby mockingbird, one of my favorite singers in this area, is trilling at least a dozen different tunes. Now my wind chimes are singing out too, it’s quite a nice coming together of all the elements that make this life so interesting. My ping pong table, with the sun shining on it, shows all the rain drops that previously fell, although they have stopped their descent now. Life is good on this Wednesday evening here in Upcountry Maui. I hope you have a lovely Wednesday night, and that you will join me here again early Thursday morning. At that time I’ll have new weather words waiting for you. Aloha for now…Glenn.