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

0.19 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.06 MANOA VALLEY, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.02 KAHAKULOA, MAUI
0.07 KEALAKEKUA, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a moderately strong 1029 millibar high pressure system far to the NNW of our islands. This pressure configuration will keep moderate to locally fresh trade winds blowing today through Saturday…strongest during the afternoons as usual. 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.

Tropical Cyclone Activity – The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30…while the central Pacific runs from June 1 through November 30. The latest storm information for eastern Pacific can be found by clicking here. A storm tracking map can be found by clicking here. For the central Pacific, the latest information can be found by clicking here.

Beautiful Hawaii…
Photo credit: flikr.com

A dry and stable trade wind flow across the islands will keep favorable weather conditions in place now. A moderately strong high pressure system, remains anchored in place far to the NNW of Kauai. This trade wind generating high pressure cell will keep 10-25 mph trades going for the most part, with some of the stronger gusts topping the 30 mph mark in those windiest spots around the Aloha state. Despite the presence of clouds around in places, they won’t be active rain makers. As a matter of fact, dry weather will prevail right on through the rest of the week. The few showers that do manage to fall will be most active along the windward coasts and slopes. The leeward sides will have dry rain gauges, with the Kona slopes on the Big Islands perhaps finding a few late afternoon sprinkles or light showers. This positive weather outlook will remain active through the upcoming 4^th of July holiday…and likely beyond.

It’s summer here in the tropics, and as such, our days, and nights too, will remain nothing but warm. It will take going well up in elevation to find cooler air. Speaking of which, at the moment, here in Kula, Maui, at the 3,000+ level, it’s 54F degrees at 5am Thursday morning. At the same time, the summit of the Haleakala Crater was reporting 48F degrees. Heading back down to sea level, the major airport weather stations were registering between 72F and 77F degrees in contrast. On the other end of the temperature spectrum, high temperatures will rebound well up into the 80F’s just about everywhere near the ocean. Some of the very warmest places, like Kihei and Lahaina on Maui, will have maximum temperatures ranging into the lower 90F’s. To round out the picture, the local near shore ocean temperatures are in the upper 70F’s now. This warm to very warm reality will stick around through the rest of the summer, into the early autumn time frame.

It’s early Thursday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin today’s sunset commentary. The truth is that someone is using a power washer on a house just down the way, and the noise is so annoying, that I can hardly think! Even after a lunch time ocean swim this afternoon, and how mellow that left me feeling, this noise is making me rather uptight. I’m going to sign off now, go downstairs and turn on some music to drown it out. I hope you have a great Thursday night, and I’ll meet you in the quiet of early Friday morning with the next narrative. Aloha for now…Glenn.

The last two spots on the advertising list have been filled for this summer period. This section of my website will open up again in September, if you would like to add your link then, please let me know so I can put your business on the waiting list…just in case there may be a few openings then. I want to thank those businesses (new and old) who are now a part of the Hawaii Weather Today team…I will be highlighting each of them individually soon. They are all good folks, and are supporting my efforts in keeping these pages updated daily, so please check out their sites and support them for supporting you and I both.

0.41 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.02 HAKIPUU MAUKA, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.00 MAUI
0.06 KAMUELA UPPER, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1032 millibar high pressure system far to the NNW of our islands. This pressure configuration will keep moderate to locally fresh trade winds blowing today through Friday…strongest during the afternoons as usual. 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.

Tropical Cyclone Activity – The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30…while the central Pacific runs from June 1 through November 30. The latest storm information for eastern Pacific can be found by clicking here. A storm tracking map can be found by clicking here. For the central Pacific, the latest information can be found by clicking here.

The best of both worlds, salty and fresh water…
Photo credit: flikr.com

The Hawaiian Islands will continue to see near normal weather conditions now, with the trade winds blowing steadily. High pressure located far to the north, with an elongated zone of low pressure to our south, will keep the pressure gradient sufficiently steep across the Aloha state for moderate to fresh winds. These winds are strong enough around some parts of Maui and the Big Island, that a small craft wind advisory is active now. The latest computer forecast models show this early summer trade wind flow continuing through the next week at least. Once we move into the month of July, the trade winds on average blow 95% of the time, increasing from 91% during June.

Meanwhile, the overlying atmosphere over Hawaii remains rather dry and stable. This suggests that the leeward sides of the islands will be mostly sunny to partly sunny during the days, and fair at night. The one exception will be for afternoon cloudiness with a few showers along the Kona slopes of the Big Island. The windward sides will find a few passing showers, which will have a tendency to fall during the cooler night and early morning hours as usual. These showers will not amount to much, as we continue to see relatively dry conditions prevailing through the rest of the week. This is all very common, as late June and early July often exhibit some of the driest weather of the year.

It’s early Wednesday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I start writing today’s sunset commentary. It’s been another soft and gentle day here in paradise. Whatever clouds that have been around have mostly been, almost exclusively dry ones. The sun was warm to very warm, depending upon what elevation one found themselves. The sea level locations were of course where the very warmest temperatures occurred, while up here in Kula, in what is called upcountry, the temperatures never even reached 80F degrees, although it did attain 77F degrees…which is warm for up here at this 3,000+ level. I’m listening to Manao Radio online (broadcast from here in Wailuku, Maui), which is a good station, playing a great collection of varying types of music. The disc jockey just came back on the air, so I turned the volume down for a second, and my wind chimes are filling the space, which are so sweet! I trust you will have a great Wednesday night, and that perhaps you may find the time to visit this website again on Thursday. Aloha for now…Glenn.

The last two spots on the advertising links have been filled for this summer period. This part of my webpage will open up again in September, if you would like to add your link then, please let me know so I can put your business on the waiting list…just in case there may be a few openings then. I want to thank those businesses (new and old) who are now a part of the Hawaii Weather Today team…I will be highlighting each of them individually soon. They are all good folks, and are supporting my efforts in keeping these pages updated daily, so please check out their sites and support them for supporting you and I both.

 

0.49 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.08 MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.01 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
0.20 KAMUELA UPPER, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure systems generally far to the north of our islands. This pressure configuration will keep moderate to locally fresh trade winds blowing today through Thursday…strongest during the afternoons as usual. 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.

Tropical Cyclone Activity – The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30…while the central Pacific runs from June 1 through November 30. The latest storm information for eastern Pacific can be found by clicking here. A storm tracking map can be found by clicking here. For the central Pacific, the latest information can be found by clicking here.

Young hula dancers
Photo credit: flikr.com

The Hawaiian Islands are moving back into a normal trade wind weather pattern, after several days of lighter than normal winds, along with some unusual early summer showers. The low pressure system that provided these uncommon conditions, now to the NW of Hawaii, continues to move away. We find light to moderately strong trade winds filling in behind the departing low. The expectation is that these trade winds will blow through the rest of this month, into the early part of July. Our weather will be quite nice, with lots of sunshine, although Tuesday finds quite a lot of sun dimming and filtering high level cirrus clouds around…which will move away later today or by Wednesday. This cirrus cloudiness will set the stage for colorful sunrise and sunset colors!

At lower levels of the atmosphere, satellite imagery shows at least some cloudiness riding in on the returning trade wind flow. Radar pictures however indicates that most of those clouds are dry ones, with just a few scattered showers falling here and there…focused most intently on the windward coasts and slopes. This rather dry reality, which is typical for this time of year, will prevail through the rest of this work week. The leeward sides should be dry and sunny well into the future, again once these high clouds move away.

It’s early Tuesday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin today’s sunset commentary. The high clouds that I wrote about in this morning’s narrative stuck around all day, which filtered and dimmed our Hawaiian sunshine in an on and off manner . The extent and coverage seems to have increased during the second half of the day, which typically paves the way for a gorgeous sunset…that is if it doesn’t get too thick. The winds came up during the afternoon hours in Kihei, just about the time I got there during my lunch break. There were white caps on the ocean surface, but it never got too out of hand, with no blowing sand while I was there. The water felt a little cooler today than it did yesterday, just because of the returned trade winds. It’s getting close to sunset up here in Kula, although it will be later down near the ocean in Wailea/Kihei, and on over on the Lahaina side. I hope you have a great Tuesday night, and might consider stopping by for another visit on Wednesday, when a new narrative, and of course new pictures will be here waiting for you. Aloha for now…Glenn.

By the way, all but two of the businesses who had advertising links on my site during the spring months, have remained active during this new three month summer period. One of those two will be coming back this winter, when the tax season spins-up again then. I just counted the number of links, and there is room for two more businesses to join the ranks on the left hand margin of all the pages, and there are lots of them. I’m going to open the registration period up again through these last few days of June, and then it will be closed until September. I want to thank those businesses (new and old) who are now a part of the Hawaii Weather Today team…I will be highlighting each of them individually soon. They are all good folks, and are supporting my efforts in keeping these pages updated daily, so please check out their sites and support them for supporting you and I both.

 

0.49 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.17 MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.08 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
0.20 KAMUELA UPPER, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure systems generally to the north of our islands. An upper level trough of low pressure continues moving away, so that the trade winds are filling in behind now…with trade winds blowing through Wednesday and beyond. 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.

Tropical Cyclone Activity – The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30…while the central Pacific runs from June 1 through November 30. The latest storm information for eastern Pacific can be found by clicking here. A storm tracking map can be found by clicking here. For the central Pacific, the latest information can be found by clicking here.

So beautiful!
Photo credit: flikr.com

An unusual trough of low pressure kept our weekend weather rather muggy and shower prone. The unusual aspect was that this area of low pressure kept our trade winds blowing at a bare minimum. As a matter of fact, the trade winds disappeared completely in some places, making for sultry conditions near sea level. I wouldn’t call what happened rare, although I would go so far as to call it unusual, barely staying out of the very unusual realm! The trade winds typically blow almost all the time during a normal June, making for rather interesting conditions both Saturday and Sunday.

The trough of low pressure, which cut off our trade winds, is now migrating westward, and should be out of our area by Tuesday. The Big Island, and the islands of Maui County, will find the trade winds returning later today. This will start to bring relief from the muggy conditions of late, as the cooling and refreshing trade wind breezes fill back into the eastern side of the island chain. The islands of Oahu and Kauai will have to wait until Tuesday for this to happen. The latest computer forecast models suggest that the trades will stick around through the rest of June, into the first part of July…at least.

We saw another influence from the trough as well, which turned out to be some locally heavy showers. Both weekend days started off nicely, with beautiful sunny mornings prevailing just about everywhere. As the sun got higher in the sky however, clouds started to form over and around the mountains, which spread down to the coasts locally. The presence of the relatively cold air aloft, associated with the trough, made those clouds pretty shower prone in many areas. The islands of Kauai and Oahu had the most precipitation, with a couple of the wetter areas there receiving one to near two inch amounts. As the trough moves away, our weather will settle back into a more normal state for this time of year, with just those usual passing showers along the windward sides.

It’s early Monday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin today’s sunset commentary. Let me start off by saying that the Kahului airport, here on Maui, reached 91F degrees for a high temperature today. That may sound hot, and I’m sure it felt hot to folks there, although it fell short of the record high temperature for the date by two degrees. The beaches in Kihei and Lahaina reached at least that level, and may have topped it by a degree. I had a chance to go to the beach at lunch, and it was simply great. You know, when you get in the ocean during the winter months, you sort of hesitate when your foot reaches the water, because it feels cool at first. Well, now, at least today, when my foot touched the water, my first thought was “it feels warm.” There wasn’t much wind, and with the hot air temperatures, it was such a pleasure to dip into those, what I call, healing waters. I’ve been invited next door for dinner, so I’d best be getting on over there, I hope you have a great Monday night! I’ll be back early Tuesday morning with your next new narrative. Aloha for now…Glenn.

By the way, all but two of the businesses who had advertising links on my site during the spring months, have remained active during this new three month summer period. One of those two will be coming back this winter, when the tax season spins-up again then. I just counted the number of links, and there is room for two more businesses to join the ranks on the left hand margin of all the pages, and there are lots of them. I’m going to open the registration period up again through these last few days of June, and then it will be closed until September. I want to thank those businesses (new and old) who are now a part of the Hawaii Weather Today team…I will be highlighting each of them individually soon. They are all good folks, and are supporting my efforts in keeping these pages updated daily, so please check out their sites and support them for supporting you and I both.

1.15 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
1.92 WAIHEE PUMP, OAHU
0.15 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.25 HAIKU, MAUI
0.44 PIIHONUA, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure systems located far to the NE, north and NW of our islands. An upper level low has dug southward over the islands, with it’s associated trough over the islands. This trough is moving west and filling, so that the trade winds will return later today into 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 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.

Tropical Cyclone Activity – The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30…while the central Pacific runs from June 1 through November 30. The latest storm information for eastern Pacific can be found by clicking here. A storm tracking map can be found by clicking here. For the central Pacific, the latest information can be found by clicking here.

We’ve been having what could be considered fairly normal weather for this time of year here in the Hawaiian Islands for the last couple of weeks.The month of June is known for its breezy trade winds, very warm temperatures near sea level, and relatively dry conditions. 2006 has not been a normal year in terms of weather though, with fairly lwide swings away from what we would consider our climatological averages. The computer forecast models, for the last week, have been hinting that we would be entering into another of those shifts back towards unusual now…which has manifested as predicted.

It’s early Sunday morning here in Kula, Maui, as I begin this last paragraph of today’s narrative. The day has begun quite clearly, which is typical for the modified convective weather pattern we have going on now. The daytime heating of the islands will more than likely cause towering cumulus to develop during the afternoons. It wouldn’t surprise me to see at least a few briefly heavy showers fall from the bases of those heavy duty clouds here and there. The focus for these showers will probably be over the interior sections of the islands, although not everywhere even there, will get wet. The sunset Saturday evening was spectacular, and with still some shreads of those middle level clouds around, there are some bright pink and orange tidbits up there lighting up now just before sunrise. I have to pick up a friend from the airport at 530pm this evening, so depending upon when I get back, after dropping him off in Haiku, I might be back with a few more words, that, or else early Monday morning. Aloha for now…Glenn.

0.25 LIHUE, KAUAI
0.14 WAIHEE PUMP, OAHU
0.01 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
1.61 ULUPALAKUA, MAUI
0.34 MOUNTAIN VIEW, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure systems located far to the NE and NW of our islands. These high pressure cells have lost their connecting ridge now, as low pressure to Hawaii’s north breaks through, sending a trough of low pressure down over the islands…with light wind speeds today into Monday. 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.

Tropical Cyclone Activity – The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30…while the central Pacific runs from June 1 through November 30. The latest storm information for eastern Pacific can be found by clicking here. A storm tracking map can be found by clicking here. For the central Pacific, the latest information can be found by clicking here.

Kula, Maui Mockingbird in a tree top

We’ve been having what could be considered fairly normal weather for this time of year here in the Hawaiian Islands for the last couple of weeks.The month of June is known for its breezy trade winds, very warm temperatures near sea level, and relatively dry conditions. 2006 has not been a normal year in terms of weather though, with fairly large swings away from what we would consider our climatological averages. The computer forecast models, for about the last week, have been hinting that we would be entering into another of those shifts back towards unusual this weekend…which seems to be manifesting as predicted.

Those weather models have forecast a low pressure system developing to the north of the state, which we now see on the current weather charts and satellite imagery. This area of low pressure has broken through our trade wind generating ridge of high pressure, which has been the connecting point between two high pressure cells to our NW and NE all week. This in turn will cause a softening of our local trade wind speeds through the next several days. The forecast keeps our trade winds lighter than normal through Monday, which will cause our local atmosphere to feel rather muggy, especially down near the beaches. The point here is that it’s unusual to have the trade winds falter like this during this early summer period.

All of this will have some influence in terms of precipitation as well. Recently we’ve seen just the usual few passing showers falling along our windward sides, which is common. As this low pressure system to our north has developed, the trade wind inversion has weakened and lifted in height. This simply means that whatever clouds that around, will be able to grow vertically in a more pronounced manner. Some of the models are suggesting, with unseasonably cold air aloft now, that we could see a few thunderstorms forming. This would be very unusual, in fact what I would call rare for late June! This may or may not happen, although it looks like we could see at least some briefly heavy showers around here and there, mostly over and around the mountains during the afternoon hours.

It’s early Saturday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing a few words, well before sunset. I’m listening to a Moody Blues CD, the one called Seventh Sojourn. When I used to live in Sonoma County, California some 31 years ago, I used to listen to these songs over and over…and over. This morning when I went back to bed after producing the Saturday narrative, I watched a Mockingbird from inside my weather tower, with binoculars, as it sang its heart out, while flittering around the upper branches of a Norfolk Pine. This kept me interested for quite a long time, as his beak kept putting out a near constant series of songs, each so unique. I’m sipping on a nice glass of rich Lake County Zinfandel, adding to the pleasure of being here in paradise. It really is nice to be living here on Maui, truly! I hope you have a great Saturday night here on Maui, or wherever you are in the world. I’ll be back early Sunday with an abbrievated narrative, freshened-up with the latest weather detail and a few words of this and that. Aloha for now…Glenn.

 

0.60 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.07 NUUANU UPPER, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
1.10 ULUPALAKUA, MAUI
0.11 MOUNTAIN VIEW, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure systems located far to the NE and NW of our islands. These high pressure cells have lost their connecting ridge now, as low pressure to Hawaii’s north breaks through…with lowering wind speeds locally as we move through the weekend. 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.

Tropical Cyclone Activity – The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30…while the central Pacific runs from June 1 through November 30. The latest storm information for eastern Pacific can be found by clicking here. A storm tracking map can be found by clicking here. For the central Pacific, the latest information can be found by clicking here.

Aloha Paragraphs


Beautiful Hawaii coast and clouds
Photo: Flikr.com

We’ve been having what could be considered fairly normal weather for this time of year here in the Hawaiian Islands. The month of June is known for its breezy trade winds, very warm temperatures near sea level, and relatively dry conditions. 2006 has flip flopped between normal and unusual weather thus far, with fairly large swings in both directions. The computer forecast models, for about the last week, have been hinting that we would be entering into another of those shifts back towards unusual starting this weekend. Now that we’re almost there, it looks like sure enough, we’ll be seeing some unseasonal weather conditions unfolding.

Those weather models have forecast a low pressure system developing to the north of the state, which we now see on the current weather charts. This area of low pressure will weaken our trade wind generating ridge of high pressure, which has been the connection between two high pressure cells for our NW and NE all week. This in turn will cause a softening of our local trade wind speeds through the next couple of days. The forecast keeps our trade winds lighter than normal through the first part of next week, which will probably cause our local atmosphere to start feeling rather sultry, especially down near the beaches. The point here is that it’s unusual to have the trade winds falter like this during this early summer period.

All of this will have some influence in terms of precipitation as well. Recently we’ve seen just the usual few passing showers falling along our windward sides, which is common. As this low pressure system to our north develops, the trade wind inversion will weaken and lift in height. This simply means that whatever clouds that around, will be able to grow vertically in a more pronounced fashion. Some of the models are suggesting, with colder air aloft, that we could see a few thunderstorms forming. This would be very unusual, in fact what I would call rare for late June! Backing off that extreme though, it looks like we could see some briefly heavy showers around here and there, not only on the windward sides, but also over and around the mountains during the afternoon hours…most notably over the Kauai end of the chain. We can look for the return of normal trade winds again around next Wednesday.

It’s early Friday morning here in Kula, Maui, as I start up on this last paragraph of today’s narrative. It was interesting to be writing about all of that unusual weather above. I couldn’t help but have in the back of my mind, that “this probably won’t happen, how could it during late June?” The thing about it though, is that during 2006 I had that same thought many, many times…and the weather just went ahead and did it anyway…bucking climatology like no ones business! At any rate, the most thin possible crescent moon rose this morning out of the eastern horizon, with Venus shining brightly just to the upper right of the sliver. It’s another perfect looking day here in Maui, with mostly clear skies for early risers. It’s almost the weekend, with just this one last day of work to move through, which is an exciting prospect. I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you happen to be spending it! I’ll be back early Saturday morning with your next narrative updates. Aloha for now…Glenn.

1.22 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.75    MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.07 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.51 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
0.40 PAHOA, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure systems located far to the NE and NW of our islands. These high pressure cells will lose their connecting ridge soon, as low pressure to Hawaii’s north breaks through…with lowering wind speeds locally as we move into the weekend. 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.

Tropical Cyclone Activity – The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30…while the central Pacific runs from June 1 through November 30. The latest storm information for eastern Pacific can be found by clicking here. A storm tracking map can be found by clicking here. For the central Pacific, the latest information can be found by clicking here.

Aloha Paragraphs

Ahhh… the islands!
Photo: Flikr.com

As is usually the case during the month of June, the trade winds will continue to blow across the Aloha state. High pressure centers remained fixed far to the NW and NE, with their associated ridges stretched out between them. The latitudes to the south of this elongated zone of high pressure will be filled with moderate to fresh trade winds for the time being. This will bring the trade winds cooling and refreshing relief from the early summer daytime heat. The latest computer forecast models continue to show an area of low pressure developing to the NNW of Hawaii starting this weekend, which will cause a reduction in our trade wind speeds…continuing into early next week.

Satellite imagery shows just the usual cloud patches being carried in our direction on the trade wind flow. These moisture pockets will continue to bring a few passing showers to the north and east facing windward sides of all the islands through Friday. The overlying atmosphere remains fairly stable, so that nothing unusual is expected in terms of precipitation. The south and west facing leeward sides will remain dry for the most part, with just the Kona coast on the Big Island potentially seeing a few late afternoon or evening showers here and there. The presence of the upper low pressure system, as noted above, may cause an increase in showers along the windward coasts and slopes this weekend.

It’s early Thursday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin today’s sunset commentary. The high cirrus clouds, which spread over the state last night, continued to beautify our Hawaiian skies today. They turned pink at sunrise, and will likely flare-up pinkish orange again at sunset…a little while from now. For various reasons, I’ve not been able to go to the beach at lunch lately. However today I was able to take a walk down at one of my favorite sandy shores, dipping into the warm Pacific. It was fabulous to say the least, as the healing sun and ocean water worked together in their wonderful ways. It’s getting close enough to the weekend now, that I’m starting to think with pleasure about the free time I’ll have from my busy schedule then. I got an email from one of the writers at the Marin Magazine (the county just north of San Francisco), asking me to submit a couple of paragraphs about Hawaii weather for an upcoming publication…which I was happy to do. I’ll let you know when that comes out online if I can. Ok, time to go down and have some pesto pasta, plated with some fresh organic garden salad for dinner. I hope you have a great Thursday night! I’ll be back early Friday morning with your next narrative from paradise. Aloha for now…Glenn.

0.57 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.49 KAWAILOA, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.23 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
1.10 MOUNTAIN VIEW, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure systems located far to the NE and NW of our islands. These high pressure cells, with their connecting ridges, will keep our local trade wind speeds in the moderate to fresh category Thursday, easing back just a little on 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.

Tropical Cyclone Activity – The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30…while the central Pacific runs from June 1 through November 30. The latest storm information for eastern Pacific can be found by clicking here. A storm tracking map can be found by clicking here. For the central Pacific, the latest information can be found by clicking here.

Aloha Paragraphs

Road closed due to a lava flow…Big Island
Photo: Flikr.com

It’s the summer solstice, the official start of summer 2006…not that it hasn’t been feeling like summer for the last month at least, down here in the tropics! We’ll find a pleasant start to our summer season, with the trade winds blowing, and just a few showers falling along the windward coasts and slopes. The leeward sides of the islands, which I often think of as the summer sides of the islands, even during winter, will find lots of very warm sun beaming down during the days. There’s nothing unusual about any of this, which is matching climatology quite well now.

High pressure systems remain anchored to the NW and the NE now, which will be the source of our moderately strong trade wind flow. Winds have been rather gusty this week so far, which has kept the ocean white capped during the days. There was a small craft wind advisory active in the southern part of the state, around Maui and the Big Island…which has been dropped now. The expectations are for the trade winds to continue at more or less the moderately strong levels now, gradually calming down a little as we head into the weekend, then picking up again a little next week.

Whatever showers that have been around, have been mainly restricted to the north and east windward sides. As is often the case, they fall most generously during the cooler night and early morning hours, leaving much the day at least partially sunny. In contrast, the south and west facing leeward beaches have been dry and sunny, which is very normal for this time of year. There doesn’t appear to be anything organized on our weather horizon, although several of the models want to edge the upper trough close enough to Hawaii, that it could trigger some enhancement to our incoming trade wind born showers. It’s still a bit too early to know for sure which way this will go…although the NWS forecast office in Honolulu is leaning towards the dry side of the precipitation spectrum at this point.

It’s early Wednesday morning here in Kula, Maui, as I start this last paragraph of today’s narrative. Besides the usual presence of Venus in the eastern horizon this morning, there’s a beautiful new crescent moon rising. It’s not the most thin crescent I’ve ever seen, but thin enough to qualify as a crescent nonetheless. There’s the usual gray bank of clouds over towards the windward side, towards Makawao, Paia, and Haiku. Swinging around in my chair, I can see that it’s clear down towards Wailea, Kihei, and Lahaina. It’s going to be yet another gorgeous day here on Maui, with the birds around here already chirping their welcoming songs in response. It’s good to be in Hawaii, good to have a roof over my head, food in the kitchen, and a well functioning car to drive to good work as well. I’m feeling fortunate, and with my Dad home and recouperating nicely, life is good! I hope that you are well, and that you will greatly enjoy your day too. Aloha for now…Glenn.