June 29-30 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 84F
Honolulu, Oahu – 86
Kaneohe, Oahu – 83
Kahului, Maui – 85
Hilo, Hawaii – 80
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 86

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

Honolulu, Oahu – 77
Hilo, Big Island – 71

Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours (as of Friday 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.

Aloha Paragraphs

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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 4th 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.