July 7-8 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 85F
Honolulu, Oahu – 87
Kaneohe, Oahu – 84
Kahului, Maui – 85
Hilo, Hawaii – 81
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 84

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

Kaneohe, Oahu – 77
Molokai airport – 73

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:

0.20 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.29 MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.03 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
1.03 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
0.93 MOUNTAIN VIEW, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure systems located far to the WNW and NE of our islands. Low pressure systems traveling along in the middle latitudes will help to keep the ridge between these two anticyclones a little further south than it has been, but with only slightly lighter winds the result today into Saturday. 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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Can’t you just feel that soft warm air?!
Photo credit: flikr.com

A pleasant trade wind weather pattern will continue into the foreseeable future. A well established high pressure ridge remains anchored to the north of Hawaii, keeping a moderately strong flow of cooling and refreshing trade winds active over the Aloha state. A small craft advisory covers those windiest areas around Maui and the Big Island. The latest computer forecast models continue to point out an increase in our wind speeds later this coming weekend, into the middle of next week. This would push the winds into the locally strong category, which would extend the small craft advisory across the rest of the state…at least covering all the major channels between the islands. The trade winds will continue blowing through the next week at least.

After a little flurry of showers along the windward sides a couple of days ago, dry weather has returned in some places. The Big Island and Maui have had more precipitation falling than elsewhere in the state, both along the windward sides…and over and near the Kona coast too. There aren’t expected to be any major changes in this regime, with those passing showers falling along those north and east facing coasts and slopes. The leeward sides, other than in Kona that is, will remain nice and sunny during the days, with fair skies at night. The overall general outlook remains favorable, with just that increase in trade wind speeds later this weekend as the standout. Weather conditions will stick pretty close to our climatological norm for the time being.

It’s early Friday morning as I begin this last paragraph of today’s narrative. Kula, Maui is so quiet this morning, even the roosters are taking a break for the moment. It’s so quiet in fact that I just had the thought to light a stick of incense…which I did. The smoke is curling upwards in the office corner of this weather tower, and smells nice. The air temperature is 54.9F degrees at 515am, at this 3,100 foot elevation, which seems pretty typical for this time of year. I like it when the temperatures dip into the lower to middle 50F’s at night, which is perfect for sleeping under a down comforter. I usually push it down a little when I go to sleep, and often pull it back up in the early morning hours. // I just got an email from the person who is interviewing me for the Hawaii Magazine article (on the topic of Hawaii Weather) he is writing. He wants to go up the mountain with me while I skateboard after work, so we can talk about what makes weather work here in the tropics. // At lunch I’ll be going to the Sea Watch restaurant in Wailea, with a group of co-workers, which will be a little something different. I won’t be able to sneak in my beach walk and swim, although I don’t mind too much, as it’s been so hot lately anyway. Yesterday’s high temperature in Kihei was 93F degrees! I guess I’d better finish this off now, as I want to get out on the road for my early morning walk, which I enjoy quite a bit. I’ll be back later with more weather updates. I hope you have a great Friday! Aloha for now…Glenn.


I’d like to highlight the next advertising link on the left hand margin of all the pages on this website. This time it’s Shot from Above, which has for sale beautiful aerial Photography by – Chris Dahl Bredine. Chris lives in New Mexico, traveling to Maui often for some of the water sports activities he loves here in the islands. Most of the photo’s are of the mainland, however they are of excellent quality, and a visit to his website makes for an inspiring experience!