July 13-14 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 84F
Honolulu, Oahu – 87
Kaneohe, Oahu – 84
Kahului, Maui – 86
Hilo, Hawaii – 80
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 85

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

Honolulu, Oahu – 76
Hilo airport – 69

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:

1.04 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.19 NUUANU UPPER, OAHU
0.04 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.26 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
0.38 KAMUELA UPPER, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1032 millibar high pressure system located far to the NW of our islands, moving away westward. The winds Friday will be getting lighter…continuing in that direction Saturday. The small craft advisory is active across a more limited part of the Hawaiian waters now. 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 (where Hawaii is) runs from June 1 through November 30. The latest storm information for the eastern Pacific can be found by clicking here. A storm tracking map for both the central and eastern areas can be found by clicking here . For the central Pacific, the latest storm information can be found by clicking here.

Aloha Paragraphs

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Sea turtle in the coral reef 
photo credit: flikr.com

 

The trade winds continue to be the primary weather element in our Hawaiian Island weather picture now. High pressure to the NNW remains in place, spinning-out locally strong and gusty trade winds, although not everywhere. The small craft wind advisory is still active across most of the Aloha state. The expectation is that the winds will be coming down in strength as we move into the upcoming weekend. They won’t be going away completely by any means, although should be back to more normal realms as we move into the Saturday and Sunday time frame. The windy weather of late has had a positive influence, as it’s been able to temper and moderate the hot afternoon temperatures near sea level.

Rainfall has been rather scant in most areas, especially along the leeward coasts. The windward sides have had a few passing showers in contrast, although not all that much. The windward side of the Big Island has continued to have more than the other windward sections, as is often the case during the summer months. The Kona coast on the Big Island has had its fair share of late afternoon or evening showers too. The showers may increase some a touch as we move into early next week, although not all the computer models agree on that…so we should wait and see what develops in that regard over the next several days. All things considered, our local weather will be just fine, and actually quite normal for this summer period.

The big news continues to come from the eastern Pacific, where we have two hurricanes spinning. We have hurricane’s Bud and Carlotta located well east of the Hawaiian Islands. They will both be weakening rather abruptly over the next 2-3 days, and neither one poses a direct threat to Hawaii. The closest one, Bud, will be dissipating from a hurricane down through the tropical storm stage, back into a much weaker tropical depression before moving into our central Pacific. I’m not worrying about this tropical cyclone, although we may eventually receive some passing showers from whatever clouds that may be left, if the remnant circulation gets close enough next week. Carlotta will be going through a downward trend in strength too, with nothing to worry about from that storm either. Here’s a tracking map for you to see all the action.

It’s early Thursday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I start this sunset commentary. I would have written earlier, but the skies over most of Maui were so completely clear of clouds, including the entire Haleakala Crater (literally), that there was too much late in the day sunshine beaming into my weather tower to see the computer screen very well. It was one of those afternoons, one of those amazingly cloud free times, that I'm sure even the most uninterested weather observer would have took notice! It's just now sunset, as I was waiting for the sun to sink down below the very few shallow clouds overlying the West Maui Mountains. At the beach today, during my lunch break, the ocean was super clear, with the most outstanding bluish green colors. As I finished my swim in the warm ocean, I saw a sea turtle swimming by just offshore, thus the inspiration to show a turtle above. I've been going back and forth about letting you folks know that Friday the 14th of July is my birthday. I guess I just decided in the moment…I tell you everything else, so why not that I suppose! At any rate, life is good now, despite all the bad news we see happening around the world, at least in terms of the fighting going on in so many places. I despair at the seemingly casual loss of human life, it is a difficult reality to embrace. I hope you have a pleasant Thursday night, and that you will join me here again early on my birthday for the next in line weather narrative from paradise. Aloha for now…Glenn.


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