July 17-18 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 84F
Honolulu, Oahu – 88
Kaneohe, Oahu – 83
Kahului, Maui – 88
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 86

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

Honolulu, Oahu – 72
Hilo airport – 72

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

0.25 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.07 NUUANU UPPER, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE

0.47 WEST WAILUAIKI , MAUI

0.28 KAMUELA, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure systems located far to the NW and NE of our islands. Meanwhile, the trough associated with former tropical cyclone Bud is located to the NE of the Big Island…which will be moving westward. The winds will be getting lighter today and Wednesday, as the trough blocks the full force of the trade winds. 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

The Hawaiian Islands will continue to see classic summer weather conditions today and Tuesday. The days will remain sunny to partly cloudy in most areas, with seasonably warm to locally hot daytime temperatures near the coasts. The trade winds  will continue blowing, although they are in the process of getting lighter now. There will be some shower activity around, although restricted for the most part to the windward sides of the islands. The leeward sides will be mostly dry, with mostly good weather for just about all outdoor activities.

There is one retired tropical cyclone (Bud) now in the central Pacific. A dissipating tropical cyclone called Carlotta, and a new tropical storm named Daniel, are both active in the eastern Pacific Monday. Former tropical depression Bud, is now just a low level swirl of clouds to the NE of the Big Island. The latest weather charts suggest that what's left of Bud will bring a change to our local weather conditions over the next couple of days. It looks like we will see lighter winds, and sultry tropical air moving into the state, as the old vortex moves by to our north…although whatever showers are associated with this old system will stay to the north of the state. The cooling and refreshing trade winds will clear out that muggy tropical air by this weekend.

It's early Monday morning here in Kula, Hawaii, as I start this last paragraph of today's narrative .  I had a great birthday weekend, full of just the right amount of activity, and then with enough time to rest and relax around the edges of all that fun too. If you had a chance to read the paragraph above, you'll know that we're moving into what looks like some very muggy weather conditions. I had orginally thought that we might have some showers arriving as former tropical cyclone Bud got close. Although it seems now that all we'll get is lighter winds, as Bud blocks the trade wind flow across Hawaii to some extent this week. The eastern Pacific remains active with storms, as the 5th tropical cyclone, which will be attaining hurricane status…is called Daniel. The bottom line is that we have nothing to worry about here in Hawaii, which is always a good to thing. On another note, when I got up this morning, I found the editor that I use to update my webpages on the blink. I'm not able to change the pictures, and the updating process has become more difficult than it was before, as I have to go into the html coding to make changes. So, just to let you know, there may be some irregularities over the next few days. I hope you have a great Monday! I'll be back with more weather updates later today. Aloha for now…Glenn.