Weather Details and Aloha Paragraphs

July 22-23 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 84F
Honolulu, Oahu – 89
Kaneohe, Oahu – 85
Kahului, Maui – 90
Hilo, Hawaii – 86
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 85

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

KANEOHE, OAHU – 78
KAHULUI, MAUI AIRPORT – 71

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

0.03 WAILUA, KAUAI
0.08 MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.01 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
0.06 PUUANAHULU, 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. The influence of the trough of low pressure to our NW will lessen now, allowing strengthening trade 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 (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.

Hawaii has some of the best sunsets!

The Hawaiian Islands will see one more day of lighter than normal trade winds blowing.
These lighter than normal breezes have kept our local atmosphere
feeling pretty hot and locally muggy for the last several days. The
usual July trade wind flow are being interrupted by the presence of an usually deep low pressure system
far to the north. This low has sent its cold front/trough southward in our
direction. This trough has broken the connection (ridge) between two
high pressure systems, one located to the NE and the other to the NW.
The latest weather charts show that the trade winds will start picking
up in strength a little this weekend, and remain active into next week. High and middle level clouds are covering many parts of the islands now, with good
sunrise and sunset colors to see!

Most rain gauges have remained quite dry this past week, although there have been a few showers around in places. Most
of those have been on the light side, although there have been a couple
of occasions when a few briefly heavier showers have fallen over some
of the islands. The softer than normal trade winds now may set the
stage for a few more of those locally heavy showers here and there,
although it certainly won’t be wide spread. As the trade winds return
this weekend, the bias for showers will gradually move back over to the windward
sides of the islands. 

The big weather news remains impressive hurricane Daniel 1500 miles to the east of Hawaii, in the eastern Pacific. It has finally peaked out in strength, and is starting to become more ragged looking according to the lastest satellite images.
As you can see, it is definitely starting to lose its central eye, and the outer bands of clouds are starting to spread out. Winds are still very strong around the center of this fifth
tropical cyclone of the hurricane season in the eastern Pacific…although are now on a downward trend in strength. It was slower to peak in
strength then expected, although is forecast to continue to weaken now into Sunday and beyond. It’s still too early to
know exactly what influence Daniel will have here in the islands late next week. The most recent forecast numbers show that whatever is left of this storm will be much weaker than at the present, when it gets closer to our islands. Daniel remains a storm that warrants close observation, as it is expected to still be a hurricane as it enters our central Pacific waters. At this point, it looks like we would see an increase in showers upon its approach, with the wind speeds then still in question. Here's tracking map for your convenience, to keep you updated on Daniel's progress westward.

It’s early Saturday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I start this sunset commentary.  It was another hot and humid day here in the islands, although the windward sides began to feel the cooling relief of light trade winds that started to blow this afternoon. This is good news, as the trades should strength a little more on Sunday. If you had the time or inclination to read the paragraph above, you will know that hurricane Daniel has finally peaked in strength, and started to dissipate from its very powerful category 4 status. Hawaii is not out of the woods quite yet, although it is with some relief that the forecast numbers coming out of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, are showing lighter winds as we go forward. It will be with interest that we wait to see what this tropical cyclone has in store for us here in the islands. At this point it looks like we could see a definite increase in showers, although the winds are still the wild card as it enters the Hawaiian Island weather picture next week. There is still lots of uncertainty, so we should be watchful, but not taking any drastic measures at this time. I hope you have a great Saturday night, I'll be back first thing Sunday with more information about this situation. Aloha for now…Glenn.