Weather Details and Aloha Paragraphs

July 23-24 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 85F
Honolulu, Oahu – 88
Kaneohe, Oahu – 84
Kahului, Maui – 89
Hilo, Hawaii – 85
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 85

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

KANEOHE, OAHU – 78
HILO AIRPORT – 69

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

0.29 KAPAHI, KAUAI
0.03 WILSON TUNNEL, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.05 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
0.09 LAUPAHOEHOE, 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. These high pressure cells will keep light to moderately strong trade winds blowing through this forecast period. 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.

Ahh, the warm beaches of Hawaii!

The Hawaiian Islands will finally see the return of a more normal trade wind weather pattern. The latest weather charts show that the trade winds will start picking
up in strength a little today into Monday, and remain active into the new week ahead.
These refreshing and cooling breezes will bring relief from the rather hot and muggy weather that has been part of our weather circumstances during the last week.

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. As the trade winds pick now, a few showers will gradually move back over to the windward
sides of the islands. 

Hurricane Daniel remains active some 1000+ miles to the ESE of Hawaii early Sunday evening…in the eastern Pacific. It peaked out in strength late Saturday, and will continue to gradually weaken in strength through the remainder of its life cycle. Looking at this storm Sunday, according to the lastest satellite images, we can see that it's still quite compact in appearance, although has only a faint eyewall. Winds remain
very strong around the center of this fifth
tropical cyclone of the hurricane season in the eastern
Pacific. It’s still too early to
know exactly what influence Daniel will have here in the islands late
in the upcoming week. The latest forecast numbers show that whatever is left
of this storm will be much weaker than at present…when it gets
closer to our islands around next Friday. Daniel remains a storm that warrants close monitoring, as it's expected to still be a hurricane as it enters our
central Pacific waters soon. At this point, it looks like we would see an
increase in showers upon its approach, with the wind speeds then still the wild card…although at the moment it looks like Daniel will still be a tropical storm as it gets into the island area! Here's tracking map for your convenience, to keep you updated on Daniel's progress westward.

It’s early Sunday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I start this sunset commentary. I had such a good surfing experience early this morning over on the Lahaina side! It was glassy, with great little waves breaking, along with a very mellow crowd. I surfed for just under two hours, and then hightailed it right back up to Kula for the rest of the day. I so much enjoyed the rest of this relaxed day, with weather that was so very nice. I suggest you keep in touch with the information you find in the paragraph above through the next week, as we have a situation that is very unusual now. It's rare to have a tropical storm forecast to enter the Hawaiian Islands, and as you can see from the track map, it runs right over Maui. Personally, I'm not worried, as these storms often have a way of changing course as they get closer. Tropical cyclone Daniel, another hurricane back in the year 2000 did almost the very same thing, ran right up on our doorstep, and then veered off to the NW with no damage to our islands. I'll be back very early Monday morning with the next narrative, and all the latest news about hurricane Daniel then. Aloha for now… Glenn.