August 4-5 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 84F
Honolulu, Oahu – 87
Kaneohe, Oahu – 85
Kahului, Maui – 88
Hilo, Hawaii – 84
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 87

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

KANEOHE, OAHU – 79
HILO AIRPORT – 70


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:

 
0.74 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.12 KAWAILOA, OAHU
0.03 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.17 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
0.67 PIIHONUA, BIG ISLAND
 

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a moderately strong 1033 millibar high pressure system located far to the NNE of our islands. This high pressure center, with its associated ridge, will keep blustery trade winds blowing across our area through Sunday.  Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those weather symbols mean on the map.

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
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Aloha Paragraphs


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 Hawaiian Skies
Photo Credit: flikr.com
 

The trade winds are definitely stronger than normal here in Hawaii now. This is thanks to a steep pressure gradient across the islands, between a high pressure system to our NNE, and low pressure located to our south. This blustery reality will remain in place today into the weekend. As usual, the early mornings are the least windy, which makes the beaches most user friendly then.  The later mornings through the afternoons will find lots of white caps on the ocean, and the coconut palm fronds bent over away from these very breezy trade winds.

The overlying atmosphere has been dry the last few days in most areas. This dry reality will take a turn back towards normal as we move into the weekend. The most frequent and generous showers will fall along the windward coasts and slopes. The leeward sides will remain dry, although the gusty trade winds may carry a few showers over there from the windward sections. The wild card remains the leftover moisture from former tropical cyclone Fabio. When and if the northern fringe of what’s left of that cloud field, would arrive Saturday night into Sunday.


Hawaii continues to see larger than normal surf breaking along our south and west facing beaches. These warm water waves are a real treat for all the folks who love to ride this surf, which by the way was generated over a week ago down in the southern hemisphere near New Zealand.  More south and SSW swells will continue to arrive, which will keep this fun surf around through the rest of this week. Storminess has eased downunder this week, so that smaller surf will be on tap for next week.

It’s early Friday morning here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative.  As noted above, the strong and gusty trade winds are the dominant weather feature in the Hawaiian Island weather picture now, no doubt about it! Here on Maui during the afternoon yesterday, there was dust filling the central valley, whipped up from the sugar cane fields. The ocean surface was all frothed-up too, with white caps galore. The palm trees were bent over under the influence of all this "air in a hurry." This year, if it’s not one thing it’s another, with our weather circumstances swinging from one unusual occurrence to another it seems. It’s like the whole planet’s weather patterns are in flux now. At any rate, the islands will still have some of the best weather around, so no big problem here! I hope you have a great Friday, I’ll be back later today with more weather updates then. Aloha for now…Glenn.

I want to highlight another of the great advertisers on my website today, this time its Activities on Maui. "Imagine how much better your vacation would be if you had a friend who lived here on Maui! They would give you advice about the best places to go to avoid the crowds. They would tell you the activities that were really worth doing. They would give you directions to hidden waterfalls. They would recommend restaurants that the locals know are good.  Well, that is exactly why we are here! We don’t have customers … we have friends who come to visit. Let us share the spirit of ALOHA with you on your next vacation."