Weather Details and Aloha Paragraphs
Posted by GlennAugust 30-31 2006
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across Hawaii Wednesday:
Lihue, Kauai – 82F
Honolulu, Oahu – 85
Kaneohe, Oahu – 83
Kahului, Maui – 89
Hilo, Hawaii – 84
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 87
Temperatures early Thursday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 4 a.m. hour:
KANEOHE, OAHU – 78
HILO AIRPORT – 70
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours (as of Thursday morning) on each of the major islands:
2.63 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.45 MANOA VALLEY, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.12 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
0.72 MOUNTAIN VIEW, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1029 millibar high pressure center located far to the NE of our islands. This high pressure cell will keep moderately strong trade winds blowing across our area through Friday…strong and gusty during the afternoons locally. 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
The Hana coast of Maui
Photo Credit: flikr.com
Late summer trade winds are now fully in control of weather here in the islands. We find a large area of high pressure centered far to the NNE of the islands at mid-week. This trade wind producing high pressure system is spinning out moderately strong trade winds. These have been on the light side during the early morning hours, then picking up during the rest of the day. Some of the windier areas around the Aloha state are finding strong and gusty proportions during the afternoons. These common trade winds will continue blowing through the rest of this work week…then ease off a little over the weekend.
Rainfall has been rather spare, even on the typically more moist windward sides of the islands. This has left the leeward sides almost completely dry. The one exception is of course the Kona slopes on the Big Island, where we find the typical afternoon or evening showers falling. The windward north and east facing sides have had a few showers, but nothing much even there. This pleasant reality will continue through the work week as well, although with a trough of low pressure edging in our direction, we may see a modest increase in trade wind born showers over the weekend.
The tropical oceans are warm now, which are continuously spawning tropical cyclones. We’ve got a record breaking super typhoon in the western Pacific named Ioke…yes, this is the same storm that started south of Hawaii last week. Here in the central Pacific we have no spinning storms currently, thank goodness! In the eastern Pacific we have a major hurricane called John, with his sister, recently formed tropical storm Kristy churning the waters too. As most folks now know, tropical storm Ernesto brought gusty winds and lots of rain to Florida, but it could have been much worse.
It’s early Wednesday here in Kula, Maui, as I start writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. It’s one of those mornings when I find myself sitting here in my weather tower with absolutely nothing to say, at least on a personal level. If I turned off the little light on my desk, I would be thrown into total darkness. I just did that, and realized that wasn’t true, as the computer screen keeps light around. Sometimes I feel like I write about the same things day after day, you know, the morning temperatures, the afternoon temperatures, my beach walk and swims, or my early morning walks. Oh yeah that’s right I do write about the films I see, or how the surf was during the weekends, or even my skateboarding adventures. I used to share a few poems at times, or tell you about what book I may be reading. At the moment I just can’t come up with anything new, my tongue is tied. Although I can certainly wish you all a great Wednesday, that’s easy enough! I’ll be back with more weather updates later in the day. Aloha for now…Glenn.
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