Weather Details and Aloha Paragraphs

September 28-29 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 83F
Honolulu, Oahu – 86
Kaneohe, Oahu – 83
Kahului, Maui – 87
Hilo, Hawaii – 76
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 86

KAILUA-KONA – 78
HILO AIRPORT – 72

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

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1027 millibar high pressure center located to the NE of the Hawaiian Islands. This high pressure cell, with its associated ridge will give us light to moderate trade winds through Saturday…locally gusty during the afternoon hours.  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.

 

It’s running about 80F degrees in there now!
Photo Credit: flikr.com

We’re dropping back into a relatively normal trade wind weather pattern now into Friday and probably Saturday.  Weather maps show a moderately strong high pressure system located far to the NE of our Hawaiian Islands now. This high pressure cell will keep our winds light to moderately strong, although somewhat gusty along the windward sides during the afternoon hours locally. The latest forecasts show them calming down later this weekend into early next week, as an early season low pressure system forms to our west or NW…perhaps turning them SE then. 

The departure of the atmospheric destabilizing trough of the last few days, will put us back into a more normal trade wind weather pattern.  The last few days saw locally heavy showers around in places, with even a few thunderstorms. This trough’s influence is now much less obvious, so that we’ll move into a relatively dry period for a couple of days. Now through Saturday should see just a few windward biased showers, otherwise most areas will remain dry for the time being.

Weather models and forecast charts continue to show changes starting later this weekend into early next week.  Satellite images show a tropical disturbance to the SE of the Big Island of Hawaii. This slug of tropical moisture is expected to move by to the south of the state, without flairing up into a tropical depression. However, the northern fringe of this area of disturbed weather may ride up over the state starting Sunday, which could increase clouds and showers in Hawaii then. An upper low pressure system may form at the same time to our NW, which could enhance these showers locally.

It’s early Thursday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I start writing this sunset commentary. It was another of those rather quick, but brilliant sunsets here in the islands, not lasting all that long, but definitely worth the watching out on my weather deck! High clouds once again swept in over the islands today, helping to set up the gorgeous sunset, although at the same time dimming and filtering our famous Hawaiian sunshine again today. This canopy of high and middle level clouds wasn’t as extensive or thick as the last couple of days, which was good for the folks wanting to further their sun tanning sessions at our local beaches. Have a good Thursday night everyone, I’ll be back with your next in-depth weather narrative early Friday morning. Aloha for now…Glenn.

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