Weather Details and Aloha Paragraphs

September 29-30 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 83F
Honolulu, Oahu – 87
Kaneohe, Oahu – 83
Kahului, Maui – 87
Hilo, Hawaii – 78
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 85

HONOLULU AIRPORT – 77
HILO AIRPORT – 73

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:

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1024 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 Sunday…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.

 

Sunset at Poipu Beach, Kauai
Photo Credit: flikr.com

In the wind department here in the Hawaii, we’ll find the common light to moderately strong trade winds blowing through Saturday. Weather maps show a moderately strong high pressure system located 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. 

In the rainfall department, other than some showers along the windward sides, especially on the Big Island and Maui…conditions will be quite dry through Saturday otherwise. We’ll see an increase in showers arriving along the windward facing coasts and slopes on the rest of the other island’s windward sides this weekend.  In contrast, the leeward sides will remain quite dry, although a few showers may sneak over into the leeward coastal areas here and there too.

There’s a good chance that we’ll see some increase in windward showers now into this weekend.  Satellite images and weather maps show a trough of low pressure to the SE of the Big Island of Hawaii. This area is expected to move by to the south of the state this weekend. However, the northern fringe of moisture, associated with this trough, will ride up into the state, which will increase clouds and showers in Hawaii…focusing its efforts most intently along the windward sides.

It’s early Friday morning here in Kula, Maui, as I start writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. The high clouds that have been dimming and filtering our famous Hawaiian sunshine for the last several days, have shifted southward. This will leave most of the state with sunnier weather today. This high cirrus cloudiness has been providing incredible sunrise and sunset colors! I just walked outside on my weather deck, and for the first morning in a while, could actually see lots of twinkling stars above. It’s a little after 5am at the moment, and my outside temperature sensor is reading 55F degrees at this 3,100 elevation, on the west facing slope of the Haleakala Crater. For contrast, down at the Kahului airport at the same time, it was a warmer 74F, while the warmest sea level location was an even warmer 77F degrees at the Kailu-Kona airport on the Big Island. I like the fact that it’s Friday, which means that it’s the last day of this work week, and more than that, the weekend is looming just ahead. I’d like to go see the new film called Fearless, starring Jet Li this evening. I’ve got plans to go dancing in Paia afterwards with friends, and then I’ll most likely go surfing along the north shore tomorrow morning. It’s been a big week of work, so I’m looking forward to having some time to relax soon. I hope you have a great Friday wherever you happen to be spending it! I’ll be back later with more weather updates. I’ll be back early Saturday morning with the next updated narrative. Aloha for now…Glenn.

I want to highlight another of the great advertisers on my website today, this time it’s Yoga and Voice-Dance classes.  "Yoga techniques by Hoku Award-nominated rock singer Anastasia Gilliam"