Weather Details and Aloha Paragraphs

September 26-27 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 84F
Honolulu, Oahu – 84
Kaneohe, Oahu – 82
Kahului, Maui – 87
Hilo, Hawaii – 77
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 83

LIHUE, KAUAI – 78
HILO AIRPORT – 72

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

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing weak high pressure centers located to the north, NE and east of our islands Wednesday. The combined efforts of these high pressure cells will give us light to locally moderate trade winds through Thursday…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.

 

The beauty of Maui’s east coast
Photo Credit: flikr.com

The trade winds remain quite light again today, blowing in the light to locally moderate range. A far away 1023 millibar high pressure system, located offshore from the Washington state coast now…is too far away to provide much more than light-moderately strong trade winds, although a little gusty along the windward sides during the afternoon hours. The latest forecast shows them calming down again by the upcoming weekend, as an early season kona low pressure system forms to our north. Our winds may eventually turn to the SE as that low sets up shop in our vicinity.

The meteorological dynamics are in place to cause locally heavy showers today, although it should remain spotty. An overhead trough of low pressure is keeping our local atmosphere rather shower prone at the moment. During the last 24 hours we’ll seen some locally heavy rain falling here and there, although this hasn’t been a widespread event. It appears that we have another day, that will have the potential for pretty good showers along the windward sides, and around the mountains. We may see some locally heavy showers, or even a thundershower developing over the interior parts of the islands too.

The latest computer forecast models show conditions improving, or returning to a more normal trade wind weather pattern later Wednesday through Friday. Those same models are still wanting to develop a rather deep low pressure system to our north later this weekend into early next week. It’s placement may qualify it for the title Kona Low, which could bring in another round of showers then. It’s still a little too early to get all worked up over this prospect… although the models have been quite persistent for the last several days.

It’s early Tuesday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I start writing this sunset commentary.  Looking at the latest satellite images, we see lots of high and middle level clouds streaming up over the islands from the deeper tropics…check out this satellite image.  Today looked a lot like what I think of as a tropical winter day, except it wasn’t the slightest bit cool. Case in point, the Kahului airport here on Maui reached 87F degrees for a maximum temperature. As I looked the Haleakala Crater from Kihei at one point during the afternoon, I could see lots of rain falling, although none of it made it down towards the coast. As I was driving home from work, looking across the slopes as I was driving up the Haleakala Highway, I could see that all that was left of the clouds were the high and middle levels ones, which kept sunshine to a bare minimum today by the way. There was one small patch of low clouds hugging the side of the mountain, making for a little foggy area…and as it turned out, was centered right in the area where I live. That patch cleared out right away though, making way for a very brief colorfully pink sunset, which disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared! It was lovely to have a cloudy day, after a summer’s worth of almost constant sunny days this summer. I hope you had a good Tuesday, and that you have a pleasant Tuesday night too. I’ll be back dark and early Wednesday morning with your next narrative from paradise. Aloha for now…Glenn.

I want to highlight another of the great advertisers on my website today, this time it’s Adventure in Hawaii.  "Maps, information on snorkeling, best luau seats, waterfall tours, and more."