Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs

October 13-14 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 81F
Honolulu, Oahu – 85
Kaneohe, Oahu – 85
Kahului, Maui – 89
Hilo, Hawaii – 85
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 85

KANEOHE, OAHU – 75
KAHULUI AIRPORT – 67

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…An active cold front will work its way into the state today, then stall over Maui County tonight into Sunday. This will keep our winds light through the weekend.  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.

 

Lovely clear ocean in Hawaii
Photo Credit: flikr.com

The light wind regime here in Hawaii will remain in place today, through the weekend…into next week. This light wind condition will cause warm and muggy conditions to continue, especially near the beaches during the late mornings through the afternoons. The hazy conditions will continue, but have improved some recently. As our winds gradually become south and SW this weekend, this will hopefully allow further clearing of our local air visibilities. There is no sign of any returning trade winds at this point.

The current convective weather pattern will keep mornings clear, with localized cloud buildups during the afternoon hours…leading to some showers. The daytime heating of the islands will start air rising, which will cause cumulus clouds to form over and around the mountains during the late mornings through early evening hours on some of the islands. These cumulus clouds may drop a few showers, perhaps briefly heavy here and there. Clouds will clear back after sunset, leaving mostly clear nights in their place.

An early season, active Pacific cold front is approaching Hawaii from the NW now. This front has a very good chance of moving right into the state, which will bring localized heavy rain and possible thunderstorms with it. The expectation is that showers will reach Kauai later Saturday, Oahu during the evening or night, and then to Maui County late Saturday night into Sunday…where it will stall before reaching the Big Island.  At the same time we will have a deep upper level low pressure system following closely behind the frontal boundary, which is likely to enhance the cold fronts rains into early next week. The longer range models show that we may see another cold front approaching the islands around the middle of next week.

A long lasting tropical disturbance to the SW of the Hawaiian Islands has strengthened into a tropical depression called 04C Friday. This satellite image shows not only this tropical cyclone, but also the cold front to the NW of Kauai described above. The computer models have been trying all week to bring this tropical low NE towards our Hawaiian Islands…which is finally happening now. It appears that this area of thunderstorms will head towards our chain of islands, bringing an increase in showers perhaps as early as Monday. Where this area of abundant moisture ends up will determine where the most showers eventually fall. There is a good chance that we would see flooding rainfall from this source moving into the Aloha state with time. We will need to follow this developing situation closely, as it will have significant bearing on our local weather conditions over the next several days. Please stay tuned to the latest postings on this unusual late season tropical depression. 

It’s early Friday evening here in Kihei, Maui, as I start writing this pre-sunset commentary.  If you had the time to read down through the paragraphs above, you now know that we are in line for a major change in our local weather conditions. This will manifest most notably as a rainy weather event, some of which will be locally heavy…leading to the distinct possibility of flooding here and there later this weekend. At any rate, I made it to the beach again today during lunch, and enjoyed the autumn weather conditions, which were pleasantly warm. This evening I’ll be heading over to Borders Books soon, for a little looking around, and then to see the new film called The Guardian. In a capsule: A competent but clichéd tribute to the brave folks in the Coast Guard, this military exercise centers on Kevin Costner, a decorated but aging Rescue Swimmer stationed in Alaska. Then, after that I’ll drive down to Paia for what’s become my regular Friday night dancing gig at one of the hip (in a beach town way) restaurants out along the windward side. I’m hoping to meet some friends tomorrow morning over on the Lahaina side for some surfing. I’ll meet you back here Saturday morning with the next update on the status of our impending wet weather, and more. I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you happen to be spending it. Aloha for now…Glenn.

I want to highlight another of the great advertisers on my website today, this time it’s Beach Guide "Maui Beach Guide – A comprehensive guide to Maui’s beaches, including webcams"