Weather Details and Aloha Paragraphs

October 2-3 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 81F
Honolulu, Oahu – 88
Kaneohe, Oahu – 84
Kahului, Maui – 92
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 88

KAILUA-KONA – 80
HILO AIRPORT – 72

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

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1031 millibar high pressure center located far to the NE of the Hawaiian Islands. This high pressure cell, with its associated ridge will give us light trade winds through most of the week ahead…locally gusty during the afternoons along the north and east sides. 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 spine of the Koolau Mountain range on Oahu
Photo Credit: flikr.com

High pressure to the north and NE of the islands will keep the trade winds blowing across the Aloha state today and Tuesday. Weather maps show a high pressure system located to the NNE of our Hawaiian Islands now. This high pressure cell will keep our winds light, although somewhat gusty along the windward sides during the afternoon hours locally. The latest forecasts show them remaining light to moderately strong through the week ahead. 

An upper level low pressure system to the NW of Kauai will keep high and middle level clouds streaming across Hawaii for the time being. Satellite images show the upper winds carrying lots of cirrus clouds in our direction. The associated rain bearing clouds aren’t expected to migrate in our direction. Otherwise, just a few windward biased showers, leaving most leeward areas dry…except over the Big Island and Haleakala slopes on Maui, where some locally heavy showers may fall.

It’s early Monday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I start writing this sunset commentary.  When I walked out of my office at the Pacific Disaster Center (my day job in Kihei), it was about as cloudy as it gets, without having some sort of precipitation falling. I was lucky to visit the beach during my lunch break today, finding nice warm sunshine. The ocean is as warm as it’s going to get this year, having reached 81F degrees today. At any rate, as I was driving up the Haleakala Highway, I started to run into very light sprinkles in Pukalani, and by the time I got home here in Kula, it was lightly showering. I love it when the clouds are low, and we’re having some misty showers…the only thing missing was some fog, and maybe breezy conditions…which would have made it perfect!  I’ll have to wait until the winter months for that particular scenario to unfold though. It’s 630pm and it’s already dark, or almost dark. I’ll go down the stairs soon, heat up that fresh tomato pasta sauce I made yesterday, and lay a piece of bbq’d chicken along side it. I know it may sound rather funny, but already I’m looking forward to going club dancing in Paia this coming Friday night! Oh well, there’s a lot of work to be done between now and then, so I’d better pace myself. I hope you have a great Monday night, and that you will meet me here again for the Tuesday edition of this weather narrative from paradise. Aloha for now…Glenn.

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