Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs
Posted by GlennMarch 10 2007
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday:
Lihue, Kauai – 81F
Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Kaneohe, Oahu – 83
Kahului, Maui – 83
Hilo, Hawaii – 85
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 84
Temperatures early Saturday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 6 a.m. hour:
Kailua-kona – 74F
Hilo, Hawaii – 66
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Saturday morning:
4.28 KOKEE, KAUAI
1.62 SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, OAHU
1.55 MOLOKAI
1.52 LANAI
0.39 KAHOOLAWE
1.76 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
1.15 PAHALA, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a cold front moving down through the state of Hawaii Saturday, with gusty winds ahead of the front, and lighter north to NE winds behind it. Winds will be NE and be lighter Sunday…except gusty where they funnel through valleys and channels. 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.
An active cold front is bearing down on the Hawaiian Islands, turning our winds to the Kona direction now. The winds will be getting stronger, with a wind advisory, for locally gusty winds to near 50 mph around Kauai Friday night. We’ll see increasing clouds as we move through Friday night into Saturday, over the islands of Kauai and Oahu as the cold front passes overhead. Those northern most islands will see prefrontal showers arriving out ahead of the actual cold front. The islands of Maui County and the Big Island will see gradually increasing cloudiness during the day Saturday.
The cold front will bring showers to Maui County later in the day Saturday, ending up finally over or near the Big Island Saturday night. This cold front will have some enhancement to it, in terms of showers, as an upper level trough of low pressure will be riding along above the frontal boundary. There will likely be some briefly heavy showers falling right along the leading edge of the frontal cloud band as it passes over each island in turn. Sunday will find the residual clouds and showers hung-up over the windward sides of Maui and the Big Island as the front stalls near those two southern islands.
In the wake of the cold front, we’ll see a brief period of cooler north and NE winds blowing, but this will be short lived at best on Sunday. The latest computer forecast models show another low pressure trough and cold front team heading our way, which will turn our winds to the SE through SW Monday and Tuesday of the new week ahead. This will lead to another cold front passing down through the state around Wednesday. This second front will bring another quick round of showers, although it’s still too early to know the exact details in terms of timing, and generosity of showers that will accompany the front.
It’s early Friday evening as I begin writing this pre-sunset commentary from Kihei, Maui. I’m finding it a little exciting as I track this cold front, which I have been talking about in the paragraphs above. At any, if you have any interest, you could keep an eye on the progress of this cold front as it slides down through the Hawaiian Island chain during the next 24 hours. By the way, when the cold front arrives over the Big Island, the air may be cold enough up there, that we could see some minor amount of snow falling on the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa by Sunday morning. While I was at the beach at lunch, I happened to spot a couple of Humpback whales swimming by just offshore from Kihei. The picture I put above looked almost exactly like what I saw…really cool! I’m about ready to leave my office and head out to a new film this evening, called Zodiac. I found this little snippet about it: David Fincher’s magnificently obsessive new film, “Zodiac,” tracks the story of the serial killer who left dead bodies up and down California in the 1960s and possibly the ’70s, and that of the men who tried to stop him. Set when the Age of Aquarius disappeared into the black hole of the Manson family murders, the film is at once sprawling and tightly constructed, opaque and meticulously detailed. The San Francisco police department’s frustrating investigation which turned up many clues but never netted a suspect. This sounds pretty heavy duty, but I guess I’m up for the job of sitting there and getting swept away in the dark theatre, while eating popcorn as fast as I can throw it into my mouth. I’ll let you know what I think Saturday morning when I do my next narrative updates ~ that is if I haven’t been scared to death by this thriller of a film! Aloha for now…Glenn.
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