Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs
Posted by GlennMay 2-3 2007
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday:
Lihue, Kauai – 82F
Honolulu, Oahu – 85
Kaneohe, Oahu – 81
Kahului, Maui – 85
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 84
Temperatures early Thursday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 4 a.m. hour:
Lihue, Kauai – 75F
Hilo, Hawaii – 68
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Thursday morning:
0.91 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.19 POAMOHO 2, OAHU
0.01 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.17 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
0.30 GLENWOOD, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1029 millibar high pressure center located far to the NE of Hawaii Thursday. This high pressure cell will be our primary trade wind producer, with our winds blowing in the moderately strong category…with locally strong and gusty conditions during the afternoons. 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.
Full moon in the early morning sky…on the Big Island of Hawaii
There will be a few showers falling, focused most intently along the windward coasts and slopes. Mid-level high pressure ridging over the islands will keep our local atmosphere quite stable. This in turn will limit shower production to some extent. The night and morning hours will be the favored time for those incoming showers, carried by the brisk trade winds. The leeward sides will remain mostly dry, except for a few stray showers sneaking over the lower mountains on the smaller islands. There are no organized rain producing systems on our
weather horizon at this time, so that there will be no problems in the precipitation department!
It’s early Wednesday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this full moon sunset commentary. Did you know that today’s full moon will be repeated another time this month? Yes, there will be two full moon’s in May, which is an unusual event! The second full moon, at the very end of the month, is called the blue moon. No, not because it will be a shade of blue, but rather referring to the old adage, "as rare as a blue moon"…like something that is very unusual. This is interesting stuff, going way back in history. ~~~ On another note, I happened to notice that while I was driving along the Hana HIghway, and just as I started up the Haleakala Highway, my car thermometer was reading 82F degrees. Coming up that 3,000 feet from near sea level, on up the highway to my place in Kula, the air temperature had dropped to 67F degrees when I got home some 20 minutes later. This is the basic reason that I am willing to make the drive from my place of work in Kihei, up the mountain to Kula…because I love the cooler temperatures upcountry. There are other reasons as well, although I would say that that is the primary one. There’s also the great views down to the ocean, some people call them the "million dollar" views! I also like driving up through the pasturelands, seeing the blooming Jacaranda trees, the Hawaiian Owls flying in the fields looking for mice to snag, the peace and quiet, and just being away from the hubbub of the traffic "down below." ~~~ There’s still quite a few clouds around this evening, blocking the full moon’s rise, although as it begins to get darker, there it will be…again, the first full moon of the month! I hope you have a chance to see it where you are too. I’ll be back very early, what sometimes feels like extremely early on Thursday morning, sitting back down at this desk, in front of my computer screen, typing out the next weather narrative from paradise for you, yes you! Have a good one…Aloha, Glenn.
TV weather show online now: At long last, my tv weather program is available on the internet! It’s not exactly like watching your TV set, but it’s a fairly close approximation. Each day’s new show will replace the previous days show (Monday through Friday) at some point between 10am and noon (HST) in Hawaii. If you click here, it will take you to the website where it can be viewed. I want to thank the kind folks at the Maui Media Lab, located in Paia, Maui for this opportunity to show what’s happening weatherwise here in Hawaiian Islands! By the way, you will need to have a quicktime viewer on your computer to view the feed…you can get the free download here if it’s not already loaded on your machine.
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