The trade winds have increased a notch now, and will continue in the moderate to fresh category through this weekend. Weather maps show a moderately strong high pressure system to the NNE of the islands. This cell of high pressure is moving gradually towards the SE, located more or less about half way between the Hawaiian Islands and the west coast. The long range computer forecast models suggest that the trade winds will stick around through the rest of this weekend into the new week ahead. These winds have become strong enough now that we find small craft wind advsories active in the major channels around Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii.

There’s been an increase in windward showers during the last couple of days, which has been modestly helpful in counteracting the drought conditions around some parts of the state. The leeward sides will remain mostly dry however, with just a slight chance that we’ll find a few stray showers there. Unfortunately, these recent showers will be losing their punch soon, as the overlying atmosphere becomes drier. There will continue to be more than the normal amount of incoming showers during the first part of this weekend, then conditions will dry out some Sunday into Monday.

It’s Saturday here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. I’ll be flying over to the island of Oahu Saturday afternoon, then coming back to Maui early Sunday evening. One of my TV weather reporters is having a birthday party Saturday night, so will be over there for that. Then too, another of my reporters is having a family Luau Saturday night as well, so I will be hopping between the two parties…as they are fortunately taking place quite close together as it turns out. Then, tomorrow I’ll likely be going for an early morning swim at Kailua Beach (the picture above), where I’ll be spending the night. Later in the day, one of the two friends noted above is having a post wedding party at the beach over near the Honolulu airport…with food, music, and all the rest. I’ll catch a ride to the airport afterwards, and will be back on Maui well before dark Sunday. I won’t be back on the computer, more than likely until early Monday morning, when the new work week starts, so here’s wishing you well until then. Aloha for now…Glenn

There’s no end in sight for this fine trade wind weather pattern. Weather maps show the same moderately strong 1030 millibar high pressure system to the NE of the islands Thursday. These cooling and refreshing breezes will blow generally in the light to moderately strong range, although those windiest areas around the state will have locally stronger and gusty winds at times…especially during the afternoons. This cell of high pressure is slowly moving a bit to the west now, and as it gets a little closer to Hawaii in the process, we may see our local trade wind speeds increase a notch. The long range computer forecast models suggest that the trade winds will stick around through the rest of this week into next week.

The trade winds will continue to carry a few showery clouds onto our windward coasts and slopes. The leeward sides will remain mostly dry, with just a modest chance that we’ll find a few stray showers finding their way over there. Meanwhile, as this satellite image shows, there’s a fair amount of high clouds being carried over the eastern side of the state on the upper winds aloft. These high clouds don’t drop rain of course, although they can dim and filter our famous Hawaiian sunshine. At the same time they often provide colorful sunrise and sunset colors…so if you’re here in the islands, keep an eye out during the beginning and ending of the days! 

It’s Thursday here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. As I briefly mentioned in yesterday afternoon’s weather update, the drought conditions here on Maui are getting more serious. The Maui County Department of Water recently issued a mandatory 10% water conservation measure. It’s not just Maui that is having problems with lack of precipitation either, it’s actually all the islands, although especially Maui and the Big Island at the moment. We’ve been seeing a few showers riding in on the trade winds lately, which is good news…although the truth is that it hasn’t been enough to limit the spread of the drought reality. We can use every drop of water that falls from the sky now! ~~~ As I was mentioning in the paragraph above, we have lots of cirrus clouds that are overspreading our Hawaiian Islands now. I like to think of them as beautifying our skies! In sum: our weather will remain fine, with hopefully a continuation of whatever showers that can manage to find their way to our islands…carried along in the moderately strong trade winds. ~~~ The high clouds hung around all day here on Maui, giving a rather gray cast to the day, and in the process keeping the high temperatures cooler than they would otherwise have been. There should be a nice sunset, and if the cirrus clouds are still around on Friday morning, the day may very well open up with another great pink sunrise. I’ll be back very early Friday morning with your next weather narrative from paradise. I hope you have a great Thursday night! Aloha for now…Glenn.

The typical late spring season trade winds will continue to blow across the tropical latitudes around Hawaii now. Weather maps show a moderately strong 1030 millibar high pressure system to the NE of the islands Wednesday. These cooling and refreshing breezes will blow generally in the light to moderately strong range, although those windiest areas around the state will have locally stronger and gusty winds at times…especially during the afternoons. This cell of high pressure is nearly stationary at the moment, and will remain in that general area through the rest of this week. We may soon see our local trade wind speeds increase a notch, necessitating small craft wind advisories over those windiest areas around Maui and the Big Island. The long range computer forecast models suggest that the trade winds will stick around through the rest of this week into next week.

The trade winds, as usual, will carry a few showery clouds onto our windward coasts and slopes. This is often the case during the month of June, although, this month is usually the driest of the year, so nothing heavy is expected. The leeward sides will remain nice, although a bit too dry, with lots of warm sunshine beaming down. Meanwhile, as this satellite image shows, there’s a large streak of high clouds over the southern part of the state Wednesday. The water department officials with the County of Maui have instituted an official 10% mandatory water restriction notice…due to the very low water levels in the upcountry reservoirs. This may be a sign of things to come in other areas of the 50th state…as we head into the dry summer months. 

It’s Wednesday morning here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative.  Once again this morning, accompanied by all the local birds singing, the thinnest possible crescent moon is rising in the eastern sky. I thought that yesterday’s sliver was the smallest, but I stand corrected…as this morning’s crescent (I think) must be the smallest of the month. I’m noticing that the sky starts turning slightly blue already before 5am in the morning now! I’m sure that on the mainland it must be even earlier. I enjoy these almost summer mornings, as I can actually see while on my daily early morning walks. During the winter months, it’s pitch black, and I have to use my flashlight to guide me around the streets here in Kula. ~~~ The weather just seems to be nice everyday now, as it has been for weeks and weeks, and will be for months and months ahead. This time of year there’s typically great weather just about everywhere in the northern hemisphere, what with the summer season looming up just ahead. I hope you have a great spring day wherever you happen to be spending it! I’ll be back very early Thursday morning with your next updated weather narrative Aloha for now…Glenn.

The trade winds will continue to dominate our local Hawaiian Island weather picture now. Weather maps show a high pressure system to the NE of the islands, which is the source of our light to moderately strong winds. As is often the case, those windiest areas around the state will have locally stronger and gusty winds at times…especially during the afternoons. This cell of high pressure is nearly stationary at the moment, and will remain in that general area through the rest of this week. As we move into Wednesday, our local trade wind speeds will increase a notch or two, necessitating small craft wind advisories to go up over those windiest areas around Maui and the Big Island. The winds aren’t going to be getting so strong as to be a problem however, and are common during this late spring season here in the tropics.

Satellite imagery continues to show some showery clouds being carried in our direction on the breezy trade winds. The most generous showers continue to fall over the mountains on Kauai, where Mount Waialaelae has picked up 2.07" of rain during the last 24 hours. This is a spike by itself, and isn’t too surprising, considering that it is the wettest place on the planet! Otherwise, the windward coasts and slopes on the other islands have had some showers too, but way down the rain scale in comparison. It appears that we will have more or less normal showers for this time of year, or perhaps even a bit more than normal through Wednesday afternoon. The leeward sides in contrast, will remain quite sunny, with just a stray shower or two falling here and there.  

It’s Tuesday morning here in Kula, Maui, where I’m starting off this wonderful day! As I look out the window of my weather tower, the one facing east, there’s the most incredibly thin sliver of a crescent moon! The way it’s shining so brightly, surrounded by the pale blue early morning sky…is really beautiful. The skies are lighting up so early these days, as we head steadily towards the beginning moment of summer 2007, better known of course as the summer solstice. ~~~ As you can see from reading the two paragraphs above, we will remain in an active trade wind weather pattern now. The winds will continue to blow from a more or less easterly direction through the rest of this week. Climatology would have us believe that we’d see the trade winds holding firm right through the rest of June in fact…and beyond. The long and short of this weather reality is that conditions will be just fine. ~~~  I hope that you enjoy this Tuesday of our lives very much wherever you happen to be spending it, and will meet me back here again on Wednesday. Aloha fo now…Glenn.

The cooling and refreshing trade winds continue to moderate and temper the afternoon heat here in the Hawaiian Islands. Weather maps show a high pressure system to the NE of the islands, which is the source of our light to moderately strong winds. As is often the case, those windiest areas around the state will have locally stronger and gusty winds at times. This cell of high pressure is nearly stationary at the moment, and isn’t expected to move away anytime soon. The long range computer forecast models suggest that we’ll see a long run of trade winds, which is very common for this late spring period…increasing a notch during the second half of the week. 

These trade winds will bring a few passing showers over the windward areas, with a few afternoon showers along the leeward slopes in places. These showers won’t amount to much in most areas. The leeward beaches will have lots of sunshine beaming down, especially during the morning hours. Air temperatures will be about what we would expect during June at sea level…ranging between 70F to 76F at night, rising to between 83F and 90F during the afternoons.

It’s Monday here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. Today was a holiday here in the islands, or at least for state employees. Since the Pacific Disaster Center’s (my regular day job in Kihei) managing partner is now the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii, a state agency, I had off from work…making for a three day weekend. My TV weather show is broadcast live from the University of Hawaii’s Maui Community College, so that I didn’t do the show today either. It all starts up again as of early Tuesday morning, when I’ll be back on my regular work schedule for this website. I’ll be likely go to the island of Oahu the next two weekends, so I’m feeling a little more foot loose and fancy free these days. ~~~ As described in the first two paragraphs above, our weather will remain just fine well out into the future, just the way most of us like here. I’ll be back well before dawn Tuesday with your next completely updated weather narrative from paradise. I hope you have a great Monday night! Aloha for now..Glenn.

High pressure located north of the islands, along with an elongated trough of low pressure south of Hawaii, will work together to keep our light to moderately strong trade winds blowing well out into the future.  Weather maps show a large 1032 millibar, trade wind producing high pressure system to the NE of the Aloha state, now nearly stationary. This high pressure cell will remain NE of the Hawaiian Islands through the rest of this week. The long range computer forecast models paint a picture showing an extended period…dominated by a trade wind weather pattern. 

There will be some passing showers being carried in our direction at times, ending up in the most generous form along the windward coasts and slopes…although not exclusively.  Recntly most of this moisture had been falling over the mountains of Kauai and Oahu. However, during the last 24 hours, we’ve seen those showery clouds finally sagging southward enough…that Maui and the Big Island are mostly on the receiving end of these moisture patches. This is a good thing, as those two southern islands have been drier than normal. It appears that moving forward, we can expect generally about normal amounts of precipitation in most areas.

It’s early Thursday morning here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative.  We’ve moved into that time of year, when there isn’t a lot happening here in the islands…at least from a weather perspective. The tail-end of the cold front season is past us now, and it’s still too early to be looking for any tropical cyclones to be spinning their way towards us from the eastern Pacific. Speaking of tropical storms and hurricanes, you might have missed my stating that the 2007 hurricane season here in the central Pacific (where the Hawaiian Islands live), is expecting a less than normally active season. At any rate, we’re into what we could call the pre-summer doldrums, not in terms of winds, as the trade winds will be blowing steadily…but just in regards to "not much happening."
What that means essentially, is that we can expect just the fine weather conditions that makes the Hawaiian Islands such a lovely place to live, and of course to visit! ~~~ I’ll be back with more weather updates later in the day, I hope you have a great Thursday wherever you happen to be spending it. Aloha for now…Glenn.

As would be expected during the month of June, the trade winds have become the dominate weather feature in the Hawaiian Island weather picture now. A trade wind producing high pressure system is now to the NNE of the Aloha state, slowly moving to the ENE…in the direction of the west coast. This high pressure cell will end up to the NE of the 50th state over the next couple of days. The latest computer forecast models indicate that the trade winds will stick around through the rest of this week, into next week…breezin’ along in the moderately strong realms for the most part.

These trade winds are carrying a batch of showers towards the windward sides from Kauai down through Maui, leaving the Big Island dry for the most part.  The bulk of these incoming showery clouds have been depositing their "wares" on the garden island of Kauai during the last 24 hours…with the mountains on Oahu picking up some too. The other islands have had less luck, with the Big Island too far south to poke up into this area of incoming moisture. There will be little change in this situation, with just those usual windward biased showers, and perhaps a couple of light showers falling in some leeward areas…but not much there.

The trade winds will prevail through the rest of this week, blowing in the moderately strong category for the most part here in the islands. A trade wind producing high pressure system is now to the north of Hawaii, slowly migrating in an ENE direction…towards the west coast. This high pressure cell will end up to the NE of the Aloha state in a couple of days. The latest computer forecast models indicate that the trade winds will stick around through the rest of this week…into next week.

It’s early Tuesday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this sunset commentary. It’s pretty easy to describe today’s weather characteristics here in the islands….warm to very warm, bordering on hot in a couple of places. The Kahului airport for instance had a high temperature of 90F degrees, which is the warmest we’ve seen there since last summer, or was it fall? At any rate, looking back in the record books, the hottest day on this date was 93 degrees, back in 1953. In contrast, the lowest maximum temperature for the date was a cooler 78 degrees in 1955. The largest rainfall total for the date was .10" in 1990…while the strongest wind was 41 mph from the east in 1993. ~~~ Here in Kula, at just before 530pm, the air temperature is 70.7 degrees outside, while inside my weather tower, with all the windows wide open, it’s a warmer 80.4 degrees. I’m sitting here with my shirt off and barefoot…and feeling slightly too warm to tell you the truth. There’s a nice little trade wind breeze, prompting my wind chimes into a sweet and gentle tropical song. ~~~ I hope you have a great Tuesday night, and that you will check back in Wednesday for your next new weather narrative from these beautiful islands in the middle of the central Pacific Ocean. Aloha for now…Glenn.

This past weekend had lighter than normal winds blowing, which will be replaced by light to moderately strong trade winds today…increasing further to the moderate levels later in the day into Tuesday.  The latest weather charts and computer forecast models indicate that these trade winds will continue to grace our Hawaiian Islands in the moderately strong levels through the remainder of this work week…then getting lighter by the weekend. Climatology would suggest that we would see some manner of trade wind air flow continuing through approximately 91% of the time during an average June.

It’s early Monday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this sunset commentary. We’re at the tail-end of summer now, quickly coming up on the beginning of our high sun summer season. High temperatures now are reaching at least 80F degrees along our south and west facing leeward beaches. Those warmest areas around the state, are regularly topping out in the upper 80’s in fact…falling just short of the 90 degree mark. The overnight low temperatures near sea level are dropping only into the 70’s, with the warmest locations falling into the middle 70 degree range…around 77. These temperatures will hold at about these levels through the rest of what’s left of our spring season, right into early summer. ~~~ As noted above, there are some showers falling along the windward coasts and slopes, particularly along from Kauai down through Molokai. The source of this moisture is from a very late season cold front, dropping down from an active gale low pressure system far north…in the Gulf of Alaska. In contrast, the leeward beaches will remain mostly dry, with just a few showers falling here and there…mostly in the upcountry areas. Conditions will drop back into the normal dry realms, which often accompany the month of June, starting Wednesday through the rest of the week. ~~~ Monday started off very nicely, although as the day wore on, clouds increased quite dramatically here on Maui during the afternoon hours. Up here in Kula, a dense bank of thick cool fog wrapped itself around us at sunset, dropping the temperature several degrees. I had to go out and get into it just now, and am now about ready to go down and have a nice homemade pasta dinner, with a nice organic, freshly garden picked salad. I hope you have a great Monday night, and that you will meet me back here again on Tuesday morning for the next edition of this weather narrative. Aloha for now…Glenn.

Our local winds, which have been from the trade wind direction earlier this week, will remain light for the time being. These lighter winds will probably continue to arrive from the trade wind direction. However, the leeward sides of the islands, will likely see just light onshore flowing sea breezes during the days. The winds will be light enough in fact that we’ll find somewhat sultry conditions existing at times, especially in those areas blocked from whatever little bit of wind flow that’s around. The latest models suggest that the trade winds will return by Monday or Tuesday…blowing in the light to moderately strong range through the new week ahead.

It’s late Sunday afternoon here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this pre-sunset commentary.  Wow, what a hot sunny day it has been here in Hawaii. The high temperatures weren’t all that out of line, but it was the light winds…which gave our local atmosphere quite a sultry feel! Up here in Kula, it was very warm at a little after 5pm, with my outdoor temperature sensor reading 74F degrees…which is a "hot afternoon" at this 3,000+ foot elevation, on the western slope of the Haleakala Crater. There will be little change from this favorably inclined late spring weather pattern, with more dry and sunny weather on tap through the next several days. ~~~ I went up to the Kula Lodge and got myself a tasty pizza a little while ago, and popped an ice cold Sierra Nevada Pale Ale to wash it down. That was quite a treat, and now I’m about to cook myself up a big batch of red sauce pasta, which I’ll eat after work through the next 3-4 days. ~~~ I hope you had a good weekend wherever you happened to have spent it, and that you will join me here again early Monday morning for the next edition of this weather narrative from the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. Aloha for now…Glenn.