Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs
Posted by GlennJune 27-28 2007
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday:
Lihue, Kauai – 85F
Honolulu, Oahu – 88
Kaneohe, Oahu – 84
Kahului, Maui – 87
Hilo, Hawaii – 84
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 86
Temperatures early Thursday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 4 a.m. hour:
Honolulu, Oahu – 76F
Hilo airport – 70
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:
1.19 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.09 MAUNAWILI, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.27 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
0.50 MOUNTAIN VIEW, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a rather strong 1036 millibar high pressure system to the NW of Hawaii. The trade winds will remain strong and gusty Thursday into Friday over Hawaii’s coastal waters most exposed to the trade wind flow. 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.
Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center.
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.
Sugar cane fires in the central valley of Maui…
Our summertime trade winds will be stronger than usual through Thursday here in the 50th state. The latest weather chart shows high pressure systems stretched out NW through NE of the islands…with a solid ridge of high pressure connecting these anticyclones. Local winds are expected to remain blustery, peaking out in strength over the next few days. The small craft wind advisory includes all the major channels between the islands…along with the Maalaea Bay on Maui, and the waters around some places on the Big Island. The trade winds will remain active through the rest of this month…gradually getting lighter this weekend into next week.
These fresh trades will carry shower bearing clouds to the windward sides of the islands at times, although nothing heavy is indicated. This will leave the leeward sides mostly dry, which is common during the months of June and July. Weather maps show that same rather long lasting upper level low pressure system to the WNW of Kauai, although it continues to move away to the west. There are no organized rainy areas taking aim on our islands at this time, so we can expect just the usual overnight showers to spill along the windward coasts and slopes. The drought conditions continue to plague the leeward upcountry areas of Maui and the Big Island, with mandatory 10% water cutbacks still in force locally.
It’s Wednesday here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. Each morning when I get up lately there has been sugar cane fields burning down in the central valley here on Maui. This is common during some parts of the year, when the sugar cane business harvests their fields by torch. After the fields have burned, these huge harvesting trucks take the burned sugar cane stalks to the mill for processing. It’s quite a sight, and as many of you know, quite controversial with some folks who live in the area’s that the resultant smoke gets into. This most often seems to be the Maalaea, Kihei, and Wailea areas…although it can include Paia, Kahului and even Pukalani and Kula…depending on where the fields are being burned, and which way the wind is blowing the smoke. There’s this stuff that we call Hawaiian snow too, which is the black and gray ash that falls far away from where the actual fires are burning…and is not a good thing to have get in contact with your white sheets hanging on the clothes line. Many people too complain about respiratory problems from having to breathe the cane smoke when it comes sweeping through populated areas. The last several days it has been smokey when I drive down into the central valley, fortunately the trade winds are strong enough now to ventilate it away fairly quickly. The problem becomes exaggerated when the fires are lit on light wind days, as it can hang around for hours and hours. ~~~ I’ll be back early Thursday morning with your next scheduled weather narrative, I hope you have a great Wednesday night! Aloha for now…Glenn.
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