Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs
Posted by GlennJuly 15-16 2007
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday:
Lihue, Kauai – 85F
Honolulu, Oahu – 86
Kaneohe, Oahu – 80
Kahului, Maui – 86
Hilo, Hawaii – 85
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 84
Temperatures early Monday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 4 a.m. hour:
Honolulu, Oahu – 77F
Hilo, Hawaii – 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 Monday morning:
0.48 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
1.31 OAHU FOREST NWR, OAHU
0.08 MOLOKAI
0.11 LANAI
0.15 KAHOOLAWE
2.06 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
1.30 KAHUKU RANCH, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure systems located to the NNW and NE of Hawaii Monday morning. The trade winds will remain moderately strong over Hawaii’s marine environment…although locally stronger and gusty in those usual windiest locations today and Tuesday. 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. Here’s a tracking map covering both the eastern and central Pacific Ocean.
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.
A near empty beach on Kauai
The Hawaiian Islands will see occasional showers through the next several of days…especially around Maui and the Big Island. The latest satellite images show lots of clouds around the state, with some of them shower producers…although conditions have begun dry out from Kauai down through Molokai Sunday afternoon. This satellite image, known as a visible image, shows this cloudiness, giving the wide view…although it will only be available during the daytime hours. This IR image, which shows up both at night and during the day, is most useful at night. This higher resolution visible picture will show the clouds best…although again only viewable during the daylight hours.
An out of season cloud band, which can be thought of as the tail-end of an old cold front, coming down from the north and NE…briefly took away or summer weather. The vast majority of this incoming cloudiness, with its occasional mostly light showers, are focused on the windward sides of the islands on Maui and the Big Island. All of the islands were previously being graced with this very welcome shower event, although as usual, the leeward sides came up with the short end of the stick in terms of overall rainfall.
It’s Sunday here in Hawaii, as I begin to write this last paragraph of today’s narrative. The interesting thing about this showery weather event, is that it just "isn’t suppose to happen" during our summer months. Sure, we sometimes get some tropical moisture being pulled up from the deeper tropics during the summer months, but rarely coming in from the mid-latitudes to our north and NE! Another interesting thing is what the computer forecast models are suggesting will happen this next weekend, which is for a retired tropical depression, called 6E, to move near the islands…bringing the chance of another round of showers then. We’ll definitely have to remain in the "wait and see" mode before getting too serious about this long range forecast. For the moment, we are very happy to see the clouds and localized showers, some of which will be falling in areas that have seen a prolonged dry spell…leading to drought conditions so far this summer. ~~~ As I mentioned yesterday, this weekend is my birthday, I’m taking both days, rather than just one, just to stretch out the fun…which I’ve been having a lot of! Thanks for all your birthday wishes, they’ve been fun to read. I’ll be back early Monday morning with your next weather narrative from the tropics. Aloha for now…Glenn.
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