Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs

The trade winds will remain the dominant weather feature in the Hawaiian Island weather picture for the time being. Weather maps show the continued presence of an unusually large 1032 millibar high pressure system far to the north of Hawaii Thursday. This high pressure cell will keep the trade winds active through the next week, and likely longer. We can look for a modest increase in trade wind speeds this weekend, perhaps triggering a small craft wind advisory in some of the major channels then. If tropical cyclone Flossie moves by to the south of the state around the middle of next week, as expected, we could see our local trade winds become quite blustery for a day or two.

The Perseid Meteor Shower will reach its maximum intensity early this coming Monday. Weather conditions permitting, showers of meteors appearing as bright streaks of light in the sky are expected to number as many as 100 an hour, made more visible by a new moon this year.  Last year’s shower was marred by the glare of an 87 percent full moon, making the meteors nearly impossible to see, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said. These showers are produced by dust trails left by comet Swift-Tuttle — next expected to approach the sun in August 2126. As Earth’s orbit crosses the dust that was ejected by the comet’s previous August passages it provides a spectacle for viewers on Earth.  As the particles enter the planet’s atmosphere, they burn up, producing the "fireworks." The phenomenon derives its name from the constellation Perseus, from where the meteors seem to originate.  Telescopes or binoculars aren’t necessary, but it is important to be in a dark area, without much pollution or illumination.

It’s Thursday here in the islands, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. A new tropical cyclone called 9E began in the eastern Pacific Wednesday, which was called 9E…or the ninth tropical cyclone in the eastern Pacific this hurricane season. It strengthened soon thereafter, and took on the name tropical storm Flossie. Here’s a tracking map, showing the expected path as it moves into our central Pacific. If we were to project the forecast track out at this point, we would find whatever is left of Flossie moving by to the south of the Hawaiian Islands around the middle of next week. If this projection were to occur, we would likely see an increase in our trade wind speeds, and perhaps increased tropical moisture over our island chain…if the northern cloud fringe of the system moved over Hawaii. It’s too early to know for sure exactly what will happen, although it is recommended that residents of Hawaii begin tracking the progress of this storm, as it moves westward. It should be pointed out that these tropical cyclones are notorious for changing directions, and this one could move either further north or south as it got closer to the islands. Here’s a looping satellite image of tropical storm Flossie in the eastern Pacific. ~~~ We’ve seen quite a bit of high cirrus clouds sweeping across Hawiian skies Thursday, which will make for a lovely and colorful sunset…with more than likely a pinkish sunrise Friday morning as well. I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever you happen to be spending it! I’ll be back with your next weather narrative, and more news about tropical storm Flossie early Friday morning. Aloha for now…Glenn.