Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs
Posted by GlennAugust 23-24 2007
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday:
Lihue, Kauai – 86F
Honolulu, Oahu – 88
Kaneohe, Oahu – 85
Kahului, Maui – 86
Hilo, Hawaii – 87
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 86
Temperatures early Friday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 4 a.m. hour:
Kaneohe, Oahu – 76F
Kahului, Maui – 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 Friday morning:
0.09 ANAHOLA, KAUAI
0.11 LULUKU, OAHU
0.01 MOLOKAI
0.01 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.69 KULA BRANCH STATION, MAUI
0.14 HONAUNAU, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1030 millibar high pressure system located NNE of Hawaii. This high pressure cell has elongated ridges of high pressure extending out to the west and east. An upper level trough of low pressure to the east will be moving by just to the north of Hawaii over the next couple of days. This will cause our local winds to remain light through the weekend. 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.
Diamond Head in the background…on Oahu
Photo Credit: flickr.com
We’re moving into a lighter wind regime here in the islands, becoming locally sultry into the weekend. The latest weather map shows a 1032 millibar high pressure system to the NNE of the islands. Meanwhile, we have an upper level low pressure system edging in our direction from the east. This low aloft will be responsible for weakening our local trade wind speeds, with some areas seeing light and variable wind conditions as we move into the end of this week. Anytime we have this light of winds during the summer months, there’s always the chance of hot and humid conditions prevailing. The trade winds will gradually start to return right after the weekend, which will put an end to the muggy weekend conditions shortly thereafter.
There were some showers around today, which will do nothing but increase during the afternoon hours moving forward. If the local showers do increase as expected, they will likely concentrate their efforts most effectively over and around the mountains during the afternoon hours…although they will drift down towards the beaches locally too. We call these convective cumulus cloud buildups, which often start forming over the slopes during the late mornings. They get darker and thicker during the second half of the day…leading to localized showers. This scenario looks quite likely now, which should happen each afternoon over the next 3-4 days. As the trade winds strengthen gradually early next week, the bias for showers will return to the windward sides then.
It’s Thursday here in the islands, as I prepare this last paragraph of today’s narrative from Kula, Maui. Weather maps, satellite imagery, and forecast models now seem to all agree that the upper and middle level low pressure system to our east, will continue to slide in our direction. This low pressure system aloft, rather than at the surface…will take the strength out of our local trade winds now. This slack wind condition will promote sultry weather conditions through the next 3-5 days. If the trade winds get as soft as now projected, it will push the islands into a convective weather pattern. This most often manifests as clear mornings, giving way to cloudy afternoons, leading to afternoon and early evening interior showers…with clearing skies again after dark. At least one of the forecast models shows a trough of low pressure extending right over the islands. If this transpires, there remains a chance of at least a couple of locally heavier showers developing in some places. The beaches will remain the driest and sunniest areas, with those mountain slopes attracting the most generous rains. We’ll see the trade winds returning gradually early next week, which will lead us back into a more or less normal trade wind weather pattern by around Tuesday. ~~~ It rained hard in places in Kihei, Maui this afternoon, bucks in fact locally! When I got home here in Kula, I can see that it showered earlier, with just cool fog hugging the slopes just before sunset. I’ll be back early Friday morning, I hope you enjoy your Thursday night until then. Aloha for now…Glenn.
Here’s an interesting website story about the planet Mars.
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