Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs

The trade winds will blow through the next week, with a modest increase later this weekend, and then a more significant increase around the middle of next week. Weather maps show the continued presence of an unusually large 1036 millibar high pressure system far to the NNE of Hawaii Friday night. 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 later this weekend, likely triggering a small craft wind advisory in some of the major channels then. As tropical cyclone Flossie moves by just to the south of the state around the middle of next week, we will see our local trade winds become quite blustery for a day or two. We will likely see small craft wind advisories in all of Hawaii’s coastal waters, with even the slim chance of a gale warning in the Alenuihaha Channel between Maui and the Big Island then.

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 Friday here in the islands, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. Tropical cyclone Flossie, the ninth storm of the 2007 hurricane season in the eastern Pacific, recently strengthened into a hurricane. Here’s a tracking map, showing the expected path as it moves into our central Pacific. Flossie is expected to drop back down into the tropical storm category after this weekend, as it gets closer the Hawaiian Islands. As you can see, Flossie is expected to move by to the south of the Hawaiian Islands around the middle of next week. If the current forecast track remains true, with Flossie staying a distance to our south, we would likely see a marked increase in our local trade wind speeds. It appears at this point that what is forecast to be a tropical storm, may also bring a fair amount of tropical showers…with most of the heaviest amounts taking aim on the Big Island and Maui. It’s too early to know for sure exactly what will happen, although it is recommended that residents of Hawaii continue tracking the progress of this storm, as it moves westward. It should be pointed out that these tropical cyclones are famous for changing directions, and this one could move either further north or south as it got closer to the islands…prompting a change to the weather forecasts noted above. Here’s a looping satellite image of hurricane Flossie, as it gets ready to move into the central Pacific Saturday morning. ~~~  I’ll be back early Saturday morning with your next weather narrative, including the latest information on hurricane Flossie. I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you happen to be spending it. Aloha for now…Glenn.