There will continue to be some showers falling, although generally favorably inclined weather conditions will prevail across the Hawaiian Islands. We still have an upper level low pressure system, with it’s surface trough, prevailing to the east and NE of the Aloha state. The air flow around this low will bring in light to moderately strong NE trade wind breezes across our tropical latitudes of the north central Pacific. The northerly aspect to these winds will bring a coolness to the air, although the daytimes will be fairly warm near sea level. The south and west facing leeward beaches will be quite sunny during the days, while the north and east facing windward areas will have more clouds…along with the best chance for showers.

It’s Tuesday evening here in the islands, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. There still remains the trough of low pressure to our east to contend with over the next 24-36 hours, especially if you live on the Big Island or Maui. We may see some locally heavy showers popping on those islands, with the rest of the state’s windward sides finding an occasional shower arriving. Otherwise, weather conditions will be pretty nice for the most part through the next couple of days..although be cooler than normal. ~~~ The good news is that Thanksgiving day is looking good at the moment, with favorable conditions looking more and more likely at this point. The models show the potential for wetter weather arriving by the weekend, at least for the windward sides of the islands…lets hold off on cementing this forecast into place just yet though. ~~~ The big news in the marine environment, as we move into the Thanksgiving holiday and beyond, will be the season’s first really large northwest swell. This major surf event will bring large to very large waves to our north and west facing beaches. It will be a time to exercise caution when going near the ocean in those areas. I’ll be writing more about that over the next few days. ~~~ I’ll be back early Wednesday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Tuesday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn. 

As we move through this new work week, including the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, our local weather conditions should be quite nice in general. The dominant driver in our local Hawaiian Island weather picture will be an upper level low pressure system, with its surface reflection, now anchored to the east of the Aloha state. The air flow around this upper low will bring in light to moderately strong NE breezes across our tropical latitudes of the north central Pacific. The slight northerly aspect to this wind will keep an ever so slight coolness around, although the daytimes will be nice and warm near sea level. The south and west facing leeward beaches in particular will be quite sunny during the days, while the north and east facing windward areas will have more clouds…although just about anywhere could see a shower or two, some of which will remain briefly heavy.

It’s Monday evening here in the islands, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. Of course the big forecast this week revolves around the important Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday! If the weather reels off just the way I have described it in the two paragraphs above, then Thanksgiving should be a great day, turning out the way most folks want it to be. If on the other hand, if things break down, and the weather becomes even more changable than I currently anticipate, well, then all bets are off. Fortunately, we have several more days to do some fine adjusting to the weather details, before we sit down to our Turkey dinners…or whatever you will be plating at your table. ~~~ Today’s weather included quite a few, as a matter of fact, a lot of towering cumulus clouds that popped up especially during the afternoon hours. There were some locally heavy showers falling from these clouds locally, the most intense of which occurred on the Big Island. As expected, this unsettled weather pattern is likely to stick around through the middle of the week. I will be back early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative. I hope you have a great Monday night until then!. Aloha for now…Glenn.

Our Hawaiian Island weather will be rather changable through the next week, although none of those various weather elements looks like too much of a big deal. The details include a lot of upper level troughing over, and offshore of the islands for the time being. These weather features will keep our overlying atmosphere somewhat unstable, and locally shower prone…especially along the windward sides. The following information is the most recent update as of Sunday evening: 

Thanksgiving through Friday – it has been touch and go with this extended forecast period, and still isn’t clear about what will happen then. The truth is that it’s still too far out into the future to say for sure yet, although it would certainly be nice to have good weather for that important holiday. We’ll have to fine tune this outlook over the next few days.

It’s Sunday evening here in islands, as I start writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. As you can see from reading down through the weather paragraphs above, we have some fairly interesting weather going on. This isn’t all that unusual for the deeper autumn month of November, as conditions change more often, at least compared to the more placid summer months. I still don’t see any overly serious weather problems through the next week however, although it will remain changable. ~~~ Here’s a link to an animated satellite image, so you can track where the cloudy areas are in the state now, even at night. In addition, here’s a looping radar image as well, so you can keep an eye on where the showers are falling too. ~~~ As noted above, the frontal boundary fell apart before getting very far into the state today. Here on Maui, I could see some towering cumulus to the north, although the showery clouds didn’t make it here. It’s just before sunset now, and glancing over towards Paia and Kahului, and then even further around in my chair to see the West Maui Mountains…there are cumulus clouds out there. A couple of these are trying to grow pretty tall, although there doesn’t seem to be quite enough atmospheric moisture, for these clouds to continue into much a shower bearing entity. The main term I would use to describe the weather today, that is if you weren’t under some showers, was the breezy north to NE winds. They were strong enough here at my house to lift a large umbrella, sitting over the downstairs outside eating table, lifted right up and over onto my large outside deck above!  I’ll be back very early Monday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Sunday night! Aloha for now…Glenn.

The Hawaiian Islands will be experiencing some distinct weather changes Sunday, into the new week ahead. The most recent computer forecast models are sticking together with a more unified outlook through the next week…although there remains day to day deviations involved. I’ve broken the days down individually for clarification, as lots of things will be happening…this is how it looks at the moment: 
 
Saturday evening – a transition period between our fair weather trade wind pattern, and the approach of a frontal cloud band to our northwest. The winds will remain on the light side, although could become stronger now into Monday as the front moves through the island chain. Satellite imagery shows some moisture heading towards the Big Island, so that may be the most shower prone area in the island chain.  The band of clouds, now called a shearline, will begin moving into the Kauai end of the state late tonight…which will bring showers to that northwestern most island as well.

Thanksgiving through Friday – it has been touch and go with this extended forecast period, and still isn’t completely clear about what will happen then…although now it appears that the unsettled weather, with its off and on showery weather could continue. The truth is that it’s still too far out into the future to say for sure, although it would certainly be nice to bring good weather back for that important holiday. We’ll have to fine tune this outlook over the next few days.

It’s Saturday evening here in islands, as I start writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. As you can see from reading down through the weather paragraphs above, we have some changes that we’re about to embark on. This isn’t all that unusual for the deeper autumn month of November, as conditions change more often, at least compared to the more placid summer months. I still don’t see any overly serious weather problems through the next week however, although it will remain changable and probably more showery than usual. ~~~ Last evening I saw one of the new films playing in Kahului, Maui, called Into the Wild. This film is about a young man who abandons his possessions, gives his entire savings to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Freshly graduated from college with a promising future, 22 year-old Christopher McCandless instead walked out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people. I very much enjoyed this film, which was very engaging, and touching at the same time. I happened to read the book version of this story, written by Jon Krakauer, and had just finished it, when I found out that there was a movie version. If this sounds like a good film for you, try viewing the trailer. ~~~ I think it’s about time to include a link to this animated satellite image, so you can track the clouds as they sweep down through the islands from Kauai to Maui, perhaps skidding to a stop before arriving on the Big Island. In addition, it seems appropriate to add this looping radar image as well, so you can keep an eye on where the showers are falling now too. It’s just before sunset here in Kula, Maui, as I finish up this latest weather updating, finishing off this really nice Saturday in fine fashion…playing Pink Floyd a little too loud perhaps. I will be back early Sunday morning with your next update, I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you happen to be having fun now! Aloha for now…Glenn.

The winds around the Hawaiian Islands will be going through some changes over the next several days…generally remaining on the light side however.  The most recent computer forecast models continue to change their minds…pretty much on a daily basis! This makes it a little difficult to get a good handle on exactly what will be taking place during the next week in terms of our local weather conditions. Although as best as I can translate this information to you, it looks like this: 
 
Friday – a nice day, with the trade winds continuing the light to moderately strong realms. Storminess in the middle latitudes of the north Pacific however will help to push our trade wind producing high pressure ridge down closer to the islands soon. This in turn will soften our local winds, although keep them coming out of the trade wind direction. Whatever showers that will be around will fall mostly along the windward sides.

Monday through Friday – this is where it gets more tricky, although it appears that somewhat unsettled weather will prevail during this extended forecast period. The models have been doing a good bit of flip flopping in regards to this time frame, that’s for sure. "Unsettled weather" in this case, simply means that there will be an increased chance of scattered showers around. The winds will remain from the NE direction during the first half of next week, with the best chance of showers focused over the windward sections. An upper level trough of low pressure may trigger a few heavy showers during the first several days of the new week. We’ll have to fine tune will happen during the Thanksgiving holiday as we move through the next few days.

It’s Friday evening here in islands, as I start writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. As you can tell from reading down through the weather paragraphs above, if you had the time or inclination, there is still a fair amount of uncertainty about what is on our weather horizon up ahead. This isn’t all that unusual for the deeper autumn month of November, as conditions change more suddenly, and without as much warning, as during the more placid summer season. I will do my best to pick through all the various weather information sources to keep you abreast of the latest changes. I still don’t see any serious weather problems through the next week however, although it will remain changable. ~~~ This evening I’ll be seeing one of the new films playing at a theatre in Kahului, called Into the Wild. This film is about a young man abandons his possessions, gives his entire savings to charity and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. "Freshly graduated from college with a promising future, 22 year-old Christopher McCandless instead walked out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. What happened to him on the way transformed this young wanderer into an enduring symbol for countless people. I’ll be back later in the day with some further details, including my evening plans for after work." If this sounds like your cup of tea, try viewing this trailer. ~~~ I’ll be back early Saturday morning with your next weather narrative updates. I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

The trade winds will ease back into the softer realms Friday into the weekend.  The latest weather model output has changed some during the last 24 hours, now showing lighter winds in the islands…extending into the next week time frame. This fact isn’t going to have a huge influence in our local weather conditions, although there will be a few. The most notable difference will just be lighter breezes, and perhaps an increase in relative humidity that we will feel during the days. The nights may become a bit cooler too, with a touch of autumn chill in the early morning hours.
 
Rainfall during the next week will generally be quite light, although there will be a couple of periods when it could become more pronounced. There will be several upper level low pressure systems looming to the north of the Hawaiian Islands, actually offshore from the islands themselves. It appears that for the most part they will be passing across our area to the north, although may drop into the region NE of Hawaii. At the same time we may see a cold front or two approaching from the northwest direction. The first chance of an increase in showers could arrive this Sunday into Monday, with perhaps a somewhat better chance for more widespread showers later next week…although that is not a sure thing yet!

It’s Thursday evening here in islands, as I start writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. After reading the two paragraphs above, you might have come away feeling slightly uncertain about exactly what will be happening weatherwise as we move into next week. I think that is a reasonable response, because as I was writing the paragraphs above…I had that same feeling! Now that we’re getting deeper into our autumn season, the weather will start to get a little more chanagable…a bit more shifty. During the summer months, our local weather is really steady, with just how strong the trade winds will be on a daily basis…the primary forecast problem. However as we get further into November, approaching winter, things can change more quickly, taking us by surprise a little more than usual. I believe that the forecast for next week will work itself out over the next few days, but the bottom line is that there don’t appear to be any major rainstorms on the immediate horizon that I can see at the moment. ~~~ The next couple of days will be just fine. As the winds come down in strength over the next several days, the bias for showers may split itself between the windward coasts and slopes…and the afternoon hours in the upcountry interior areas. None of this is a threat to vacationers or local residents though, with still lots of daytime sunshine beaming down. ~~~ I’ll be back very early Friday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever you happen to be reading from! Aloha for now…Glenn. 

The trade winds here in Hawaii will continue to blow in the moderately strong category through the rest of this work week…although getter lighter by the weekend into early next week. This trade wind weather pattern will keep the Hawaiian Islands in favorably inclined weather circumstances. The trade winds aren’t expected to blow so hard that they will be a problem for mariners, although will be strong enough to cut through the tropical heat that develops during the days. All in all, things will be just fine, with only the occasional shower passing along the windward coasts and slopes. The leeward beaches will be quite sunny, bringing just the kind of weather that visitors and locals appreciate this time of year.  
 
This autumn trade wind weather pattern will last through the end of the week, although the models show an upper level trough of low pressure gettin close by the middle of next week. This isn’t anything to really worry about however, as it’s still too early to know the exact details. There is a chance that we would finally see a different weather pattern arriving about that time. Depending upon where exactly it forms, will help to determine just where exactly an increase in showers might occur. The most likely source of these showers would be to see the trough’s associated cold front moving into the state from the northwest.

It’s Wednesday evening here in islands, as I start writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. As noted in the two paragraphs above, the trade winds will continue to be the driving force in our local Hawaiian Island weather picture for the time being…keeping nice weather around well into the future. The only wild card at this time is a low pressure system that the models want to bring into the area around the middle of next week, as noted in the paragraph above. ~~~ On another note, the famous Humpback Whales are back in Hawaiian waters now! Actually, they began arriving in the waters around Maui late last month, and have recently started to show themselves up around Kauai in the last day or two. It’s always exciting to know that these whales are out there doing their thing! I look forward to seeing them spout, and perhaps even breach almost completely out of the water at times. They will be around through March and into April, so there’s plenty of time to enjoy their company. ~~~ I hope you have a great Wednesday night, I’ll be back very early Thursday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise. Aloha for now…Glenn.

A new trade wind producing high pressure system to the NNW of Hawaii will be pushing eastward…into the area north of the islands Tuesday evening. The recent spell of light winds will trend back into light to moderately strong trade winds today, increasing further into the moderately strong realms by Wednesday. The trade winds may get strong enough over the next couple of days to require small craft wind advisories to be issued for the windiest places in the southern part of the state. The latest computer forecast model guidance suggests that the trade winds will prevail through the rest of this week, and perhaps longer.  
 
Weather maps and satellite imagery continue to show gale and storm low pressure systems migrating across the north Pacific…with their associated cold fronts dangling to the south. These cold fronts, approaching from the northwest direction, won’t have much influence on our local weather…stalling before bringing their showers into the Aloha state for the most part. We will at times however see the trades carry a few showers onto the windward coasts and slopes…especially as we get into the upcoming weekend time frame. The leeward sides will continue to be mostly sunny, to partly cloudy during the days.

It’s Tuesday evening here in islands, as I start writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. As noted in the weather paragraphs above, the Hawaiian islands remain in a sheltered area, protected from the rain bearing cold fronts in the middle latitudes to our north…by high pressure systems with their associated ridges. This leaves us with favorably inclined weather circumstances well into the future, or at least through the rest of this work week. ~~~ When I got up this morning at 4am, I turned on my computer, but the monitor wouldn’t boot up. This immediately throw me into a minor tail-spin, although I leveled off rather quickly, and made the necessary adjustments. I had to go down to the Maui Community College, using one of their computers to do my website updates. It’s probably good to have these things happen occasionally, just so we can affirm to ourselves that things turn out ok when we give them a chance. It’s good to remember also that these minor stumbling blocks, especially the electronic ones, certainly aren’t life and death matters! This problem got corrected during the day, so things should be back to normal come early Wednesday morning…when I return with your next weather narrative. ~~~ I hope you have a great Tuesday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

The long awaited trade winds have finally returned to the Hawaiian Islands. The long lasting Kona low pressure system, along with its associated trough, have finally moved further away to our west. This in turn allows the high pressure system, seen on weather maps to our NE, to spin out what will be a light to moderately strong trade wind flow. The latest weather model output suggests that these balmy breezes will be with us through the weekend into next week…although taking a turn to the softer side of the wind spectrum temporarily Sunday and Monday. Forecasts for the trade winds show them sticking around through the next 7-10 days.

The returning trade winds will carry clouds with some showers into the windward sides of the islands later Thursday into the night.  These new showers will for the most part bypass the leeward sides…although an afternoon shower could pop up over Kona and around Maui. A drier air mass will reach the state later Friday, with nice weather conditions prevailing through the weekend. By the way, the trade winds will help to ventilate the volcanic haze out of local skies over the islands of Maui County…where it has been thick lately! Looking further ahead, we may see a possible increase in showers around next Tuesday or Wednesday. 

It’s Thursday evening here in islands, as I start writing this update for today’s narrative. We find ourselves back in a fairly typical, November trade wind weather pattern. The trade winds won’t be getting too strong however, like they do at times. As a matter of fact, they won’t get much stronger than what we call light to moderate. We can think of this as 10-20 mph in general, with some of those normally windier spots seeing gusts up towards the 30 mph mark. ~~~ Using this looping satellite image you will be able to see the departing low pressure system far to the west of Hawaii, as well as the incoming clouds carried in our direction by the trade winds. As noted in one of the paragraphs above, the windward sides will see off and on very minor showers beginning this evening, while the leeward sides will have a fine night, filled with tropical stars. ~~~ I trust all of you are doing well today, wherever you happen to be spending it. I haven’t mentioned it in a while, although I do appreciate that you have chosen to get your weather information for Hawaii by using my website. I do my best to keep you up-to-date on a daily basis, and continue to enjoy our weather related friendship. I’ll be back early Friday morning with more news from the islands. Aloha for now…Glenn.

The Kona low pressure system, more or less to the west of Hawaii now, continues to move away, although very slowly. This departing low pressure trough still was close enough, that on the eastern flank of this weather feature, we saw a few heavy showers congregating around the Big Island. Here’s a looping satellite image to help you get a picture of what’s being described above. Many parts of the Aloha state will continue to see clearing skies now, which will increase as we move into the Thursday and Friday time frame…although the windward sides will likely see continued off and on showers, as the returning trade winds bring in showery clouds. 

The trade winds will hold off filling back into the islands until later in the day or Thursday. The return of this easterly trade wind flow will bring us back into a more normal trade wind weather pattern soon. This simply means that we’ll see sunnier weather for the south and west facing leeward beaches. The north and east facing windward sides will see perhaps more than the usual passing showers into Thursday…then drier weather Friday into the weekend. The latest computer forecast model information suggests that the trade winds, once they begin blowing, will continue to do so through the rest of this week. 

It’s Wednesday evening here in Kihei, Maui, as I start writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. This Kona low, which brought locally heavy rains, especially to the island of Oahu, this past weekend, continues to gradually fade away to our west. The computer forecast models had indicated it would take until Wednesday before finally losing its influence…which is turning out to be accurate…although some parts of the state remains a bit wet still. Since it started influencing our area this past weekend, which was five days ago now, it seems to be drawing out into quite a long time. I’m sure this is true for all those sun worshippers out there, not to mention the vacationers who want nothing but pure sunshine beaming down! There have been more than the ordinary cloudy skies lately, although it won’t be long now before sunshine will be much more abundant. ~~~ Now that we’re into the month of November, we enter into the heart of our wet season, which extends through February. This certainly doesn’t mean that it will be raining on a daily basis, which is far from the truth. Although it does imply that we will begin to see a few more cold fronts arriving, and a generally tendency for more showers to arrive…than during our long hot summer season. We have what we call a La Nina phase of the ENSO cycle active now, which suggests that we’ll see a tendency for a slightly wetter than normal winter coming up. ~~~ I’m up in Kula, after a very, very volcanically hazy drive home from Kihei. Here in the upcountry area, the clouds are hanging low, low enough in fact for the tree tops to be cut in half by fog. It’s a heavy atmosphere here on Maui, ripe for showers, although they aren’t falling here at the moment. ~~~ I’ll be back early Thursday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Wednesday night until then, wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.