Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs
Posted by GlennFebruary 18-19 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday:
Lihue, Kauai – 81
Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Kaneohe, Oahu – 81
Kahului, Maui – 78
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 80
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 6 a.m. Monday morning:
Honolulu, Oahu – 72F
Kahului, Maui – 60
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 afternoon:
0.01 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.57 WAIANAE, OAHU
0.04 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.94 KAUPO GAP, MAUI
0.10 POHAKULOA WEST, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. A high pressure ridge extending southwest from a high pressure system far NE of Hawaii…is now over Maui. This pressure configuration will cause light and variable winds, with daytime sea breezes through Wednesday. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those weather symbols mean on the map.
Satellite and Radar 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.
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.
Light winds from the south and SE, will give way to light trade winds…and then become stronger south kona winds by the weekend. Storms in the middle latitudes of the north central Pacific, are keeping our trade wind producing high pressure ridge down over the Big Island on this Presidents Day holiday. There will be light south to SE winds, gradually becoming light easterly trade winds starting Tuesday. Despite the variable directions of our winds this week, they will remain light in general. There remains the chance of windy southerly winds associated with an active cold front arriving this weekend.
We remain in a convective weather pattern Monday evening, with clear skies in the mornings giving way to increased clouds during the afternoons…with showers mostly over the interior sections. As usual during a weather pattern such as this, the beaches will be the sunniest places. When the trade winds return, albeit lightly on Tuesday, we may see a few showers, in addition to the afternoon inland showers…falling along the windward sides too. The computer models are showing a possible rainy weather event later this coming weekend.
It’s Monday evening as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative. Our high pressure ridge, which slipped just south of the Big Island Sunday, bringing increased moisture and clouds…has migrated northward over the state again. This essentially stopped the south winds, but kept a drift of air from the southeast over the islands. This puts us squarely back into a convective weather pattern, with clear cool mornings, becoming cloudy during the afternoon hours in the upcountry sections of each island. These clouds will drop some showers, although nothing heavy is indicated. ~~~ If you had a chance to read down through the two paragraphs above, you know that our weather here in the Aloha state will remain pretty similar from one day to the next through most of this week…with light trade winds returning soon. ~~~ The one change we see up ahead would occur this weekend…when we could finally see a vigorous Pacific cold front push down through the state Sunday. If this were to manifest as the computer models are insisting, we would see blustery south kona winds arriving ahead of a wet frontal cloud band, followed by brisk and cool north winds in the wake of its passage next Monday. ~~~ Sunday afternoon I drove over to the windward side here on Maui, to the lush area in Haiku. A good friend had a birthday party, with lots of friends attending, who are my friends as well. We had a good time, eating lots of delicious food, and having a few drinks. This persons husband is a music expert, and played all kinds of great tunes on his sound system. When we finished dinner, which we ate outside on the large deck, we went out onto the expansive lawn, and sat in chairs around a bonfire. It was a lovely evening, with the growing tropical moon shining brightly above. I finally got tired, although it was hard to leave the good conversations, along with the cake and ice cream…taking the drive back up the Haleakala Crater to Kula. Wow, a dance party Saturday night, and then another party Sunday night, that’s unusual for me. ~~~ Monday, because it was a holiday, allowed me to stay home, at least for the most part. I did have some house work to do, although I must admit, I didn’t sink into it quite as much as I thought I would. I took one of my cars to get some minor repairs, although fortunately my mechanic lives here in Kula, Maui. It got volcanically hazy as I expected this weekend, and cloudy this afternoon as well. There were a few light showers, but they didn’t amount to much as it turned out. ~~~ I’ll be back very early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a lovely Monday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Glenn’s TV Weather show is back online again now. The colors aren’t perfect, although they are close enough. One day’s show will replaced with the next new days show at around 9am HST (11am PST – 2pm EST)…Monday through Friday. Thanks to the folks at the Maui Media Lab in Paia for making this happen!
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