Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs

Cattle at Ulupalakua Ranch, Maui
Photo Credit: Flickr.com

Light trade winds will remain in place here in the islands Sunday into Monday. Our trade wind producing ridge of high pressure is located a short distance north of Kauai now, allowing easterly breezes to remain over the entire state. There will be little change in the direction or strength of these breezes for the time being. There looks to be some changes that will happen around the middle of the new week ahead though, when high pressure strengthens to our north and northeast, potentially ushering in a stronger trade wind flow for a day or two…then getting lighter again for next weekend. 
 
Showers will be few and far between, concentrating their efforts best on the Big Island and east Maui. These showers will get carried into the windward sides generally, although they won’t amount to much. There will be the usual clouds that stack-up over and around the mountains as well. These cumulus buildups won’t be able to drop many showers, although a few will fall here and there.  Showers may increase around the middle of the upcoming week, focused primarily over the windward sides. We may see wet trade winds continuing along the windward sides for several days thereafter.

It’s Saturday evening as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative.  Looking into next week, as noted in the two paragraphs above, we finally see some changes occurring…after a long dry spell. The computer models show a cold front approaching the state from the northwest early in the week, although it will likely stall before getting into our area. It may however add enough moisture into our overlying atmosphere, that we see an increase in windward showers then. As we pass mid-week, high pressure systems to the north and northeast are expected to strengthen, boosting the trade winds as they move back into the islands. This surge of trade winds may push more moisture onto the windward sides of the islands. As we move into next weekend, the winds will drop again, with the bias for windward showers, shifting over and around the mountains during the afternoon hours. ~~~ I went to see the new film Penelope (2008) Friday evening. As soon as I saw that it was billed as a comedy, I became reluctant. I often think of these comedy’s as being too silly. At any rate, Penelope stars Christina Ricci, Reese Witherspoon, James McAvoy, Catherine O’Hara, among others. As many of you regular readers know, I’m typically drawn to those heavy, often rather violent action films. This time I thought I’d try something different though, taking a step or three back from the intensity that I often enjoy in the theaters. I can’t say I was sorry that I saw this film, it was cute, rather endearing at times, light hearted in general. If you have any interest in a sneak peek into this film, here’s the trailer, see what you think. ~~~ It’s just before sunset here in Kula, Maui, as I put the last finishing touches on this narrative update. Saturday was a great day, especially down near the beaches. I took an early morning walk along Thompson Road, out near Keokea and Ulupalakua, which was a great way to start the day! Once I got home, I didn’t leave the property, which was nice for a change. I hung out with my neighbors, which is pleasure. Late in the afternoon, the clouds gathered significantly on the slopes of the Haleakala Crater. These clouds began to lightly shower a little while ago, which was a treat. Looking down the mountain, I can see that the beaches over towards Kihei and Wailea were still warm and sunny. Here in Kula, at just before 5pm, it was a bit foggy, with those light showers, and cool. I love this kind of upcountry weather, and I know those folks down near the ocean enjoyed their sunshine too. ~~~  I’m going to remain hunkered in this evening, with no plans to go anywhere. I’ll be back Sunday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.