2008
Yearly Archive
Posted by Glenn
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February 7-8 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday:
Lihue, Kauai – 79
Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Kaneohe, Oahu – 77
Kahului, Maui – 79
Hilo, Hawaii – 79
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 83
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 4 a.m. Friday morning:
Kaneohe, Oahu – 71F
Kahului, Maui – 61
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:
3.55 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
3.19 OAHU FOREST NWR, OAHU
1.23 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
2.11 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
4.04 HILO AIRPORT, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. A 1034 millibar high pressure system is located far to the NE of the islands…with its associated ridge extending westward…to the north of Hawaii Friday. This pressure configuration will keep light winds around, gradually picking up in strength this weekend into next week. 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
A nice sunset on the upper west side of Maui
The cloud and shower producing upper trough of low pressure over the islands…will stick around for another day or two. This upper level trough of low, had been moving eastward, and was expected to provide improving weather conditions…but has now stalled. This in turn will keep our overlying atmosphere at least somewhat moist and unstable, with still the chance of localized heavy showers, or even a random thunderstorm…mostly during the afternoon hours. All of the islands got into the act Thursday afternoon, when locally heavy, and in places…flooding rainfall occurred. We will see a repeat performance again Friday, with improved weather forecast for the weekend.
The trade winds have eased in strength recently, remaining on the light side through Friday…then pick up a notch again this weekend. The latest weather map shows a very strong 1040 millibar high pressure system located far to the northeast of Hawaii Thursday evening. Storms moving by to our north have weakened our trade wind producing high pressure ridge, which in turn has softened our local trade winds temporarily. The long range computer forecast models show the trade winds persisting into next week, which continues the unusually long lasting spell of winds this winter.
It’s Thursday evening as I begin updating last paragraph of today’s narrative. The high and middle level clouds, which greatly limited Hawaii’s famous sunshine during the last week, have finally moved away! This allowed more sunshine to prevail in most areas, especially during the morning hours…which was good thing!
On the other hand, that sunshine, with its daytime heating, in turn caused afternoon cloud buildups to form. As noted above, the air mass over the islands is still somewhat unstable. This instability allowed clouds to develop vertically, to grow higher than normal. Those deep dark clouds, dropped localized heavy showers, with even a few thunderstorms noted. At one point Thursday afternoon, there was a waterspout reported dropping down from one such cloud! A waterspout is simply a tornado over water. The focus for these showers was mostly over and around the mountains may be showers falling along the windward sides in places too. The good news here, is that the leeward beaches saw better weather in general, with lots of sunshine beaming down! ~~~ Despite the chance of more showers, I think the general outlook remains upbeat. We are more than likely going to see a repeat performance Friday afternoon, after a sunny start to the day in most areas. This weekend should be quite nice, with just a normal trade wind weather pattern prevailing. Looking further away, like around next Tuesday, we could see the chance of another increase in showers, but lets hold off on getting too overly serious about that just yet. ~~~ 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 spending it. 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). Thanks to the folks at the Maui Media Lab in Paia for making this happen!
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February 6-7 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday:
Lihue, Kauai – 79
Honolulu, Oahu – 82
Kaneohe, Oahu – 77
Kahului, Maui – 75
Hilo, Hawaii – 77
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 78
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 4 a.m. Thursday morning:
Lihue, Kauai – 72F
Hilo, Hawaii – 66
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Thursday morning:
2.43 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
3.77 MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.65 HANA AIRPORT, MAUI
0.87 PAHOA, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. A 1035 millibar high pressure system is located far to the NE of the islands…with its associated ridge extending westward…to the north of Hawaii Thursday. This pressure configuration will keep light to moderately strong trade winds blowing through the rest of this week. 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
A picture of the top of the Haleakala Crater on Maui, when it was covered
with snow last week…looking down towards Maalaea Bay
Cloudy weather will perist for the time being, with improved conditions Thursday…through the rest of the week. The upper level trough of low pressure, which has kept inclement weather conditions around since this last weekend, will continue moving eastward. This in turn will allow the copious amounts of high and middle level clouds to finally clear island skies. This transformation won’t be immediate, but happen soon. As the weekend gets here, there’s a good chance that our local weather will be quite nice…although there will still be a few passing showers along the windward sides.
Our local trade winds will stick around through the rest of this week, although be lighter than anytime during the last week. The latest weather map shows a strong 1037 millibar high pressure system located far to the northeast of Hawaii Wednesday night. The long range computer forecast models show the trade winds persisting into next week, which continues the unusually long lasting spell of winds from the east. The long lasting small craft wind advisories will likely be taken down by the NWS office in Honolulu at some point soon…as we settle into light to moderately strong trade winds well into the future.
It’s Wednesday evening as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative. A low pressure system, with its associated trough, is finally beginning to lose its grip in our Hawaiian Island weather picture. This trough continues to funnel moist air into our area, but most of it now is confined to the higher altitudes of the atmosphere. These high cirrus clouds are steadily moving east, having already cleared Niihau, Kauai, and most of Oahu, with Maui County next in line…and the Big Island not far behind. This looping satellite image shows those clouds being carried over us. As the trough finally moves off to the east of the Big Island, we will see relief from the mostly cloudy weather of late, with drier weather expected, and yes, even lots of sunshine beaming down soon too. ~~~ It actually looks like we might be digging ourselves out of the adverse weather conditions that have held sway over the islands lately! This is none too soon, believe me, as pretty much everyone is tired of the cloudy and locally wet to very wet weather lately. ~~~ By the way, there were enough breaks in the overcast today, that sunshine finally returned enough, especially on Kauai and Oahu, that air temperatures warmed some. Case in point, the Honolulu airport reached up into the 80F’s, snagging a pleasantly warm 82F degree high temperature for the day. The rest of the major airport weather stations were stuck in the upper 70F’s. ~~~ I’ll be back very early Thursday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise, I hope you have a nice Wednesday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha…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 new show at around 9am HST (11am PST, 1pm EST). Thanks to the folks at the Maui Media Lab in Paia for making this happen!
Posted by Glenn
[6] Comments
February 5-6 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Tuesday:
Lihue, Kauai – 78
Honolulu, Oahu – 79
Kaneohe, Oahu – 74
Kahului, Maui – 73
Hilo, Hawaii – 71
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 79
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 4 a.m. Wednesday morning:
Lihue, Kauai – 73F
Kahului, Maui – 64
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Wednesday morning:
5.72 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
2.06 MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.01 MOLOKAI
0.10 LANAI
0.13 KAHOOLAWE
5.37 PUU KUKUI, MAUI
4.20 HILO AIRPORT, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. A 1034 millibar high pressure system is located far to the NE of the islands…with its associated ridge extending westward…to the north of Hawii. This pressure configuration will keep moderately strong trade winds blowing Wednesday…getting lighter Thursday. 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
This shot was taken near Hilo, on the Big Island
photo credit: flickr.com
The trade winds, still quite strong and gusty, will keep blowing across our tropical latitudes of the north central Pacific, gradually getting lighter over the next couple of days…only to increase again this weekend. The latest weather map shows two high pressure systems located to the northeast of Hawaii Tuesday night. The pressure gradient is still quite steep in Hawaii, which simply means that our local winds are still rather strong. There will be blustery winds in those areas exposed to the easterly breezes, although the more protected leeward sides will see less of it. The long lasting small craft wind advisories remain enforce over the windiest areas around the state for the time being.
Just when it started to look like we’d see a possible break in the showery weather, showers, even locally heavy ones…may continue through Friday. The incoming showery clouds don’t seem to want to stop, marching along our windward sides like nobody’s business! Since the trade winds prevail, there will be continued passing showers, unfortunately focusing their efforts most effectively over the windward sides of the Big Island and Maui, although Oahu and Kauai won’t be immune. As the weekend gets here, there’s a good chance that our local weather will transform itself back towards the sunnier side of the weather spectrum.
It’s Tuesday evening as I begin updating last paragraph of today’s narrative. Today was anything but a banner day for sunshine, with lots of high clouds, not to mention the middle and low varieties, hiding our famous Hawaiian sunshine once again.
This looping satellite image shows the situation well. Those cirrus clouds will hold back the sun for the time being, although these icy clouds up high aren’t rain producers at least. Speaking of precipitation, there is still lots of water falling from the sky around…some of which has become locally heavy again. A flash flood watch has been reinstituted for the already soggy Big Island. This looping radar image shows waves of showers impacting the Big Island…stretching up over parts of Maui and Oahu as well. The Big Island does not need anymore rainfall, especially from Kau to Puna and up along the windward sides! ~~~ Most of Tuesday was totally cloudy, with showers not uncommon. Tuesday evening heavy rain was once again falling along the windward sides of the Big Island, this is getting to be really out of hand. The windward sides of Maui too, are exceptionally soggy and wet. Oahu, up the island chain, isn’t fairing much better, with copious rainfall a common visitor along the east and north facing slopes of the Koolau Mountains. The big question of course becomes: when will it stop! Well, it looked like it might back off there yesterday and earlier today, but now, well, it looks like we’ll have to wait until Friday or the weekend for some substantial relief. ~~~ I hope it’s drier where you are, as even here in Kihei, Maui, we had some brief showers around Tuesday. When it rains in Kihei, you know it’s a wet period! At any rate, I’ll be back with your next new weather narrative from our less than perfect paradise very early Wednesday morning. I hope you have a great Tuesday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: To help figure out how to create a flapping wing plane that will stand up to extreme wind and weather scientists are turning to nature for the answer.
Natural flyers like birds, bats and insects outperform man-made aircraft in aerobatics and efficiency. University of Michigan engineers are studying these animals as a step toward designing flapping-wing planes with wingspans smaller than a deck of playing cards.
A Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75.
The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second.
Select military aircraft can withstand gravitational forces of 8-10 G. Many birds routinely experience positive G-forces greater than 10 G and up to 14 G.
Interesting2: It’s National Weatherman’s Day Tuesday! "National Weatherman’s Day honors weathermen, and woman who work hard to accurately predict the often fickle weather. Despite major technological advances and supercomputers, forecasting the weather is still a tricky, and ever changing business.
According to the Air Force News, Weatherman’s Day "commemorates the birth of John Jeffries, one of America’s first weathermen". Jeffries was born on Feb 5, 1744. He kept weather records from 1774 to1816.
If you see a weatherman today, give them your appreciation for a job well done.
Posted by Glenn
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February 4-5 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday:
Lihue, Kauai – 75
Honolulu, Oahu – 78
Kaneohe, Oahu – 75
Kahului, Maui – 75
Hilo, Hawaii – 75
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 81
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning:
Kailua-kona – 73F
Hilo, Hawaii – 65
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Tuesday morning:
3.66 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
1.63 KAHUKU TRAINING AREA, OAHU
0.04 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
1.93 PUU KUKUI, MAUI
4.81 WAIAKEA UKA, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. High pressure systems, two of them, are located far to the NE of the islands…with their associated ridge extending westward…to the north of Hawii. This pressure configuration will keep moderately strong trade winds blowing 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
Front row seat
photo credit: flickr.com
The trade winds will continue to blow through the week, although finally come back down into the moderately strong realms now. The latest weather chart continues to show a hefty 1036 millibar high pressure system located to the northeast of Hawaii Monday night. As usual, those places sheltered from the gusty wind flow, will have lighter winds. Small craft wind advisories remain active in the windiest areas around the state.
The heaviest rains have recently fallen on Kauai and the Big Island…with perhaps one more day of this heavy rain threat. The incoming showery clouds will be getting less frequent now, carried in our direction by the steady trade winds. There remains the chance that some of these showers will cause localized flooding…thus, the statewide flash flood watch remains in place Monday night. Looking further ahead, we should see some relief from these heavy rains by the time we reach mid-week and beyond.
It’s Monday evening as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative.
The combination of lots of moisture being carried our way on the gusty trade winds, and an upper level low pressure system, with its cold air aloft…has made our overlying atmosphere unstable and very shower prone the last several days. The upper low with its associated troughing, will be gradually moving away soon. This will take the threat of heavy showers with it, although, with the trade winds still blowing this week, we’ll continue to see at least some passing showers along those soggy windward coasts and slopes. ~~~ Monday remained on the cloudy side in most areas of the state. Although the rainfall definitely backed off to a large degree. There were some showers falling locally, although for the most part they remained over the offshore waters. As this looping satellite image shows, there remains a conveyor belt like flow of high and middle level clouds streaming over Hawaii from the tropics to our SW. It shows towering cumulus and thunderstorms to the SW of Oahu for the most part. The icy tops of these thunderstorms are moving up over the central islands. The actual thunderstorms and attendant heavy showers themselves, seem to be staying safely offshore at the time of this writing. This looping radar image shows an area of showers still looming offshore of the Big Island. The Big Island does not need anymore rainfall, especially from Kau to Puna and up along the windward sides! Here’s why ~~~ As I mentioned this morning, I’ve been having trouble with my internet connectivity at home. I had to drive down to the Maui Community College to update this webpage early Monday morning, along with the rest of my website. I’m not sure when this problem will be corrected, so there may be some irregularities over the next few days. I will be back very early Tuesday morning if all goes well, otherwise I’ll get the next new narrative out to you as soon as possible, one way or the other. (When I got home Monday evening, my computer worked just fine, and by the way it was pea soup foggy up here on the slopes of the Haleakala Crater, in Kula, Maui, one of my favorite weather types) I hope you have a great Monday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting:
"Take a hike!" isn’t just a rebuff. Now it’s also a plea from environmental scientists. Researchers have found that people are enjoying the outdoors less than they used to, which may lead to decreased interest in protecting the environment.
Over the past 20 years, trips to U.S. parks have declined about 20 percent. In 2006, about 273,000 Americans visited a state or national park, down from about 287,000 people in 1987, according to a new study by conservation scientists Oliver Pergams of the University of Illinois at Chicago and Patricia Zaradic of Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. This averages out to roughly 0.9 visits per person a year now, compared to 1.2 visits 20 years ago.
And it’s not just park visits that are down, but almost every form of outdoor recreation, including camping, hunting and fishing.
The researchers blame this outdoor decline on a phenomenon they’ve termed videophilia — a pervasive preference for experiencing the world through electronic media rather than actually leaving the house.
Famous aviation quotes: ‘You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full
power to taxi to the terminal.’
‘Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to complete the flight successfully.’
‘The only time you have too much fuel is when you’re on fire.’
Posted by Glenn
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February 2-3 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday:
Lihue, Kauai – 74
Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Kaneohe, Oahu – 76
Kahului, Maui – 70
Hilo, Hawaii – 70
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 79
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 6 a.m. Sunday morning:
Kaneohe, Oahu – 73F
Barking Sands, Kauai – 66
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Sunday morning:
5.38 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
4.51 POAMOHO 2, OAHU
0.39MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
5.28 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
11.82 WAIAKEA UKA, BIG ISLAND!
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. A dynamic 1036 millibar high pressure system remains in the area north-northeast of the islands, which will keep moderate to locally strong and gusty trade winds blowing across our area for the time being…gradually getting lighter as we move into the new week ahead. 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
Winter weather in the Hawaiian Islands this weekend!
photo credit: flickr.com
The trade winds will remain locally strong and gusty across the Hawaiian Islands into Sunday. The latest weather map shows a strong 1035 millibar high pressure system located to the north-northeast of Hawaii Saturday night. As usual, those places sheltered from the gusty wind flow, will have lighter winds. Small craft wind advisories remain active, with gale warnings posted in the channels around Maui and the Big Island. A trough of low pressure in our area, may turn our winds to the ESE or even SE in a couple of days. Later in the new week ahead, our trade winds will actually get quite a bit lighter…finally.
Incoming showers, carried by the trade winds, will keep the windward sides wet…with some showers spreading over to the leeward sides locally. These incoming showery clouds will be numerous…some of which will be heavy. Local showers will be more active than normal through the weekend, some of which will bring flooding…thus the statewide flash flood watch into Sunday. Looking further ahead, the latest computer models show more showers heading our way, especially on the windward sides on Maui and the Big Island.
It’s Saturday evening as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative. As noted in the two paragraphs above, its going to continue to be rather windy and locally wet…especially along the windward coasts and slopes of Maui and the Big Island. As we move into the new week ahead, we will see more showers arriving along the already wet windward sides. There is the chance of localized flooding, with thunderstorms now included in the forecast. ~~~ Saturday was definitely one of the cloudier and wet days of the year, short year that its been so far. This isn’t totally unexpected though, as often La Nina years bring wetter than normal weather to the Hawaiian Islands. This has been an unusually wet period however, as the just under 20.00 inches of rain, during the last 24 hours, that has fallen along the wettest areas on the windward side of the Big Island shows! ~~~ I want to keep this looping radar image active, which shows the considerable amount of showers being carried in over the windward sides of the islands now. For added perspective, here’s an IR satellite image, showing all the clouds congregating around the islands…which there is no lack! ~~~ It’s just around sunset here in Kula, Maui, as I get near the end of this long paragraph. The sun is poking through the long lasting overcast finally, which is shining brightly orange in my weather tower. At the moment, I’m listening to Erik Satie’s piano music, which somehow seems to fit nicely. I hope you have a great Saturday night, I’ll be back Sunday morning with more weather updates, I hope you have a great Saturday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
The following weekend poem was written by a former poet laureate of the United States, Billy Collins. This poem was selected from his book called Questions About Angels….called Pie Man.
I am carrying my homemade pies down a cobblestone road
that winds through a hamlet, balancing one pie
on each palm, traversing a page of fair watercolors
and ink lines, a white baker’s hat collapsed on my head,
a white apron waving over my river blue pants.
Wives call to me from the frames of their cottage windows.
Children skip alongside me, their sunny faces uplifted.
My high jaunty strides show I love my trade.
You may remember the first time you saw me,
sitting in someone’s lap as she turned the pages
of a thin book dropped long ago on the banks of childhood.
You may even remember some details like the rows
of fork holes in the crusts, the rising curlicues of steam,
my buckled shoes, the red lettering on my handcart.
It is a picture that will soon pale as it did before,
the pies, the hat, cobblestones and children breaking
into pieces and drifting off as objects do in space.
This may be the last time you think of me or I of you.
Think of the color of the shutters, the painted bridge,
the shapes of clouds, the wooden sign above the cheese
shop.
Posted by Glenn
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February 1-2 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday:
Lihue, Kauai – 73
Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Kaneohe, Oahu – 76
Kahului, Maui – 74
Hilo, Hawaii – 76
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 81
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 5 a.m. Saturday morning:
Honolulu, Oahu – 73F
Barking Sands, Kauai – 66
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Saturday morning:
3.80 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
1.34 POAMOHO 2, OAHU
0.34 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
7.97 PUU KUKUI, MAUI
11.03 WAIAKEA UKA, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. A robust 1036 millibar high pressure system remains locked into place north-northeast of the islands, which will keep moderate to locally strong and gusty trade winds blowing across our area through Sunday. 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
Winter surf in Hawaii
photo credit: flickr.com
The trade winds will remain locally strong and gusty across the Hawaiian Islands through the weekend. The latest weather map shows a strong 1036 millibar high pressure system located to the north-northeast of Hawaii Friday night. As usual, those places sheltered from the gusty wind flow, will have lighter winds. Small craft wind advisories remain active, with even gale warnings posted in the channels around Maui and the Big Island! It will take until early next week for the winds to moderate, when they will change direction to the southeast perhaps…bringing warmer air with them. Later in the new week ahead, our trade winds will actually get quite a bit lighter.
Incoming showers, carried by the trade winds, will keep the windward sides wet…with some showers spreading over to the leeward sides locally. These incoming showery clouds will be numerous…some of which may be briefly heavy. The upper level low pressure system, which brought snow to the mountains recently, has moved away to the northeast. It’s associated trough however, will remain near the islands. This in turn will keep the trade wind inversion high or non-existent…which means thicker clouds. Thus, showers will be more active than normal through the weekend. Looking further ahead, the latest computer models show a low pressure system developing to the southwest of Hawaii, which may pull up deep moisture from the SE, keeping rain in the forecast into the new week, especially on the windward sides on Maui and the Big Island.
It’s Friday evening as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative. As noted in the two paragraphs above, its going to continue to be rather windy and locally wet along the windward coasts and slopes. The latest forecast models are locking onto the distinct possibility of continued wet conditions there even after the weekend. I’ve held off on saying too much about this increase in showers early in the new week ahead, but since the models are becoming more aligned in there solutions, we have to take this threat more seriously. As we move into the new week ahead, we could likely see more showers arriving along the already wet windward sides. There is the chance of localized flooding, although thunderstorms aren’t in the forecast at this point…fortunately. We’ll need to keep an eye on this situation, as tropical moisture from the SE moves up over Maui and the Big Island end of the chain. ~~~ I’m about to leave Kihei, and head over to Wailuku, where I’m meeting some friends. The occasion is something called First Friday, which simply means a social occasion on the 1st Friday of the month. I hadn’t heard of this before, but will check it out…not sure what to expect. It would be nice to have a drink, and be able to do some dancing! ~~~ Before I leave however, I want to put a link to this looping satellite image, which shows the copious amount of high cirrus clouds being drawn over the islands now. They may stick around through the weekend, giving great sunset and sunrise colors, although will dim and filter our sunshine during the days. I hope you have a great Friday night, I’ll of course be back on Saturday with your next weather narrative from paradise! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: China is beginning to take advantage of an unusual energy source – cow gas. Cows emit a significant amount of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, when they belch and flatulate. According to People’s Daily, the world’s largest cow-dung methane power plant started operation on January 21 in China’s Inner Mongolia region. With an investment of roughly $US5.7 million from the country’s largest milk producer, Mengniu Dairy, the plant is able to supply 10 million kilowatt-hours of electricity to the national power grid. Using equipment and technology from Germany, the plant processes the dung, urine, and waste water from some 10,000 cows on Mengniu’s farm. The facility is able to produce 12,000 cubic meters of methane and generate 30,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity daily. The heat derived from the power generation will be used for daily heating at the farm, and the water will be recycled for irrigation. The facility also produces 200,000 tons of organic fertilizers a year, a practice that will save 5,000 tons of coal annually. Methane gas is the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide after carbon dioxide. An adult cow emits 80 to 110 kilograms of the gas over its lifetime. Worldwide, 1.2 billion large ruminants, including cows, produce an estimated 80 million tons of methane annually, accounting for some 28 percent of global methane emissions from human-related activities, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In total, the livestock sector is responsible for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Interesting2: A 24-year-old German medical student described Friday how she used mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to revive a tiger cub that nearly choked to death on a chunk of meat. Janine Bauer, who was visiting the Berg Zoo in December with her one-year-old son Johann, asked a keeper to let her into the pen and to hold the prone feline down while she cleared its airway, gave heart massage and revived it with the kiss of life. The zoo in Halle, eastern Germany did not make the incident public at the time. Bauer told MDR television in Halle that the young Malayan tiger appeared to have been too greedy to chew its food properly: "I saw him shiver, fall over, twitch a bit and become immobile. "It took three to five minutes, but he revived in the end." In gratitude, the zoo has named the tiger Johann after her son.
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January 31-February 1 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday:
Lihue, Kauai – 75
Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Kaneohe, Oahu – 77
Kahului, Maui – 74
Hilo, Hawaii – 68
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 80
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 4 a.m. Friday morning:
Honolulu, Oahu – 72F
Molokai airport – 65
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:
0.93 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.98 MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.16 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.09 KAHOOLAWE
7.98 PUU KUKUI, MAUI
3.28 HILO AIRPORT, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. High pressure systems, located far to the north-northeast and NE of the islands, will keep moderate to locally strong and gusty trade winds blowing across our area through the rest of this week. 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
Palm trees swaying to and fro in the gusty trade winds
photo credit: flickr.com
The long lasting trade winds will continue, and will even gain some added strength Friday into the weekend…calming down a little early next week. The latest weather map shows two high pressure systems stretched out to the north through northeast of Hawaii Thursday evening. These trade wind producing high pressure cells will strengthen some soon, thus the corresponding boost in our local trade winds Friday. Look for moderate to locally strong and gusty trade winds to take us into the weekend. As usual, those places sheltered from the gusty wind flow, will have lighter winds. Small craft wind advisory flags continue to flap in the gusty winds across all of Hawaii’s marine environment.
The never ending showers continue along the windward sides, making for pretty soggy conditions. These incoming showery clouds, carried by the trade winds, will be quite numerous…some of which may be briefly heavy along the windward sides of Maui and the Big Island. The cold air aloft over the eastern end of the Hawaiian Islands, which triggered the snow over the summits on Maui and the Big Island, will be warming. However, there is still enough cold air around that snow may fall over Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on the Big Island Thursday. Thursday was a transition day, with still a fair amount of instability around…which allowed a few briefly heavy showers to fall near Maui and the Big Island.
It’s Thursday evening as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative. It’s mid-winter in the northern hemisphere, what I’ve been calling the heart of winter recently. This reality came into sharp focus the last few days, with all the snowfall atop the summits on Maui and the Big Island! The lowlands, down near sea level too, are experiencing chilly temperatures. Case in point, the warmest temperature at sea level at any of the major airport weather stations Wednesday, reached only 78F degrees. The highest temperature at the Kahului airport yesterday was an unusually cool 70F degrees! Thursday was a little warmer, although not by much. Air temperatures were able however to reach at least 80F degrees at both Honolulu and Kona…although both readings barely made the grade! By the way, this afternoon it showered again in Kihei, not a major soaking, although the streets were all wet…as were the diehard sun bathers at the beach. ~~~ As noted in the paragraphs above, the windward sides will remain off and on wet through the rest of this week. Also, the trade winds will be part and parcel of our local Hawaiian Island weather picture through the remainder of this week as well. Looking at the first part of next week, it appears that we may see our winds get lighter and they may even turn to the warmer SE direction by mid-week. ~~~ I’ll be back with your next new weather narrative very early Friday morning, here’s wishing you a great Thursday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: The year 2005 – A female great white shark named " Nicole", tagged in waters of South Africa, traveled farther than any other shark known, more than 12,400 miles to the coast of Australia and back again in just under nine months. Although Nicole took frequent plunges to depths as great as 3,125 feet, she spent most of her time swimming along the surface, leading researchers to suspect that perhaps great white sharks use celestial cues for transoceanic navigation.
Interesting2: A water supply crisis is looming in the western United States thanks to human-caused climate change that already has altered the region’s river flows, snow pack and air temperatures, scientists said. Trends over the past half century foreshadow a worsening decline in water, perhaps the region’s most valuable natural resource, even as population and demand expands in western states, researchers led by a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography wrote in the journal Science on Thursday. Up to 60 percent of changes in three key factors affecting the West’s water cycle — river flow, winter air temperatures and snow pack — are due to human-caused climate change, they determined using multiple computer models and data analysis. "Our results are not good news for those living in the western United States," wrote the team led by Tim Barnett, a climate expert at Scripps Institution, part of the University of California at San Diego. "It foretells of water shortages, lack of storage capability to meet seasonally changing river flow, transfers of water from agriculture to urban uses and other critical impacts." Barnett said computer models point to a looming crisis in water supply in the coming two decades. It has been clear for some time that the climate has been changing in the western United States, and the question was whether it was due to natural variability or driven by climate change related to human-produced greenhouse gases and aerosols, the scientists said.
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January 30-31 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday:
Lihue, Kauai – 75
Honolulu, Oahu – 78
Kaneohe, Oahu – 75
Kahului, Maui – 70
Hilo, Hawaii – 76
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 78
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 4 a.m. Thursday morning:
Lihue, Kauai – 70F
Hilo, Hawaii – 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 Thursday morning:
1.39 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.81 OAHU FOREST NWR, OAHU
0.17 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.01 KAHOOLAWE
5.04 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
1.62 PAHOA, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. High pressure systems, located far to the north and NE of the islands, will keep moderate to locally strong and gusty trade winds blowing across our area through Friday…and beyond. 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
Unusual snow atop the Haleakala Crater Wednesday (clickable)
Photo Credit: David Salemme
Light coating of sugar on Maui Wednesday (clickable)
photo credit: Rich Nezelek
The locally blustery trade winds will continue here in Hawaii, lasting through the end of this week…then finally get softer early next week. The latest weather map shows several high pressure systems stretched out to the north through northeast of Hawaii Wednesday evening. These trade wind producing high pressure cells will remain in place, with only minor fluctuations in location and strength for the time being. Look for moderate to locally strong and gusty trade winds to continue. As usual, those places sheltered from the gusty wind flow, will have lighter winds. A small craft wind advisory is in force across all of Hawaii’s marine environment.
Abundant moisture upstream of the islands, will keep off and on showers marching along the windward coasts and slopes. These incoming showery clouds, carried by the trade winds, will be quite numerous…some of which will be briefly quite heavy today, less so Thursday. These active showers will for the most part be restricted to the windward coasts and slopes. Although, with the trade winds blowing this strongly, there’s always the chance that a few of these windward biased showers will sneak over into the leeward sides…especially on the smaller islands.
It’s Wednesday evening as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative. Snow falls often during the winter months atop the summits on the Big Island of Hawaii. Although Maui is quite a different story, where years often go by without a dusting of the white stuff! Early in the hours on Tuesday, we had such an occurrence, which caused quite a stir in our local population. Unfortunately, the snow and icy conditions caused the road to the summit to be closed. The snow was visible from the coastal areas, so it made for such a pretty sight. During the morning, the clouds partially hid the white capping atop the Haleakala Crater, but during the afternoon, it was quite a sight to behold. I know that on the mainland, snow isn’t all that big a deal, but here in the tropics, snow on Maui is major headline news! There are nice pictures of the snow on the front page of the Maui News in Wednesday’s online edition. ~~~ The cold air aloft which triggered the snowfall, will begin to warm up soon. I really enjoyed this unusual treat, and will showed many of the pictures that people sent me via email yesterday…on my morning TV show. By the way, I should be able to share that weather program with you soon online, with a link on this website. I will talk more about that soon, when I can work out the details. ~~~ Here’s a picture of the snow atop the Mauna Kea summit on the Big Island. The webcam on the Haleakala Crater here on Maui, is still down. I’ll be back with your next new weather narrative very early Thursday morning. I hope everyone has a great Wednesday night, wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: The proposed future of air travel is quite a marvel. Seems unfathomable compared to the pollutant, oil-guzzling airliners of today. With the endless and testing delays, the awkward security, and greenhouse gas-emitting beasts, it’s a wonder why solutions have not yet come to fruition.
It just so turns out, it is all happening rather quickly behind the scenes. One proposed aircraft that seems wildly impossible is actually on the slate for possible funding for testing. The concept hypersonic jet has been developed by Reaction Engine and it is aptly called the A2. It is a Mach-5 (3,400 mph) wicked aircraft capable of holding 300 passengers and produces, get this, ZERO emissions!
The project has been supplemented in part through funding from the European Union’s Long-Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies project, otherwise known in short as (Lapcat). Lapcat is in search for an airliner that can cruise from Brussels to Sydney in less than 4 hours. The A2 can meet the expectations without leaving its footprint behind.
Interesting2: A leatherback turtle was tracked by satellite traveling 12,774 miles (20,558 kilometers) from Indonesia to Oregon, one of the longest recorded migrations of any vertebrate animal, scientists announced in a new report on sea turtle conservation.
Leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) are the largest of all living turtles and are widely distributed throughout the world’s oceans. They have been seen in the waters off Argentina, Tasmania, Alaska and Nova Scotia.
Adult leatherbacks periodically migrate from their temperate foraging grounds to breeding grounds in the tropics.
Scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) tracked one female nester, who was tagged on Jamursba-Medi beach in Papua, Indonesia, on her journey back to her foraging grounds off the coast of Oregon. She was tracked for 647 days covering a distance about equal to two round trips between New York and Los Angeles.
The turtle’s trip set a new record for sea turtles, and is among the longest documented migrations for any marine vertebrate.
The longest measured annual migration for any animal is the 40,000-mile (64,000-kilometer) journey between New Zealand and the North Pacific of the sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus), a medium-sized seabird.
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January 29-30 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Tuesday:
Lihue, Kauai – 74
Honolulu, Oahu – 75
Kaneohe, Oahu – 74
Kahului, Maui – 72
Hilo, Hawaii – 75
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 78
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 4 a.m. Wednesday morning:
Kaneohe, Oahu – 71F
Hilo, Hawaii – 63
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Wednesday morning:
1.92 MOHIHI CROSSING, KAUAI
1.62 PALOLO FIRE STATION, OAHU
0.50 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.01 KAHOOLAWE
4.13 PUU KUKUI, MAUI
3.21 LAUPAHOEHOE, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. High pressure systems, located far to the north and NE of the islands, will keep locally strong and gusty trade winds blowing across our area through Thursday…and beyond. 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
This zoomed picture of the Haleakala Crater
on Maui, was taken from Kihei on Tuesday
Photo Credit: Rich Nezelek
This picture was taken from upper Kula, Maui
photo credit: Kevin Ditamore
This air in a hurry will continue to move across the Hawaiian Islands. The latest weather map shows the same 1034 millibar high pressure system located directly to the north of Hawaii Tuesday evening. This trade wind producing high pressure cell seems to like being just where it is, with only minor fluctuations in location and strength expected through the next week. The net result will be for moderate to locally strong and gusty trade winds to continue. As usual, those places sheltered from the gusty wind flow, will have lighter winds.
There are more than the ordinary clouds stretched across the Aloha state now, many of which are shower producers. These incoming showery clouds, carried by the trade winds, will be quite numerous…some of which will be briefly quite heavy. These active showers will for the most part be restricted to the windward coasts and slopes. Although, with the trade winds blowing this strongly, there’s always the chance that some of these windward biased showers will be blown over into the leeward sides…especially on the smaller islands. There’s even the chance that we could see a random thunderstorm, due to the cold air aloft over the islands now.
It’s Tuesday evening as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. The two main ingredients of our local Hawaiian weather picture continue to be the blustery trade winds, and the numerous showers. Meanwhile, we have colder than normal air high up, the freezing level of the air Tuesday hovered right around the 10,000 foo level. This has brought snow to the tops of the mountains on Maui and the Big Island. Here’s a link to the top of the near 14,000 foot Mauna Kea summit on the Big Island…where’s there lot of the white stuff. ~~~ The cold air aloft has made tall cumulus clouds build up over and around the islands of Maui and the Big Island. These towering cumulus clouds have even attained thunderstorm proportions at times. One such thunderstorm brought dime to quarter size hail to the Kona area on the Big Island! At lunch I sat at the beach for a while in Kihei, and saw anvil top thunderstorms looming just offshore from Paia and Haiku here on Maui. This looping satellite image shows these white bright clouds, meaning they have very cold tops, around Maui and the Big Island. We should probably add this looping radar image as well, so you can keep track of where those heavist showers are falling. This unsettled weather, along with the gusty trade winds, will persist through much of the rest of this week, and perhaps into the early part of next week. We’re in the heart of winter now! ~~~ I’ll be back very early Wednesday morning with the next new weather narrative for you. I hope you have a great Tuesday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Famous Quote: "Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers"
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January 28-29 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday:
Lihue, Kauai – 74
Honolulu, Oahu – 79
Kaneohe, Oahu – 75
Kahului, Maui – 74
Hilo, Hawaii – 77
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 82
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning:
Kaneohe, Oahu – 71F
Hilo, Hawaii – 62
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Tuesday morning:
0.88 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.93 SOUTH FORK KAUKONAHUA, OAHU
0.42 MOLOKAI
0.06 LANAI
0.05 KAHOOLAWE
2.52 PUU KUKUI, MAUI
1.00 HILO AIRPORT, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. A relatively strong 1034 millibar high pressure system, located far to the north of the islands, will keep locally strong and gusty trade winds blowing for the time being. 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
Barking Sands on the island of Kauai
photo credit: flickr.com
The blustery trade winds will continue blowing across the islands. The latest weather map shows a 1034 millibar high pressure system located directly to the north of Hawaii Monday evening. This trade wind producing high pressure cell will gradually migrate a bit eastward, with only slight fluctuations in strength. The net result will be for moderate to locally strong and gusty trade winds to continue. As usual, those places sheltered from the gusty wind flow, will have considerably lighter winds.
Scattered clouds be carried our way on the trades…which will keep off and on passing showers falling on the windward sides. The incoming clouds, with their associated showers, will be quite numerous and frequent at times, well into this new week…some of which may be briefly heavy. These active showers will for the most part be restricted to the windward coasts and slopes. Although, with the trade winds blowing this strongly, there’s always the chance that a few of these windward biased showers will be blown over into the leeward sides…especially on the smaller islands.
It’s Monday evening as I update this last (long) paragraph of today’s narrative. The long range computer forecast models show no end to this winter trade wind weather pattern. The latest thought is that these weather circumstances will extend out through the rest of this week, and possibly into next week. As I’ve mentioned here before, this long lasting trade wind flow isn’t all that common. Looking at climatology, the trade winds blow on average about 42% of the time during January. We’ve seen much of this deep winter month having almost everyday filled to capacity with the trade winds blowing. ~~~ Because it’s such a cool picture, I want to add a link to this looping satellite image. Looking at the situation, we can see more showery clouds taking aim on our windward sides. We can also spot quite an extensive area of high cirrus clouds to our south. At the moment, these sun dimming high clouds are "minding their manners", and keeping their distance. ~~~ Those windward clouds and showers are sticking like glue to the slopes and coasts. Looking over that way from Kihei, it’s a blur of gray clouds, which look rather wet in appearance. The beaches in Kihei this afternoon were all choppy and chalked-up with white caps. ~~~ I made a big pot of vegetable soup Sunday afternoon, which I’ll heat up each night for dinner through Thursday. I’ll have chips and cheese along with the bowl, which will keep me going just fine. I love being able to come home after a long day at work, and have dinner be easy, and tasty too! ~~~ I’ll be back very early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Monday night, either here in the islands, or someplace else on this large round earth of ours! Aloha for now…Glenn.
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