0.02 KAPAHI, KAUAI
0.02 HAWAII KAI GOLF CRSE, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.02 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
0.01 KAHUA RANCH, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – A 1027 millibar high pressure system far to the ENE of Hawaii now…with its associated ridge working back into the area near Kauai. Our local winds will remain light, as a deep low pressure system NW of the islands, keeps the ridge down close to the islands. Our winds will be light and variable to southeast Tuesday into Wednesday. Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those weather symbols mean on the map.

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


Windward Maui…along the Hana highway
photo credit: flickr.com

 

Light winds will characterize most of this new week here in Hawaii. The latest weather map shows a 1026 millibar high pressure system located to the northeast of the Hawaiian Islands Monday evening. It’s trailing ridge of high pressure will drop down near the vicinity of Kauai, as this high becomes nearly stationary now. Our winds will be light and variable over Kauai as a result, and from the southeast direction over the Big Island end of the state. This will cause locally hazy conditions to develop…with volcanic haze over the Kona coast, on up the island chain to Maui County. The trade winds will return the following week, becoming rather strong then.

Dry weather will prevail in most areas of the Aloha state, as rain bearing cold fronts remain north of the islands. Skies will be quite sunny in most areas during the morning hours, and all day long near the beaches. Daytime heating of the islands will cause upcountry afternoon convective clouds to develop. Despite the presence of these clouds however, there won’t be many showers, as a strong inversion layer remains in place…keeping our atmosphere stable. A cold front may finally be able to push into our area by the weekend, bringing some increase in showers to the windward sides then.

It’s Monday evening here in the islands, as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative.  Monday was one of those special winter days here in Hawaii, when the weather was as gentle as can be. The beaches remained sunny all day, with near perfect weather conditions overall. There was a minimal amount of clouds even over the mountains during the afternoon. These clouds remained rainless for the most part, with just about every rain gauge in the state having nothing wet in it…except for a little sugar cane field dust at the bottom perhaps! ~~~ By the way, next Tuesday I will be flying to the mainland for a little over a week. I have an American Meteorological Society conference to attend in New Orleans. Along the way, I’ll be stopping by my parents house in Long Beach, California, for a visit. All together I’ll be gone about nine days, although you will still be able to find the usual weather forecasts for each of the islands. I’ll remind you again a couple of times before I leave, but I just wanted to give you a heads up. ~~~ I’ll be back very early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise, I hope you have a great Monday night until then. Aloha for now…Glenn.

 

0.49 WAILUA, KAUAI
0.58 WAIHEE PUMP, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.01 LANAI
0.01 KAHOOLAWE
0.17 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
0.04 PIIHONUA, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – A 1025 millibar high pressure system to the NE of Hawaii now. Our local winds will be getting lighter now, as a deep low pressure system NW of the islands pushes the high’s ridge down closer to the islands…turning our winds light and variable to southeast Monday into Tuesday. Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those weather symbols mean on the map.

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 beautiful Kauai sunset
photo credit: flickr.com

 

Our local winds will be lighter into the new week ahead. The latest weather maps show a weaker 1025 millibar high pressure system located to the northeast of the Hawaiian Islands Sunday evening. It’s trailing ridge of high pressure will drop down near the vicinity of Kauai, as this high continues moving eastward. Our winds will be light and variable over Kauai as a result, and southeast over the Big Island end of the state, remaining on the light side through the week. This will cause locally hazy conditions to develop at times…of a volcanic nature around parts of the Big Island and Maui. 

Other than some showers around the mountains, and along the SE sides of the islands…our weather will be pretty good for the time being. Island skies will be quite sunny in most areas during the morning hours. The rather extensive upcountry afternoon convective clouds that develop, won’t be dropping much rain however, as a low and fairly strong inversion layer remains in place. There may be some weather changes later in the week, although it’s still a little unclear about what exactly will happen.

It’s Sunday evening here in the islands, as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative.  Our weather will be influenced quite a bit by the close proximity of a high pressure ridge near the Kauai end of the state. This fair weather producing high pressure ridge will keep our overlying atmosphere stable, thereby limiting the amount and coverage of any showers that fall. At the same time, we’ll see warmer weather in general during the days, while the nights will be a little cooler. ~~~ This time of year, during the winter season, our weather is more changable than what we see during the high sun summer months. The week ahead will start off nice enough, with the wild card at this point, being the chance that a trough of low pressure could bring some changes during the weekend. It’s still a little too early to nail this prospect down completely. We’ll have to fine tune this as we move through the upcoming week. ~~~ Sunday was a great day here in the islands, peaceful and gentle, as it often is during the winter months. The day, as will be the case through the next several days, started off clear and cool. The daytime heating caused some afternoon clouds to stack-up over and around the mountains. The beaches remained quite sunny all day in contrast, making for a great opportunity for sun tanning and swimming! ~~~ I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you happen to be spending it! I’ll be back very early Monday morning with your next new weather narrative. Aloha for now…Glenn. 

 

1.29 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
1.11 POAMOHO 2, OAHU
0.02 MOLOKAI
0.02 LANAI
0.01 KAHOOLAWE
0.27 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
0.09 PAHOA, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – A 1023 millibar high pressure system to the NE of Hawaii Sunday. Our local winds will be getting lighter now, as a deep low pressure system NW of the islands pushes the high’s ridge down closer to the islands…turning our winds light and variable to southeast Sunday into Monday. Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those weather symbols mean on the map.

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 is what you see when you get up early here in

the Hawaiian Islands…sunrise waves breaking
photo credit: flickr.com

 

The trade winds will remain with us temporarily, gradually turning lighter Sunday…coming out of the southeast into Monday. The latest weather maps show a 1025 millibar high pressure system located to the northeast of the Hawaiian Islands Saturday evening. It’s trailing ridge of high pressure will soon drop down over the garden isle of Kauai. Our winds will go light and variable over Kauai, and southeast over the Big Island end of the state Sunday into Monday, remaining that way through most of the upcoming week. This will cause locally hazy conditions to develop…of a volcanic nature around parts of the Big Island and Maui. 

Our local weather will generally be just fine, with clear cool mornings giving way to cloudy afternoons over and around the mountains. Island skies will be quite sunny in most areas during the morning hours, especially along the resort filled leeward beaches. Those afternoon convective clouds won’t be dropping much rain however, as a low and fairly strong inversion layer remains in place. There may be some weather changes later in the new week ahead, although exactly how they will manifest is still uncertain at this time. I still don’t see any significant rainfall looming on our weather horizon at this time…stay tuned.

It’s Saturday evening here in the islands, as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative.  As mentioned in the two paragaphs above, we have pretty smooth sailing coming up through the next week or so…in terms of our weather here in Hawaii. The fact that we’ll have a high pressure ridge over the Kauai end of the state, will help keep our overlying atmosphere stable, which in turn limits the amount and coverage of any showers that might try to fall on us. At the same time, we’ll see warmer weather in general during the days, while the nights will actually be cooler. ~~~ Friday evening after work I went to see the new film Juno. Juno is a whip-smart teen confronting an unplanned pregnancy by her classmate Bleeker. With the help of her hot best friend Leah, Juno finds her unborn child a "perfect" set of parents: an affluent suburban couple, Mark and Vanessa, longing to adopt. Luckily, Juno has the total support of her parents as she faces some tough decisions, flirts with adulthood and ultimately figures out where she belongs. I found this film to be quite entertaining, and despite the fact that it was a little out of the league of films that I am usually drawn to, it worked, and turned out to be quite a smart piece of work! Here’s a trailer for this highly rated film. ~~~ I spent the better part of Saturday in Haiku, over on the windward side of east Maui. I had a haircut to get, and then visited with a friend who lives in northern California, and also has property here on Maui. It brought back memories of living in Haiku for 11 years of my life, which were mostly good ones. I stopped by Mana Foods in Paia for some shopping, and then again at the health food store in Makawao, on the way home to Kula. It’s cloudy up here at the 3,000+ foot elevation at sunset, and quite a bit cooler than down in the lowlands below. ~~~ I’ll be back Sunday morning with the next updated weather narrative. I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn. 

 

0.30 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
1.44 MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.16 MOLOKAI
0.22 LANAI
0.01 KAHOOLAWE
1.67 PUU KUKUI, MAUI
0.17 MOUNTAIN VIEW, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – A 1025 millibar high pressure system is passing by to the north of the islands. Our local winds will be getting lighter now, as a deep low pressure system NW of the islands pushes the high’s ridge down closer to the islands…gradually turning our winds light and variable to southeast later Sunday into Monday. Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those weather symbols mean on the map.

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


On the beach in Hawaii
photo credit: flickr.com

 

Our local winds will return to their more customary east-northeast and easterly directions Saturday. The latest weather charts show a 1025 millibar high pressure system located to the north of the Hawaiian Islands Friday evening…moving eastward. As these moderately strong breezes swing around to the ENE and east, they will gradually warm up. Our winds will go southeast and become lighter Sunday into Monday, then bounce back to the east for a few days. It now appears that a cold front will approach the islands later Wednesday into Thursday, turning our winds further clockwise to the south, before coming back around to the north and NE in the wake of the frontal passage later next into Friday. Small craft wind advisories remain posted across the windiest of Hawaii’s marine waters for the moment, although likely be dropped this weekend.

Generally fair winter weather conditions will prevail through the middle of new week ahead. Iland skies will be quite sunny in most areas, especially along the resort filled leeward beaches. The windward sides will find partly to mostly cloudy conditions, although with a low and fairly strong inversion layer in place, whatever showers that do fall, will be on the light side of the precipitation spectrum for the most part. As the paragraph above notes, a cold front will pass down through the state just after the middle of the new week ahead, which could bring our next rainfall event then next Thursday into Friday.

It’s Friday evening here in the islands, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. The little tropical cool snap that we’ve had recently, with sea level locations rising only into the upper 70F’s during the days, will be ending now. The culprit has been the northeast orientation of our local winds, bringing in slightly cool air from the middle latitudes of the north central Pacific. Now that our winds are turning around to a more normal easterly direction, the air flow into the state will warm up a notch or two. This in turn will allow those warmer leeward beach areas to reach up into the lower to middle 80F’s during the afternoon hours. Helping this to happen will be the plentiful sunshine that will be beaming down from above as well. ~~~ I had plans to go to Mama’s Fish House after work this evening, although one of the folks in my party got sick…so I had to cancel my reservations. I was looking forward to that, although I’m sure it will happen soon. ~~~ Instead, I think I’ll go see the new film Juno, which is playing in our local theaters in Kahului now. Juno is a whip-smart teen confronting an unplanned pregnancy by her classmate Bleeker. With the help of her hot best friend Leah, Juno finds her unborn child a "perfect" set of parents: an affluent suburban couple, Mark and Vanessa, longing to adopt. Luckily, Juno has the total support of her parents as she faces some tough decisions, flirts with adulthood and ultimately figures out where she belongs. Here’s a trailer for this highly rated film. ~~~ I’ll be back early Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative from the paradise islands of Hawaii. Aloha for now…Glenn. 

0.48 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
2.33 OAHU FOREST NWR, OAHU
0.02 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.34 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
0.70 KAMUELA UPPER, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – A 1026 millibar high pressure system is now located to the NNW of Hawaii Friday. Our local winds will blow in the moderately strong proportions from the ENE, gradually turning east into Saturday. Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those weather symbols mean on the map.

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 perfect example of how gentle the islands can be
photo credit: flickr.com

 

The moderately strong NE winds will remain in place for the time being, gradually turning ENE and east over the next few days. The latest weather map shows a 1026 millibar high pressure system located to the NW of the Hawaiian Islands Thursday evening. Given that this air flow is still coming into our area from more or less the northeast direction, it will continue to have a slight chill to it. As these moderately strong breezes swing around to the ENE and east over the next few days, they will gradually warm up. Our winds will go southeast and become lighter Sunday into early next week, then bounce back to the ESE or east through most of the rest of next week. Small craft wind advisories remain posted across most of Hawaii’s marine waters.

Island skies are finally free of the long lasting high cirrus clouds, although the windward sides continue to see low clouds carried in our direction on the trade winds…leaving the leeward sides nice and sunny now. Those ever present sun dimming high cirrus clouds are now located well to the south of the Big Island, as this IR satellite image shows. This is good news for our local sun worshippers, not to mention all the visitors from afar, who have getting a sun tan, strongly on their minds! Those windward areas, which have been putting up with too many passing showers the last couple of weeks, will have to deal with off and on light showers or drizzle for another couple of days.

It’s Thursday evening here in the islands, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. Our local weather will continue to show a difference between the windward and leeward sides of the islands. The windward sections are those that face into the trade winds, and often more cloudy, with off and on passing showers. In contrast, the leeward sides are sheltered from the incoming winds and showers, leaving them often warmer and more sunny. At any rate, we’ll see pretty status quo conditions through the next couple of days in this regard. As we get to Sunday and beyond, our winds are expected to swing around to the SE and get lighter then. Whatever showers that are around will end up falling along the east and SE exposures of the islands. At the same time, the daytime heating of the islands may cause afternoon cloud buildups over and around the mountains on the smaller islands, where showers could spill. ~~~ Thursday was one of those near perfect days here on Maui, where sunny skies took hold, and just wouldn’t let go…even on the windward coasts and slopes! It was so good to see a clear sky day for a change. The NE breezes kept the air temperatures a little on the cool side, with most sea level locations topping out in the upper 70F’s for the most part. The very warmest locations, like the Kona coast on the Big Island, reaching up to the 80F degree mark, or perhaps a degree or two more in those absolute warmest spots. ~~~ I’ll be back very early Friday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Thursday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.

0.41 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
2.86 OAHU FOREST NWR, OAHU
0.44 MOLOKAI
0.06 LANAI
0.14 KAHOOLAWE
1.38 PUU KUKUI, MAUI
0.22 HILO AIRPORT, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – The main driver in our local winds continues to be a 1027 millibar high pressure system located to the NW Thursday. Our local winds will remain near moderately strong proportions from the NE, gradually turning east. Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those weather symbols mean on the map.

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


That’s warm sand, air, and water out there folks!
photo credit: flickr.com

 

The trade winds continue to have a tight grip on our Hawaiian Island weather picture…as we push into our new year. The latest weather map shows a 1027 millibar high pressure system located to the NW of the Hawaiian Islands Wednesday evening. Given that this air flow is still coming into our area from more or less the northeast direction, it will have a slight chill. As these moderately strong breezes swing around to the ENE and east over the next few days, they will gradually warm up. Our winds will go southeast and become lighter Sunday and Monday, with regular trade winds resuming again next Tuesday. Small craft wind advisories remain posted across all of our marine waters.

A retiring cold front, which is now just a weak cloud band, will keep a few showers falling along the windward sides of Oahu down through Molokai and Maui…perhaps reaching into the extreme northern part of the Big Island. The NE trade winds will also carry their own occasional showery clouds into the state. Meanwhile, the leeward sides of the island, will remain quite sunny…now that the prolonged period of high level cirrus clouds are retreating southward. Those sun dimming high cirrus clouds are now restricted to the area Big Island, as this IR satellite image shows…and will soon move away completely.

It’s Wednesday evening here in the islands, as I begin updating these last paragraphs of today’s narrative. We just can’t quite shake the extended period of trade winds, which blew through much of December 2007…and have followed us right on into January 2008. I’m not thinking in terms of global warming, or global climate change here as a reason why, in regards to this somewhat unusually long period of trade winds. Rather, it seems to me that the fact that we’re in the La Nina phase of the ENSO cycle, would be a more fitting culprit. Actually, it’s a good thing that the trade winds have been blowing so much, as they have help keep cold fronts out of our area for the most part. During the winter season, one of our primary rain makers are those active Pacific cold fronts, which slice down into the tropics, extending southward from their parent gale and storm low pressure systems…which ride along underneath the polar jet stream in the mid-latitudes. ~~~

Winter trade wind weather patterns keep the islands protected from those vigorous cold fronts. Although, at higher altitudes of the atmosphere, up where the jet stream level winds reside, we can have pools of cold air move overhead. This cold air aloft can be called a trough of low pressure, or just an upper level low. This cold air high up, in contrast to the much warmer air down here near the surface, can set up what we call instability. An unstable air mass promotes unsettled weather, which makes our local clouds more shower prone. A third precipitation producer during the winter months, can be when one of these upper level low pressure troughs sets up shop to the west of the state, which we call a Kona low here in the islands. So, in general these three weather mechanisms are what we have to "look out for" during the winter season. ~~~

Now lets cut to the chase here folks, none of these three is forecast to interrupt our generally very nice trade wind weather pattern in the near future! I’ll continue to peruse weather charts, satellite data, and computer forecast models however, just in case something tries to sneak up on us! I’ll be back early Thursday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise, I hope you have a great Wednesday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

3.44 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
3.15 OAHU FOREST NWR, OAHU
0.26 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.01 KAHOOLAWE
0.51 PUU KUKUI, MAUI
0.81 HONOKAA, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – The main driver in our local winds continues to be a 1028 millibar high pressure system located to the NW. As this high slowly moves eastward, to the north of the Hawaiian Islands, our trade winds will remain near moderately strong proportions. Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those weather symbols mean on the map.

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


Watching the waves roll in…on the north shore of Maui
  photo credit: flickr.com

 
 Happy New Year from Glenn!

The trade winds, coming in from the NE direction, will remain with us through the rest of the week…gradually turning more east and getting lighter by the weekend. The latest weather map shows high pressure systems stretched out from NW to NE of the Hawaiian Islands New Years Day evening. Given that they are blowing from the NE, they will have a slight chill to them, although as they swing around to the ENE and east, they will gradually warm up after a few days. Small craft wind advisories are now posted across all of our marine waters.

A dissipating cold front, actually just a weak cloud band at this point, will carry some showers into the windward sides…leaving the leeward sides quite sunny during the days. The freshening NE trade winds will help to carry these showery clouds into the state, although now that the upper atmosphere is stabilizing, these showers will be less intense than recently. These showers will work their way down from Kauai to Oahu, perhaps making it as far as Maui Wednesday. The sun dimming high clouds are now restricted to the Big Island and parts of Maui, as this satellite image shows.

It’s Tuesday evening here in the islands, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. Welcome to the first day of 2008! Looking back, at least in my personal life, 2007 was a good year. The one thing that was the most difficult, was a shoulder injury that occurred last winter…while I was being wild and crazy on a skateboard! The world had its trouble spots too, although what year doesn’t? That’s the thing isn’t it? The news seems to highlight the bad things, often rather than the good things. I suppose we have to fill that in ourselves, things that we can institute personally, making a positive difference in our own individual interactions with the world. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish each of you a safe and fufilling new year, with good health, and a peaceful nature. ~~~ I met a friend last evening in Haiku, actually saw a few friends at this dance event. There were a lot of people there, dancing up a storm…which I enjoyed very much! At midnight, we all sat around in a large circle, and were quiet and reflective. It was a different way to ring in the New Year, while outside, around the nearby neighborhoods, there were the usual loud fireworks displays going off. ~~~ New Years day was a pretty good one here in Hawaii, characterized by the slow moving shearline cloud band, that made its presence known on Kauai and Oahu. Meanwhile, in the southern part of the state, over Maui and the Big Island, high clouds got in the way of our usual Hawaiian sunshine once again. We are moving into a fairly prolonged trade wind weather pattern, actually this is a super long ongoing pattern, which will stretch into next week. ~~~ I hope you have enjoyed this holiday wherever you happened to be spending it! I’ll be back very early Wednesday morning with your next new weather narrative. Aloha for now…Glenn.