February 25-26, 2010

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday afternoon:

Lihue, Kauai – 79
Honolulu, Oahu – 84
Kaneohe, Oahu – 80
Kaunakakai, Molokai – 81
Kahului, Maui – 83
Hilo, Hawaii – 82
Kailua-kona – 81

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level around the state – and on the highest mountains…at 8pm Thursday evening:

Kailua-kona – 76F
Hilo, Hawaii – 70

Haleakala Crater –    missing (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – missing (near 14,000 feet on the Big Island)

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 evening:

0.61 Hanalei River, Kauai  
0.29 Nuuanu upper, Oahu
0.00 Molokai 
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.18 West Wailuaiki, Maui 
0.08 Kapapala Ranch, Big Island

Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1025 millibar high pressure system to the north of Hawaii. A cold front has stalled over or near Kauai. This pressure configuration will trade winds blowing…gradually veering around to the southeast.

Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with this 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. Finally, here’s a Looping IR satellite image, making viewable the clouds around the islands 24 hours a day. 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 weather conditions.

Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest weather information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Here’s a tracking map covering both the eastern and central Pacific Ocean. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here.

 

Aloha Paragraphs

http://www.w4ca.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/hawaii-islands.jpg
Trade winds for the time being…becoming lighter Saturday





Our weather will remain quite nice most of the day Friday, with a frontal cloud band arriving later this weekend…followed by gusty winds. The leeward sides will find generally fine weather, with little if any rainfall through Friday into Saturday. The windward sides will have a few showers, although not many. This IR satellite image shows the recent frontal boundary, or what we could call a cloud band…having backed off to the north of Kauai. Some stray clouds are coming into the state over or near Oahu, and down near Maui and the Big Island, offshore from the leeward sides. If we look at an even larger view of the central Pacific, using this IR satellite picture, we can see lots of high cirrus clouds traveling along in the jet stream…to the north and south of the islands.









The trade winds are blowing now, behind the recent front…which will become much stronger later this weekend into early next week.  The recent front brought a few showers to Kauai, but basically stalled before arriving on Oahu. The models now show light southeast to south winds developing this weekend…ahead of the next cold front. There will be more generous precipitation with this next cold front, although not as many as we would like…considering how dry all the islands are at this time. In the wake of this next cold fornt, we’ll find cool north breezes…followed by rather blustery trade winds, and windward biased showers into early next week. The computer models go on to show that the trade winds will persist through much of next week, with windward showers at times.

It’s Thursday, as I begin writing the last section of today’s narrative.  I just got back from Oahu, where I attended a great hurricane workshop, put on by both FEMA, and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. While I was there, my laptop pooped out on me, so I was unable to do any updating on this website. I’m sorry about that, and things will improve from this point forward. I just flew in, and am super tired at the moment. I’ll be back Friday morning, but have at least gotten my website pages going again. I will have more time to write in the morning, once I get some much needed sleep. I hope you are doing well, and as noted above, our weather will be generally pretty good through Saturday. Once this next active cold front moves through later this weekend, our weather will definitely be changing. The way it looks from here, this next weather occurrence will be much more of a wind event, than a rainfall event. We would rather have, or at least need, more rain than wind at this point. At any point, I’ll be back soon with a more thorough narrative come Friday morning. I hope you have a great Thursday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.