May 14-15, 2010
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 81
Honolulu, Oahu – 86
Kaneohe, Oahu – 82
Kaunakakai, Molokai – 82
Kahului, Maui – 85
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-kona – 82
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level around the state – and on the highest mountains…at 5pm Friday evening:
Kalaeloa, Oahu – 83F
Molokai airport – 76
Haleakala Crater – 52 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 41 (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 Friday afternoon:
0.02 Mount Waialaele, Kauai
0.03 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.12 West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.22 Kawainui Stream, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1028 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of the islands. This high’s ridge is located in the area north and northwest of Kauai…which extends westward to another 1022 millibar high pressure system to our west-northwest. The trade winds will remain moderately strong…locally strong and gusty through Saturday.
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. Of course, as we know, our hurricane season won’t begin again until June 1st here in the central Pacific.
Aloha Paragraphs
Beautiful beach…on the island of Oahu
The trade winds will prevail as we move through Friday, into the weekend coming up…with no end in sight next week. As this weather map shows, we find a long lasting 1028 millibar high pressure system located to the northeast of the
The windward sides will find a few showers, although not many…with the leeward sides remaining dry. Looking at this IR satellite image, we see only scattered clouds located upstream of the windward sides of the islands. It’s actually unusually cloud free around all the islands now, even over the windward waters…and totally over the leeward coastal waters. We can shift over to this looping radar image, which confirms that not many showers are falling anywhere at the time of this writing. In order to get a better look at what’s happening, we can check out this even larger satellite picture, which shows a fairly minor area of high cirrus clouds are streaming eastward on the high level winds. It appears that most of this cirrus will move by to the south of the
It’s Friday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s narrative.
As noted above, great weather conditions prevail here in the islands, as we prepare for the weekend. The trade winds will continue to blow, while rainfall will be at a minimum…not a bad combination I reckon. Actually, these trade winds will continue through the next week, at least. The relatively dry conditions should stay in place through the middle of next week. ~~~ Since it’s Friday after work, I’m going to see a new film this evening, one that I’ve been looking forward to greatly. It’s the new Iron Man 2 (2010) film, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, along with Mickey Rourke,
Scarlett Johansson
, Samuel L. Jackson,
Don Cheadle…among others. A synopsis: billionaire inventor Tony Stark confronts powerful forces as the armored superhero Iron Man. The fact that Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson star in this film, doesn’t hurt one little bit! The critics are giving this film a B-, while the users are rating it higher at A-…I’ll be sure to give you my impression Saturday morning when I return with your next new narrative. Here’s the trailer for this film, which seems to really capture the essence of this action film. I hope you have a great Friday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Email Glenn James: 
tyler paikuli-campbell Says:
Forgot to add that our house is Kona side Hawaii Island straight above the airport near Kalaoa at about 1000ft elevation. mahalo, tyler~~~Thanks for letting us know where it happened, I kind of thought it might be on the Big Island. Aloha, Glenn
tyler paikuli-campbell Says:
Glenn,
We had a freak weather occurrence Sunday, Mother’s Day at about 9:40am. A small, focused yet very powerful “tornado” swept up the hillside and lifted up a large, heavy 20’x30′ circus style tent above my two story house and then deposited it on top of the neighbor’s fence and monkey pod tree on the side of our house. From the time that I saw and heard the wind down the hill about 4 houses down to when the tent was upside down in the side yard was no longer than 10 seconds. The tent was staked down as usual but the power of the wind ripped the stakes out within a second and actually threw one of the heavy stakes up on the roof (two story) to rest next to the solar panels. The freakiest part was that there were chairs and tables with stuff on the tables including paper. The tent was ripped into the air within seconds yet all the stuff underneath was left untouched. So far, none of our neighbors had any idea about it, they were either gone or just didn’t notice anything. The power of mother nature (especially on Mother’s Day) is truly amazing. Luckily no one was seriously hurt. My wife was under the tent and grabbed one of the poles as it flew near her. The force of the lifting tent immediately lifted her in the air 3-5 feet and threw her back down on the ground. She is still bruised and small kine limping but no serious damage, luckily. Thought you would like this story. mahalo, tyler~~~Tyler, oh my gosh, that is quite a story, fortunately your wife wasn’t bruised up too bad. You didn’t mention where exactly it took place, but someplace here in the islands. It’s pretty amazing how powerful nature can be, and especially the wind in this case. Thanks for sending this in for everyone to read! Aloha, Glenn
R Fontana Says:
Glenn,
Can you comment on the severity of VOG on Maui (i.e. in the Kihei area and in particular in the Kona area (Waikola). Would this severity likely reduce in the October time frame?
Thanks~~~Hi Robert, generally speaking, for Kihei, Maui, we don’t see any vog between about May and September or even October…usually. We can begin to see periods of volcanic haze from November through April…when we have bouts of southeast winds. They are periodic, and not constant by any means. As for Kona, they get much more than Maui, and can see this haze when the trade winds are blowing…which can be anytime during the year. I don’t consider myself an expert on this vog situation, and there are websites that give lots of information…do a google search on “vog in hawaii”, and you will find much more. Aloha, Glenn