Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs / April 24-25, 2011

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

Lihue, Kauai –                    82
Honolulu airport, Oahu –      86
Kaneohe, Oahu –                81
Molokai airport –                 M
Kahului airport, Maui –        87
Kona airport –                    82
Hilo airport, Hawaii –          84

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 7pm Sunday evening:

Barking Sands, Kauai – 81
Hilo, Hawaii – 74

Haleakala Crater –     46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 30 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)

Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals Sunday evening:

0.15    Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.11    Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.00    Molokai
0.00    Lanai 
0.00    Kahoolawe
0.05    Oheo Gulch, Maui
0.65    Laupahoehoe, Big Island

Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1025 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of the Hawaiian Islands…with a ridge running by to our north. Our local winds will be generally light Monday and Tuesday, although somewhat faster towards the Big Island end of the chain.

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 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 web cam on the summit of near 13,500 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 web cams 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 ended November 30th here in the central Pacific…and begins again June 1st.

 Aloha Paragraphs

Happy Easter!
 
 
 

Our winds will be generally on the light side, although locally a bit stronger through Wednesday near the Big Island and Maui County.  Glancing at this weather map, we find a high pressure system located to the northeast of the Hawaiian Islands. A ridge of high pressure runs westward from this high pressure cell…to the north of the Hawaiian Islands. The computer models show a slow down in our winds through mid-week. The next increase in our local trade wind speeds beginning again around Thursday…lasting through the rest of the week.  

Our local winds will remain light to moderately strong…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts, along with directions Sunday evening:

24 mph       Port Allen, Kauai – ESE
18              Kahuku, Oahu – NE 
21              Molokai – NE    
24              Kahoolawe – E  
29                Kahului, Maui – E
08              Lanai Airport – WNW  
29                South Point, Big Island – NE 

We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Sunday evening.  This large University of Washington satellite image shows a large area of high clouds to our south. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see generally clear to partly cloudy skies over the islands, at the same time we find those cirrus to our south, edging up into the state locally. We can use this looping satellite image to see those cirrus wisps near the Big Island and Maui County…with patchy lower level clouds around locally too. Checking out this looping radar image shows a few light showers falling over the ocean, with only a couple over the islands themselves.

Sunset Commentary: Here in Kula, Maui at around 5pm Sunday evening, the air temperature was 69.8F degrees. Skies were partly cloudy, with a hint of volcanic haze around the edges now too. This is due to the slightly south of east blowing breezes around the state. A trough of low pressure to our west is causing this shift away from our classic easterly to east-northeast trade winds. We'll likely see somewhat lighter winds through the next several days, before the trade winds pick up around mid-week, or by Thursday through the end of the week. The weather in general remained quite pleasant during our Easter Sunday holiday. I expect more of this kind of weather to accompany us into the new work week ahead. I hope you had a good holiday, with friends or family. I'll be back early Monday morning with your next new weather narrative. I hope you have a good Sunday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.