Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday:
Lihue, Kauai – 80
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 84
Kaneohe, Oahu – 79
Molokai airport – 84
Kahului airport, Maui – 85
Kona airport – 82
Hilo airport, Hawaii – 78
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 5pm Sunday evening:
Barking Sands, Kauai – 82F
Hilo, Hawaii – 74
Haleakala Crater – 50 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 34 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals Sunday evening:
2.07 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.18 Manoa Valley, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.11 Oheo Gulch, Maui
0.92 Glenwood, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing high pressure systems to the north and northeast of Hawaii. Our winds will blow from the southeast to east Monday…locally rather strong and gusty in a few places. Winds will take on a more east-southeast to southeast orientation Tuesday…then more southerly Tuesday night.
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
Improving weather Monday and Tuesday
Southeast to east winds will give way to more typical easterly trade wind breezes into the early part of the new week ahead…then turn to the south and southeast by later Tuesday or Wednesday. Glancing at this weather map, we find two high pressure systems, one to the north and one to the northeast. Looking at the isobaric lines around our islands, we find that our winds will remain southeast for the moment…then more fully become easterly trade wind direction Monday into Tuesday. Our local winds remain strong enough around parts of Maui County and the Big Island, that a small craft wind advisory remains in effect.
Light to moderately strong breezes, locally stronger will prevail…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts, along with directions Sunday evening:
25 mph Port Allen, Kauai – E
30 Kahuku, Oahu – ENE
18 Molokai – NE
39 Kahoolawe – ESE
30 Kapalua, Maui – NE
08 Lanai Airport – NE
35 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 night. This large University of Washington satellite image shows still lots of clouds over the islands, which should thin out Monday. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see those multi-layered clouds out over the ocean…with some afternoon cloud buildups over the islands too. We can use this looping satellite image to see the counterclockwise rotating upper level low pressure system to our southwest. The southeast to easterly winds are carrying some moisture to our windward sides too. Checking out this looping radar image shows light to moderately heavy showers falling offshore of the islands, mostly offshore from the leeward sides…with a few over the windward coasts and slopes too.
In sum: The atmosphere over the Hawaiian Islands is in the process of becoming less shower prone…which will continue into Monday and Tuesday. As this happens we should begin to see more sunshine during the days…especially during the first two days of the upcoming new work week.The models are still calling for a trough of low pressure deepening nearby later Tuesday into Wednesday. This, in combination with an approaching cold front from the northwest, will halt our trade winds again. The winds will turn south and southeast, putting us into a muggy reality, with possible volcanic haze showing up. We could see an associated increase in showers during the second half of the new work week ahead. The cold front may stall before arriving on Kauai, although due to its close proximity…Kauai and perhaps Oahu will likely find the greatest chance of showers during the second half of the new week. The other islands may see afternoon convective showers over and around the mountains locally then too.
This past Friday evening I went to see a new film in Kahului. It was called Hanna, starring Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, and Cate Blanchett…among others. The synopsis: Saoirse Ronan is a teenager, raised in isolation by her father to be the perfect assassin…who is sent into the world on a deadly mission. The critics are giving it a B grade, while the viewers are rewarding it with the same decent grade. I had been enjoying watching the trailer quite a bit, so I was really looking forward to sitting through it. As it turned out, I like it even more than I thought I was going to, and enjoyed the fabulous action. This young girl was a killing machine, and I know that sounds rather gross, but that's how films can be. As for a grade, I'll go along with the others, and give it a good solid B grade too. I had no misgivings about seeing it, and could recommend it to those of you…who like be carried away from your usual life for a couple of hours! Here's a trailer if you're interested in checking it out.
~~~ Here in Kula, Maui at around 530pm Sunday evening, it's still partly to mostly cloudy out there, along with some volcanic haze (vog). The vog seems to be less dense today, and as the trade winds kick in a bit more Monday, it will thin further. The next several days will likely be quite nice, with more sunshine than we've seen lately, and again less vog too. I'll be back early Monday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Sunday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Email Glenn James: 