Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs / May 29-30, 2011

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

Lihue, Kauai –                    81 
Honolulu airport, Oahu –     86  (record high Sunday: 92 – 1987)
Kaneohe, Oahu –                80
Molokai airport –                 85
Kahului airport, Maui –             85   
Kona airport –                    85
Hilo airport, Hawaii –          81

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 6pm Sunday evening:

Barking Sands, Kauai – 82
Hilo, Hawaii – 77

Haleakala Crater –     52 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 36 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)

Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Sunday evening:

1.43     Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.43     Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.00     Molokai
0.00     Lanai
0.00     Kahoolawe
0.30     West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.359     Kawainui Stream, Big Island

Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1036 millibar high pressure system, with its associated ridges running east and west…to the north of our islands. Our local winds will be remain rather strong and gusty both Monday and Tuesday.

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. 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 shining down during the night at times. Plus, during the nights you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise and sunset 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. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here. 

 Aloha Paragraphs

Strong and gusty trades – a few windward showers

Memorial Day well wishes

Our local winds will remain active from the trade wind direction through the Memorial Day holiday…and beyond.  Glancing at this weather map, we find a rather strong 1036 millibar high pressure system located to our north-northeast…which will remain the primary source of our trades now. These trade winds will remain strong and gusty, with small craft wind advisories in force over the entire state now through 6am Tuesday morning. The trade winds will continue through most of the next week, although by next weekend…there's a chance that they could falter.

Our winds will be locally strong and gusty…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts, along with directions Sunday evening:

29                 Port Allen, Kauai – E 
29                 Kahuku, Oahu – ENE 
31                 Molokai – NE
32                 Kahoolawe – ESE   
33                 Kahului, Maui – ENE 
08                 Lanai – NW  
35                    South Point, Big Island – ENE   

We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Sunday night.  Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see that most of the clouds in our area are located over the ocean, which are being carried to the windward sides…on the gusty trade winds. There are some new middle and higher level clouds over and around the islands now too. We can use this looping satellite image to see areas of high clouds in almost all directions. We may find high clouds eventually coming in over the state fairly soon. We can see a counterclockwise rotating upper low to our northeast, which will eventually move over the state as well. At lower levels of the atmosphere we can see cloud patches upstream of the islands, to the east of the state…which are being carried our way.  Checking out this looping radar image we see just a few showery clouds over our surrounding waters, which are impacting the windward sides in places.

Sunset Commentary: As noted above the trade winds will continue to blow across our Hawaiian Islands in a well established manner. At the moment there are no sun dimming high clouds in our area, although there have been quite a few clouds around Sunday. There are lots of high cirrus in many areas however, which may eventually make their way in our direction…we'll have to monitor their presence. The windward sides will have the best chance for showers, carried our way on the strong and gusty trade wind flow, especially during the nights.

This Memorial Day holiday weekend, including the actual holiday Monday, should continue to have favorably inclined weather conditions. As we push into the mid-week time frame coming up, perhaps as soon as Tuesday, there's a change coming up. An upper level trough of low pressure will migrate overhead, with its associated cold air aloft…for several days. This feature may enhance our local shower activity, with the unusual chance of locally heavy rains, and a few thunderstorms popping-up over the Big Island leeward slopes then too.  The unusual aspects continue into next weekend, when we may see our trade winds fade away, with southeast breezes filling in over the state.

Here in Kula, Maui at 645pm Sunday evening, its generally cloudy with an air temperature of 67.1F degrees. If those high and middle clouds, noted above, stay out of our area, we should find another nice day on Monday, although with localized showers here and there. I hope you have a great rest of your Sunday night from wherever you're reading! I'll be back on Monday with your next new weather narrative. Aloha for now…Glenn.

Memorial Day:  Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. Service Members who died while in the military service. First enacted by formerly enslaved African-Americans to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War – it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.

Memorial Day often marks the start of the summer vacation season, and Labor Day its end.

Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family get-togethers, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.

I would add that as a veteran of a foreign war, I was drafted into the army way back when…I feel especially fortunate to still be alive. I would like to join in with the fond memories of all those men and women, who I don't know, but nonetheless am sorry to know that they fell, and aren't around to enjoy the wonders of this ongoing world. I especially would like to give my acknowledgment to all those family and friends, who have carried on without their loved ones by their side to this day.