Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday:
Lihue, Kauai – 86
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 88 (record for Sunday – 93 in 1995)
Kaneohe, Oahu – 83
Molokai airport – 83
Kahului airport, Maui – 85
Kona airport 85
Hilo airport, Hawaii – 83
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 – 85
Hilo, Hawaii – 80
Haleakala Crater – 52 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 50 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)
Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Sunday afternoon:
0.19 Kapahi, Kauai
0.43 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.25 Kahoolawe
0.25 Oheo Gulch, Maui
0.40 Kahuku Ranch, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing high pressure systems to the north and northeast of our islands. Our local trade winds will be gradually easing up through Monday…strongest around Maui and the Big Island.
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. Here's a tropical cyclone tracking map for the eastern and central Pacific.
Aloha Paragraphs
Trade winds becoming lighter Monday
Upcountry east Maui…near Ulupalakua
The trade winds will continue…easing up as we begin our new work week. Glancing at this weather map, we find high pressure systems to the north and northeast of our islands. Our local trade winds will remain active…strongest around Maui County and the Big Island. The forecast continues to suggest that our trade winds will become gradually lighter into the first half of the new week. Look for freshening trade winds towards the end of the work week…into next weekend.
Our trade winds will remain active, although gradually lighter…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts (mph), along with directions Sunday evening:
12 Port Allen, Kauai – NE
15 Kahuku, Oahu – NE
22 Molokai – NE
18 Kahoolawe – ESE
29 Kapalua, Maui – NE
07 Lanai – NE
28 Upolu 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 find a generally clear skies over the islands, with low level clouds upstream and downstream of the islands. Clouds will be carried towards our windward sides tonight, with most of the associated showers falling along the windward sides of Maui and the Big Island. We can use this looping satellite image to see areas of thunderstorms over the ocean, far to the south through southwest…and high cirrus to the west-southwest of the islands. Checking out this looping radar image we see that there are just a few showers being carried along in the trade wind flow.
Sunset Commentary: Sunday was a great day…with no obvious deviations through the holiday on Monday. The trade winds will begin their slow easing in strength Monday, which will continue for several days. The windiest locations around Maui County and the Big Island will remain quite breezy for the time being. There’s been a few showers along our windward coasts and slopes during the last 24 hours, although nothing remarkable. Satellite imagery shows more clouds upstream of the islands this evening. These clouds will bring a few showers to our windward sides, although not many.
Looking a bit further ahead, the main thing that our local population will notice, will be the gradually lighter wind flow…although it won’t come to an abrupt stop. There will be a slow reduction in speeds starting Monday, which will carry forth through much of the work week. They will likely bottom-out in strength at some point between Tuesday through Thursday, and may begin to rebound some by Friday.
These lighter trade winds will cut into our trade wind weather pattern, putting us into a modified convective weather pattern. There will still be a few windward showers during the nights, and also a few afternoon upcountry showers along our leeward slopes too. The main thing though, is that whatever showers that do manage to fall will be generally light. This is due to the stable, and drier than normal air mass that the computer forecast models are forecasting during much of the new week.
This past Friday evening after work I went to see a new film in Kahului, called The Debt, starring Helen Mirren, Jessia Chastain, and Sam Worthington…among many others. The synopsis: In 1997, shocking news reaches retired Mossad secret agents Rachel and Stefan about their former colleague David. All three have been venerated for decades by their country because of the mission that they undertook back in 1966, when the trio tracked down Nazi war criminal Vogel in East Berlin. At great risk, and at considerable personal cost, the team's mission was accomplished – or was it? The suspense builds in and across two different time periods, with startling action and surprising revelations. The critics are giving this film a B- grade, while regular viewers are being a little more generous with a B rating. This was a serious film, perhaps even downright heavy would be a more accurate way of describing. I thought the acting was quite good, and the entertaining aspect was definitely in place. It was a dark film, although not particularly depressing. Overall, I was glad to have seen it, and felt it deserved a strong B grade. I can't rave about The Debt, although I was glad I saw it. Here's the trailer for this film, just in case you were interested.
Here in Kula, Maui at 530pm HST Sunday evening, skies were clear to partly cloudy, with an air temperature of 74.7F degrees. There are a few minor clouds along the windward sides, and over the Ulupalakua down through Makena area. Today was a gorgeous day, as will be the Labor Day holiday tomorrow. Actually, I don't see any problems with our local weather through most of the next week. ~~~ I had a great time down in Ulupalakua today, joining some good friends down there. The day starting off with a group walk through of the magnificent trees in that area. This was led by a friend of mine, Ernie Rezents. Ernie and I used to both teach at the University of Hawaii, Maui campus in the old days. This walk and talk was both entertaining, and a good learning experience for the 20 or 30 folks who participated. Next came live Hawaiian Music, which was a special occasion. Lots of us sat around and listened to some classic Ukelele musicians play for several hours. There was even some hula dancing, which added some further depth. This reminded me of the old days when I used to go out to Hana for such events. Actually, several of the musicians were from Hana. I'm home now, and plan to chill out with my neighbors, and enjoy the rest of this gloriously sunny evening. I'll catch up with you in the morning, and hope you all have a great Sunday night until then! Monday is the Labor Day holiday, so I might let myself try and sleep in a little for a change. Aloha for now…Glenn.
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