Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / September 7-8, 2011

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

Lihue, Kauai –                   84           
Honolulu airport, Oahu –   85  (record for Wednesday – 94 in 1986) 
Kaneohe, Oahu –               83
Molokai airport –                84
Kahului airport, Maui –       85   (record for Wednesday – 94 in 2004) 
Kona airport                        85  
Hilo airport, Hawaii –          84

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 5pm Wednesday evening:

Barking Sands, Kauai – 84
Lihue, Kauai – 78

Haleakala Crater –     48 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 46 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)

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

0.37     N Wailua Ditch, Kauai
0.03     South Fork Kaukonahua, Oahu
0.00     Molokai
0.00     Lanai
0.02     Kahoolawe
0.19     West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.54     Pali 2, Big Island

Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1023 millibar high pressure system far to the northeast of our islands. Our local trade winds will be generally on the light side Thursday…then increasing some later Friday into the weekend.

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

    Light winds Thursday…stronger Friday
Surf rising on our north shores
 
 

The trade winds be quite light…rebounding later Friday into next week.  Glancing at this weather map, we find a near 1023 millibar high pressure system far to the northeast of our islands.  A high pressure ridge runs southwest from its center, just to the north of the state. The forecast continues to suggest that our winds will remain quite light through Thursday. The models now show a light to moderately strong trade wind flow arriving later Friday, increasing some through the weekend into next week.

Our trade winds will be light for the time being…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts (mph), along with directions Wednesday evening: 

12                Barking Sands, Kauai – NW 
13                Kahuku, Oahu – NE
17                Molokai – NE 
13                Kahoolawe – E
14                Lipoa, Maui – NE
06                Lanai  
22                   Upolu airport, Big Island – NE

We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Wednesday night. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we find just a few scattered clouds, over the ocean for the most part. The islands got cloudy, especially around the Big Island and Maui. These clouds will evaporate during the night. We can use this looping satellite image to see the low clouds drifting along in a light easterly wind flow. Checking out this looping radar image we see a few showers around…falling mostly over the ocean offshore from the islands, although a few are occurring over the islands too.

Sunset Commentary:   As has been the case the last several days, clouds gathered over and around the mountains during the afternoon Wednesday. The resultant showers the last several days haven’t amounted to all that much…and today saw less than that. The winds were light enough that they prompted a convective weather type day. The trade winds were still blowing lightly, especially over the ocean offshore from the islands. They were light enough in fact that onshore blowing sea breezes picked up along our leeward sides.

Those breezes carried moisture inland, and up the slopes of the mountains. This moisture, from off the warm ocean cooled as it rose in elevation, condensing into clouds as it reached its dew point temperature. The overlying atmosphere was rather dry and stable again today however, which limited the upward growth of those cumulus clouds. This in turn kept most of the showers on the light side, and scattered rather than being more widespread.  As the sun goes down, this conveyor belt ends, and the clouds evaporate. This cycle will last through Thursday, although it doesn’t appear much longer than that.

The latest computer model output suggests that this may come to an end earlier than previously expected. They had been showing that this light winded regime would continue through Saturday or so. Now it appears that Friday might be the end date on this convective weather pattern. Weather of course is one of those things that needs a little wiggle room, and can’t be perfectly timed…or to do precisely as we expect.

Nonetheless, if the trade winds do start to return Friday, into the weekend and beyond, we’ll transition back into a more normal trade wind weather pattern. This will take the emphasis for showers, during the afternoon hours, back to the windward sides…generally during the night and early mornings.  It is still summer however, although we have definitely shifted into the later part of this season. Thus, we aren’t done with the trade winds by a long shot, which will accompany us through most of September. They will start to lose their regularity as we dig into our upcoming autumn season.

Here in Kihei, Maui at 530pm HST Wednesday evening, skies are clear, although the clouds that formed over the Haleakala Crater were still present. These clouds will evaporate after the sun sets this evening. This will lead the way for another cool morning Thursday. I'm just about back on the road, taking the drive back upcountry to Kula. I'll look forward to catching up with you again early in the morning. I should have it ready for the reading by 530am or so. I hope you have a great Wednesday morning until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.