Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / December 25-26, 2011

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

Lihue, Kauai –                   79
Honolulu airport, Oahu –    83  
Kaneohe, Oahu –               79
Molokai airport –                78
Kahului airport, Maui –        81  
Kona airport –                    81
Hilo airport, Hawaii –          80

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 4pm Sunday afternoon:

Barking Sands, Kauai – 81
Princeville, Kauai – 73

Haleakala Crater – 46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea –        32 (near 13,800 feet on the Big Island)

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,800 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. This web cam is 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. Here's the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui…which is working only sometimes lately.

 Aloha Paragraphs

Blustery trade winds, passing windward showers
Small craft wind advisories statewide –
high surf advisory east shores all islands –
Wind advisory Haleakala Crater, Maui

As this weather map shows…we have a near 1033 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of the Hawaiian Islands Sunday evening.  Our gusty trade winds will continue on into the last week of the year. These unusually long lasting trades will gradually become somewhat lighter going forward.

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph), along with directions Sunday afternoon:

30                 Lihue, Kauai – NE
35                 Kahuku, Oahu – ESE
32                 Molokai – NW
44                    Kahoolawe – E
39                 Kaupo Gap, Maui – NNE
32                 Lanai – NE
40                    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 afternoon.  Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see fairly minor amounts of low level clouds over the ocean to the northeast at the time of this writing. We can use this looping satellite image to see high cirrus clouds to our northwest and north, and moving by to the south of the Aloha state as well. Checking out this looping radar image we see a few showers over the ocean, a few of which are coming into our windward sides at times.

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

0.37               Kilohana, Kauai
0.39               Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.11               Molokai
0.00               Lanai
0.00               Kahoolawe
4.34                 Puu Kukui, Maui
4.21                 Kawainui Stream, Big Island

Sunset Commentary:  The unusually long lasting trade winds have been around all this week, and are forecast to continue into the upcoming last week of 2011. Winds have been gusting up over 40 mph, in a couple of those windiest spots lately. It appears that this prolonged episode of stronger than normal winds, will hold on into the new work week ahead.  We have small craft advisory flags whipping in the blustery waters over the entire state’s marine environment. Meanwhile, winds remain strong enough that a wind advisory remains in place over the Haleakala Crater on Maui…which has been dropped elsewhere.

Under these circumstances, showery clouds will be carried in towards our windward coasts and slopes at times. Looking at radar imagery, and satellite imagery, it would appear that shower activity will pull back for the time being, at least compared to much of the last week. The latest computer forecast models still don’t show any active cold fronts pushing down into our area through the end of the year…although a few are starting to hint we might have a frontal boundary approaching our area next weekend, although it looks to stall before getting into Kauai.  

This past Friday evening I drove into Kahului after work to see a new film, this one called Young Adult, starring Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt…among many others. The synopsis: a young-adult fiction writer returns to her hometown to chase the ex-boyfiriend that got away. The ratings of this film are all over the map, from lousy to quite good. The website rotten tomatoes, which is typically a rather tough grader, is giving it a relatively high 80 points out of 100 grade, which is encouraging. There are so many great films playing now, that I thought I'd see this one before it leaves our local theaters. I'm sure one of the primary draws of this film is the natural beauty of Charlize Theron, which is hard to deny. I know I probably shouldn't like every film that I see, but somehow, it just seems to happen. This one was no exception, as I found it very entertaining, and and actually rather captivating. I was surprised how much I liked it, and it wasn't just because of how attractive that Ms. Theron is…although that sure didn't hinder my liking either! It wasn't what I would call a classic comedy by any means, as it was way too dark, although there were a few quick laughs. It was just hard core stuff, and again I found it very enjoyable somehow. I'd have to give it a B+ for what it turned out to be, rather than what I thought it might be after reading all the negative reviews on this film. Here's a trailer just in case you had some interest in taking a peek. 

~~~ Late yesterday afternoon I went over to some good friends home in Haiku, on this very soggy windward side of east Maui. The roads all the way from Makawao down into Haiku are so rough, and filled with small pot holes. It was windy and rainy once I got into the heart of this windward section of the island, and remained that way most of the time I was over there. I admired their Christmas tree and all the nice decorations that these folks had up, and after popping the nice bottle of wine that I brought, to let it breathe, we sat down for some warm and cozy visiting. Our big plan had been to head down into their big meadow, and to harvest their ripe red coffee beans…as they needed to be picked. It was of course raining pretty hard, but I had brought my rain gear, and they had theirs too. We got buckets, and took the walk down to their coffee trees. We picked these red beans until we couldn't see anymore, and then hiked back up to their place in the dark. As we came up to the house, it was so lovely to see all their Christmas lights, and the light Christmas tree through their windows! They began to prepare dinner, while I began the long process of getting the coffee beans out of their red soft shell. It was tedious work, but enjoyable, as we were all in the kitchen doing stuff, and at the same time sipping on this delicious Pinot Noir that we had from Andersen Valley, Mendocino County…in far northern California. We had Christmas music playing, and the Christmas lights were on, and the hostess lit all kinds of candles. So, as you can imagine, it was so pleasant inside, as the rains continued to fall heavily outside. We each took turns working with the coffee beans, and finally were able to get it all done. I brought the beans home here to Kula, and will work through the rest of the long process towards completion, which I'll share with you along the way. Meanwhile, dinner was ready, and we sat around their table and had good conversation, and a great meal together. These folks, Sharon and Paul, and myself, had ourselves a very nice experience, which warmed my heart. As I left in the dark, it was pouring rain, and windy too once I got back into Makawao. As I wound my way up through the Kula pasture lands, the rains and winds finally eased up quite a bit. When I drove into my driveway, there was just the slightest mist coming down, and as I was mentioning above, Christmas morning has dawned totally clear here in Kula.

Here in Kula, Maui at around 430pm HST, it was clear to partly cloudy, with an air temperature of 70.2F degrees, with just a light breeze. As noted above, these unusually long lasting and strong trade winds aren't through with us yet. Winds have been regularly gusting up into the 30-40 mph range, with a few of those windiest spots topping the 40 mph mark on this Christmas Day. Today was a really sunny day, even along our windward sides at times, which is a big change from lately. 

Today was a near perfect day in terms of weather, at least here in Kula, and many other areas too. The winds have remained up, although rainfall has been definitely down on coverage and frequency. I've spent the day with my neighbors David and Varsha, enjoying opening presents, sharing meals, and just enjoying each others company. Our other neighbor Jeff is spending the holiday with his kids on Oahu. We have a big meal planned later, consisting of roast organic chicken, roasted potatoes, and fresh garden salad.  I'll be back Monday morning with your next new weather narrative, a bit later than a normal work day, as I have off until Tuesday morning.  Here's wishing everyone all around the world, a warm wish for a kind and loving Christmas Day. I hope all the kids got just what they wanted under the Christmas tree, and that Santa was generous with all you adults too! I hope you have a great Sunday wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.