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

82  Lihue, Kauai
85  Honolulu, Oahu
84  Molokai
86  Kahului, Maui
87  Kona, Hawaii
82  Hilo, Hawaii


Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops around the state… as of 810pm Thursday evening:

Kailua Kona – 80
Hana airport, Maui – 73


Haleakala Summit –   43 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 36 (13,000+ 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 – if it’s working.

 

Aloha Paragraphs



http://philrobertsart.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/surf-art-phil-roberts-81.jpg
Artist Credit…Phil Roberts


High Surf Advisory...south shores through 6am Saturday

Small Craft Wind Advisory…waters from Maui
County down to the Big Island


Trade winds, windward showers at times…otherwise
sunny to partly cloudy during the day Friday – then
more unusual weather changes starting this weekend!

 

 



The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Thursday evening:

24  Waimea Heights, Kauai – ESE
38  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
35  Molokai – NE
38  Kahoolawe – ENE
35  Kahului, Maui – NE
33  South Point, Big Island – NE


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

0.44  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.33  Palisades, Oahu
0.08  Molokai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.36  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.53  Saddle Quarry, Big Island


We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean. Here’s the latest NOAA satellite picture – the latest looping satellite image… and finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands.


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



The trade winds will blow through Friday, then become lighter through the weekend…into next week. Here’s a weather chart showing high pressure centers to the northeast…with an associated ridge running westward, to the north of Hawaii. At the same time, we find a couple of low pressure troughs over the ocean, moving westward through our central Pacific. High pressure to our northeast will be the dominate weather feature through Friday, with moderate to locally strong and gusty trades continuing in places. The winds will then ease up this weekend, with the trades faltering once again, becoming light and variable to southeast…bringing voggy weather up over much of the state for a prolonged period!


Satellite imagery shows scattered low clouds over and around the islands…with higher level cirrus over the ocean…moving by to the south of the state. Here’s the looping radar image, showing random showers being carried through the state…especially towards windward Maui and the Big Island at the time of this writing. As mentioned in the paragraph above, the forecasts calls for a trough of low pressure to move over the central islands this weekend, which would mean another potential increase in showers continuing into the first several days of next week. These showers will likely be the kind that develop over and around the mountains during the afternoon hours…some of which may become quite generous in places. Here’s how the weather models are showing this trough, with the blue colors showing precipitation moving over us, starting Saturday through next Monday morning – set the animation speed slower, it helps to see what’s happening – you can see the date changing just above the picture.


Here on Maui [537pm Thursday, HST]:  The trade winds will prevail one more day, and then will slip away…for a long time! I’ve been using the unusual word repeatedly the last few weeks, and we aren’t through yet, not by a long shot. As noted above, a trough of low pressure will edge down close to, or over the state this weekend, and dig in its heels for the better part of the next week. This will bring back our infamous southeast winds over Maui, carrying volcanic haze up from the Big Island vents…right over us. These southeast winds will be light enough, that we’ll jump back into a convective weather pattern. This typically manifests as clear, slightly cooler than normal mornings, with clouds forming over and around the mountains during the afternoons. These clouds can slide down towards the coast in places, although the beaches should remain in pretty shape through this situation.


The low pressure over us will make our overlying atmosphere somewhat unstable, leading to some good afternoon downpours, at least locally. The computer models are suggesting that this unusual light wind regime will last the better part of a whole week, which is hard to believe this late in the spring season…to say the least! I’m sure that there will be some adjustments necessary along the way, although that’s how it looks from this vantage point. By the way, the large south swell waves breaking along our leeward beaches, which are normal for this time of year, will continue through the weekend, please use caution while entering our warm ocean.  Head to the north shores if you’re looking for good swimming, where the surf will be very small Friday. I’ll be back early Friday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.


Live Youtube music video, The Rolling Stones…Gimme Shelter – full screen best viewing

 


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones / Here’s a link to the National Hurricane Center in Miami…which covers tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic, Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

 

Eastern Pacific Ocean: Post-tropical cyclone 01E (Alvin), is dissipating in the eastern Pacific…located about 790 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. Maximum sustained winds are 35 mph, with a present movement towards the west-northwest at near 13 mph. Here’s a graphical track map, along with a NOAA satellite image. Here’s what the computer forecast models are showing. – Final Advisory


Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.


Central Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones / Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)…covering our central Pacific.

 

Western Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones / Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), which covers tropical cyclone activity in the western Pacific, and the North and South Indian Ocean…and surrounding Seas.

 

South Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

 

North and South Indian Oceans:  There are no active tropical cyclones