Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / July 2-3, 2013

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Tuesday:

79  Lihue, Kauai
81  Honolulu, Oahu
83  Molokai
87  Kahului, Maui
85  Kona, Hawaii
84  Hilo, Hawaii

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops on Maui and the Big Island…as of 810pm Tuesday evening:

Kailua Kona – 79
Hilo, Hawaii – 73

Haleakala Summit –   48 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 43 (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

Moderate trade winds…windward showers

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

24  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
35  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
22  Molokai – NE
35  Lanai – NE
28  Kahoolawe – NE
25  Kahului, Maui – NE
23  Upolu airport, Big Island – NE

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

0.78  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.90  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.16  Molokai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Lanai
0.47  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.66  Kawainui Stream, 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 ~~~

Trade winds blowing through mid-week…then lighter through Saturday. Here’s a weather chart showing a near 1029 millibar high pressure system located to the north-northwest. At the same time, we see a low pressure system over the ocean to the east of the state…with an associated cold front. More or less moderately strong trades will remain active through Wednesday. There’s a good chance that we will see the trades slow down thereafter for a few days, as the low pressure area to our east through northeast, moves into position north of our islands. This light wind regime, with daytime sea breezes, will rebound by late Sunday…or the early part of next week.

Trade wind weather pattern will prevail, with windward showers at times…with a few ending up over on the leeward sides on the smaller islands. Satellite imagery shows lower level clouds to the north and east, being carried our way on the trades, banking up against the windward sides. Here’s the looping radar image, showing showers passing by over the offshore waters, impacting the windward sides in places. There are more showers upstream, which should continue arriving at times into Wednesday. Here’s a good satellite image showing the low pressure system far to our northeast…along with tropical storm Dalila just offshore from the southern Mexican coast.

Looking further ahead, the remnant moisture from now retired tropical cyclone Cosme, which was active in the eastern Pacific last week, may bring a modest increase in windward showers at some point in the Thursday through Saturday time frame. At the same time, we should see an easing up in our trade wind speeds during that period too. As the trade winds give way to a modified convective weather pattern, the greatest likelihood of showers will occur over our leeward slopes during the afternoon hours. I’ll be back with more updates during the evening, I hope you have a great Tuesday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.