Weather Details and Aloha Paragraphs

July 15-16 2006

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across Hawaii Saturday:

Lihue, Kauai – 85F
Honolulu, Oahu – 83
Kaneohe, Oahu – 82
Kahului, Maui – 86
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 85

Temperatures early Sunday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 4 a.m. hour:

Lihue, Kauai – 76
Hilo airport – 72

Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours (as of Sunday morning) on each of the major islands:

0.95 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
1.38 MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.04 MOLOKAI
0.01 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.66 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
0.67 WAIAKEA UKA, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1029 millibar high pressure system located far to the NW of our islands, located close to the International Dateline. The winds Sunday and Monday will be light to moderately strong, locally gusty during the afternoons. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those funny weather symbols mean.

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of near 14,000 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 webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon rising just after sunset for an hour or two! Plus, during the nights and early mornings you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise too…depending upon cloud conditions.

Satellite Images – To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with the Infrared Satellite Image of the islands to see all the clouds around the state 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. This next image shows a larger view of the Pacific…giving perspective to the wider ranging cloud patterns in the Pacific Ocean…out from the islands. To help you keep track of where any showers may be around the islands, here’s the latest animated radar image.

Tropical Cyclone Activity – The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30…while the central Pacific (where Hawaii is) runs from June 1 through November 30. The latest storm information for the eastern Pacific can be found by clicking here. A storm tracking map for both the central and eastern areas can be found by clicking here . For the central Pacific, the latest storm information can be found by clicking here.

Fun waves along our leeward coasts now!
photo credit: flikr.com

The Hawaiian Islands will continue to see classic summer weather conditions this weekend. The days will remain sunny in most areas, with seasonably warm to locally hot daytime temperatures as a result. The trade winds have been rather blustery this week, although will start to get somewhat softer now. They won’t be going away completely by any means, although they will slip gradually back into the more normal light to moderately strong realms. There will be some shower activity around, although restricted for the most part to the windward sides of the islands. The leeward sides will be mostly dry, with great weather for just about all outdoor activities. This favorably inclined trade wind weather pattern will last into the new week ahead.

There are still two tropical cyclones in the eastern Pacific Saturday, both of which are on the decline in strength. The first one, called Bud, has been downgraded to a tropical depression, while hurricane Carlotta will be dropping down into the tropical storm status soon. Neither of these storms are a threat to the Hawaiian Islands. The latest computer forecast models suggest that whatever is left of former Bud, if it remains intact enough, could bring a change to our local weather conditions around next Wednesday. It looks now like we might just see lighter winds, and sultry tropical air moving into the state briefly then. This prospect will have to be fine tuned as we go forward, although the one sure thing is that there won’t be any leftover strong winds from soon to be retired Bud. The cooling and refreshing trade winds will clear out that muggy tropical air after mid-week. Here’s a tracking map for you to see these quickly dissipating systems.

It’s late Saturday afternoon here in Kula, Hawaii, as I start writing this pre sunset commentary. I got off to a good start early this morning, by meeting a friend in Puamana, very near Lahaina town, for a two hour surfing session. The waves were good, the wind was near calm, and the ocean surface was glassy. These were good conditions, and we had a great time riding lots of waves. There were several ladies surfing around us, which made it even better! I've got a couple of friends that are driving up from Kihei, we're going to head up the mountain from here, for a round of skateboarding…which will be two evenings in a row for me. I'm lower back is a little tweaked, although I just can't seem to let that slow me down, don't want it to at least. I bbq'd some organic chicken thighs just now, so we'll have a couple of drinks when we get back and then grind that chicken, along with fresh garden salad, chips and fresh hot salsa. My birthday weekend is going great guns, and I'm really enjoying myself to da max! I hope you're having a good evening and night too. I'll be back Sunday morning with the next weather narrative then. Aloha for now…Glenn.