Weather Details and Aloha Paragraphs

July 24-25 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 85F
Honolulu, Oahu – 88
Kaneohe, Oahu – 84
Kahului, Maui – 84
Hilo, Hawaii – 84
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 86

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

HONOLULU, OAHU – 79
HILO AIRPORT – 73

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

0.09 WAILUA, KAUAI
0.21 HAKIPUU MAUKA, OAHU
0.02 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.03 HANA, MAUI
0.04 KAMUELA, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure systems located to the north of our islands. These high pressure cells will keep light to moderately strong trade winds blowing through this forecast period. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those weather symbols mean on the map.

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.

Interesting clouds!
Photo Credit: Konaboy

The Hawaiian Islands will be in a normal July trade wind weather pattern now. The latest weather charts show that the trade winds will blow through Thursday. These refreshing and cooling breezes will bring relief from the rather hot and muggy weather that has been part of our weather circumstances lately.

Most rain gauges have remained quite dry this past weekend, although there have been a few showers around in places. Most of those have been on the light side. As the trade winds are blowing steadily now, a few showers will continue to fall over the windward sides of the islands here and there…perhaps increasing a bit Monday, then drier Tuesday. 

Hurricane Daniel remains active some 800+ miles to the ESE of Hawaii Monday evening…located in the central Pacific.  Looking at this storm late in the day Monday, according to this lastest satellite image, we can see that it's starting to take on a more ragged appearance, showing a continued weakening under the influence of shear from the upper winds. Winds at 5pm (Hawaii Standard Time) were sustained at 75+ mph around the center of this tropical cyclone. It’s still too early to know exactly what influence Daniel will have here in the islands later this week. The latest forecast numbers show that whatever is left of this storm will be weaker than at present by the time it gets closer to our islands around Friday. Daniel remains a storm that warrants close monitoring. At this point, it looks like we would see an increase in showers upon its arrival, with the wind speeds then still the wild card…although at the moment it looks like Daniel will still be a tropical storm, which means that it could be unusually windy then. Here's a tracking map for your convenience, to keep you updated on Daniel's progress westward.

It’s early Monday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I start this sunset commentary.  I'm very tired, as once I walked into the Pacific Disaster Center in Kihei this morning, I never walked out again until early evening. That means that there was certainly no customary beach walk and swim, not to mention even lunch! It was a busy day studying hurricane Daniel, and putting out report after report on the progress towards the Hawaiian Islands. I'm pleased to say that there seems to be a definite downward trend in strength going on now. I've stated the very latest information about the specifics in the paragraph above, and will return very early Tuesday morning with the latest updates on this soon to be weaker tropical storm. We're not out of the woods yet, as we haven't seen tropical storm force winds, which range between 39-73 mph, in quite some time here in the islands. The forecasts have another several days to change back and forth, with the forecast track shifting this way and that, so that I'd suggest you pay attention if you live here in the islands, but don't get too upset. My advice is to hold it all lightly for the time being, and stay tuned. Aloha for now…Glenn.