Weather Details and Aloha Paragraphs

September 16-17 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 84F
Honolulu, Oahu – 84
Kaneohe, Oahu – 85
Kahului, Maui – 92
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 87

KAILUA-KONA – 79
HILO AIRPORT – 68

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:

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1026 millibar high pressure center located to the NE of our islands Sunday. The winds will be light to moderately strong trades, gradually strengthening into Monday. 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.

 

Lots of waves breaking along Hawaiian shores this weekend
Photo Credit: flikr.com

The trade winds will continue to be the major influence in the Hawaiian Island weather picture this weekend. A high pressure system is located to the NE of our islands, with its associated ridge stretching SW from its center…to the north of the Aloha state. The latest models show this ridge moving further north Sunday, with the trade wind speeds picking up a notch or two then into next week. This trade wind flow may be strong enough that we could see small craft advisory flags flying over the coastal and channel waters.

Showers will concentrate their efforts over the windward and mountains areas today and Sunday. Those windward sides will see a fairly normal amount of showers falling for this time of year. The leeward sides will likely remain quite dry, although there may be a few stray showers falling here and there. The Kona slopes on the Big Island may see a few showers falling during the afternoon hours, and along the Haleakala slopes as well. Satellite imagery shows no organized rain makers on our weather horizon, so that decent weather conditions will prevail well into the future.

The waves here in the islands will pick up along our leeward beaches this weekend, with still some waves breaking along our north shores too. There’s been a couple of deep storms that generated these swells. Last week in the area down near New Zealand, a swell began, which will be the provider of our south shores waves along our leeward sides. Another swell was formed by a storm to the NNW of the Hawaiian Islands several days ago, which brought up the surf along our north shores Friday, which will continue today, gradually diminishing in size Sunday. 

We have an El Nino active now in the Pacific, which will influence our upcoming weather conditions in Hawaii over the next six months or so. The following list have been the tendencies here in the islands when an El Nino has occurred in the past: less than the normal amount of autumn and winter into spring rainfall amounts; lighter than normal winds; more than the normal amount of high surf events; and the possibility of late season tropical storm activity this autumn. El Nino conditions have just started, so we will begin to look for some of these tendencies as we move into the autumn and winter seasons ahead.

It’s early Saturday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I start writing this sunset commentary.  The day started here, at least in places, very smokey, after some early morning sugar cane fields were burned. The smoke hung around for a long time in the central valley, and drifted around here and there. This afternoon the trade wind speeds picked up enough that this haze was ventilated away, making way for a wonderfully clear afternoon. After an early morning surf in the Lahaina area, I came home for a while, then it was out to Haiku for a haircut, and on to the health food store in Paia. I’m finally home, and it feels so good to have all the activity behind me, so that I can relax into the night…before another early morning surfing trip to the west side in the morning. The waves were really nice this morning, with a glassy ocean setting the stage for some great rides, if I do say so myself! The sunset is going to be great, as a band of high cirrus clouds have moved in from the SW and west, which will be lighting up beautifully soon. On that note, I’d better get out there a savor it myself. I hope you have a nice Saturday night, I’ll be back here dark and early Sunday morning with your next narrative updates then. Aloha for now…Glenn.

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