Weather Details and Aloha Paragraphs

September 17-18 2006

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

Lihue, Kauai – 84F
Honolulu, Oahu – 84
Kaneohe, Oahu – 84
Kahului, Maui – 90
Hilo, Hawaii – 85
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 89

KAILUA-KONA – 77
HILO AIRPORT – 70

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

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1028 millibar high pressure center located to the NE of our islands Monday. This high is expected to most east a bit and strengthen, with an associated strengthening of our trade winds Tuesday. 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.

 

The lovely Kona coast on the Big Island
Photo Credit: flikr.com

A fairly typical trade wind weather pattern will continue…although gradually getting stronger as we move into the new week ahead.  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 now, with the trade wind speeds picking up a notch or two into the new work week ahead. This trade wind flow may become strong enough that we could see small craft advisory flags flying over the coastal and channel waters soon.

There won’t be many showers around today into Monday, and those will restricted to the windward and mountain areas almost exclusively. 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 showers falling along the Kona slopes on the Big Island. Satellite imagery shows no organized rain makers on our weather horizon, so that nice weather conditions will prevail well into the future.

The waves here in the islands have picked up along our leeward beaches this weekend, with more larger than normal surf expected through the next 3-5 days.  Last week in the area down near New Zealand, a swell was generated by a deep storm, which is the source of our south swell waves along our leeward beaches. A new storm to the NW of the Hawaiian Islands has developed recently, which will bring up the surf along our north and NW shores again by early this coming Tuesday as well.

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 Sunday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I start writing this sunset commentary.  I made it over to the a surf spot called Laniapoko, near Lahaina early this morning. There was already quite a crowd out surfing, even though I got there so early. Along the way, across the Pali and on to Lahaina, there were literally 1000’s of people out running and walking on the side of the road. It was some sort of race, although I never did see what the name of it was. It was remarkable to see so many folks out there early making their way towards Lahaina. I had no idea so many people were here on Maui that ran in such events. At any rate, the surf was quite large at times, with what we call close out sets. This just means that the waves were large enough to break all at once, rather than peeling off in one direction or the other. I picked off some of the small and medium sized waves, before the crowds got to be somewhat uncomfortable for me. I guess I was out for an hour and a half or so, which wasn’t quite enough. Although it was great to be out in the water, and the wind didn’t come up while I was there, so it was smooth. I’ve been home the rest o the day doing stuff, mixed in with some good old fashioned relaxing. I hope you have a nice Sunday night, and by the way, it looks like there will be enough high cirrus clouds around, that there should be some nice color as the sun goes down this evening. I’ll be back early Monday morning with your next new weather narrative. Aloha for now…Glenn.

I want to highlight another of the great advertisers on my website today, this time it’s Mark Jackson – Realtor  "Specializing in the West Maui Resort areas of Lahaina, Kaanapali, Napili and Kapalua."