Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs
Posted by GlennDecember 28-29 2006
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across Hawaii Thursday:
Lihue, Kauai – 76F
Honolulu, Oahu – 77
Kaneohe, Oahu – 76
Kahului, Maui – 78
Hilo, Hawaii – 81
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 82
Temperatures early Friday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 5 a.m. hour:
Kaneohe, Oahu – 72F
Kahului, Maui – 63
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Friday morning:
0.72 KOKEE, KAUAI
3.91 OAHU FOREST NWR, OAHU
0.75 MOLOKAI
0.10 LANAI
0.01 KAHOOLAWE
2.12 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
0.25 HONOKAA, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing high pressure centers to the north and far NE of the islands. This will lead to moderately strong trade winds today and Saturday. 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
Photo Credit: Douglas Peebles
A cold front is moving down through the Hawaiian Islands Thursday, bringing most of the showers to the windward sides (although a few will be carried leeward in places) …along with cool north winds. The latest computer forecast models show the front stalling over the Big Island Thursday night. Meanwhile, a cool surge of northerly winds is flooding into the state in the wake of the frontal passage. These chilly north winds will veer around to the NE direction, and keep cool showers falling along the windward and north facing slopes into Friday.
As we move into the weekend, the winds will continue to ease back in strength, becoming light to moderate easterly trade winds. Our weather will return to the more normal realms, with just a few windward showers falling, mostly during the night and early morning hours. In contrast, the leeward sides will be quite sunny, with no precipitation expected whatsoever. Looking ahead into the New Years holiday period, there doesn’t seem to be any threat of inclement weather in the forecast.
The big news in the marine environment, is the very large surf that will be breaking through the next couple of days along our north and NW facing beaches. The same storm that has sent us our cold front, has also sent us an unusually large swell train of waves as well. Those north facing beaches have a high surf warning in force now. I highly recommend using extreme caution when going near these beaches, as the waves will be rough and choppy. Too often we hear about people being swept into the ocean by these waves!
It’s early Thursday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this cloudy sunset commentary. The frontal cloud band ran right down through Kauai, Oahu, and the islands of Maui County Thursday…and was stalling over the north side of the Big Island late in the day. There were several places over the mountains of both Kauai and Oahu, which picked up 1-2+ inch rainfall amounts. This isn’t all that unusual, so that the gusty northerly winds behind the front became the most notable weather feature today. The strongest wind speed that I saw was the rather impressive 46 mph gust on the island of Lanai! The moisture brought into the state by this band of clouds will remain hung up along the windward sides of the islands, especially from Maui up through Molokai and Oahu into Friday. Conditions will likely improve rapidly along the resort filled leeward coasts, where lots of sunshine will prevail Friday into the weekend and beyond. As I was driving home from work today, I passed through an area of drizzle around Pukalani, which was being blown over from the Makawao and Haiku areas. There were lots of colorful rainbows gracing the views east of the Haleakala Highway, which I’m sure were being enjoyed by the commuters driving to their upcountry homes…I sure liked seeing them. It appears that the winds are quickly turning to the NE and east, so that the well advertised cool weather will be rather shortlived as it turns out. I hope you have a fine Thursday night, and that you will join me here again on Friday. I’ll have your next weather narrative online early in the morning. Aloha for now…Glenn.
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