Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs
Posted by GlennMarch 7-8 2007
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday:
Lihue, Kauai – 82F
Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Kaneohe, Oahu – 81
Kahului, Maui – 85
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 82
Temperatures early Thursday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 4 a.m. hour:
Kailua-kona – 73F
Hilo, Hawaii – 64
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Thursday morning:
0.03 MOLOAA DAIRY, KAUAI
0.01 MAKUA RANGE, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.13 OHEO GULCH, MAUI
0.21 SOUTH POINT, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a ridge over the state of Hawaii, where it will keep light SE to south breezes in place Thursday. Friday will find winds gradually turning to the south and SW during the day ahead of an active Pacific cold front approaching from the NW. 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.
Winds will remain light, as a ridge of high pressure has been pushed down over the islands by an approaching cold front to our NW. Our local atmosphere remains somewhat hazy with such a light wind flow. As the winds turn SE soon, they will bring volcanic haze up over some parts of the state from the Big Island as well. Mornings will dawn clear just about everywhere, although there will be some high clouds starting to move overhead now. As the sun rises higher in the sky during the later mornings, the daytime heating will prompt onshore sea breezes, which will carry moisture from the ocean up along the volcanic slopes…where clouds will form during the late morning through the afternoon hours. There will be some mostly light showers falling around the mountains, but nothing heavy is expected.
Wednesday will be a transition day, leaving behind the light and variable wind conditions…with Thursday marking the change to Kona winds. An upper level trough of low pressure is approaching the islands now, which will have an associated surface cold front moving along with it. As this trough gets closer later Thursday and Friday, the high pressure ridge will get pushed down to the south of the Big Island. This will cause our winds to become SE to SW ahead of the cold front. There will start to be some showers before the front itself arrives Friday night into the weekend. The upper level trough will likely prompt some briefly heavy showers with the frontal passage. The models now show another cold front approaching the islands next week, with the chance of another round of showers…with decent weather between the two cold fronts.
It’s early Wednesday morning here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. You know we really haven’t had much weather lately here in the islands. That’s of course not true, as we’re always having plenty of weather! What I’m trying to say is that we haven’t seen a cold front passing down through the state in quite some time, with its associated rainfall. This particular frontal cloud band will likely give the most generous shower activity over the islands of Kauai and Oahu Friday night into Saturday. It will weaken and slow down as it moves down to Maui County later in the day Saturday. The folks on the Big Island will probably see some showers Saturday night or early Sunday morning, although probably most of the rain will have been wrung out by the time it arrives over the northern half of that southern-most island. Kauai and Oahu may start to see some increase in showers along the leeward sides later Thursday and Friday ahead of the cold front, with just a few isolated showers falling on the other islands until the front’s precipitation arrives this weekend. The arrival of the south to SW Kona winds ahead of the cold front will warm things up, as this more moisture laden air is pulled up from the deeper tropics to our south. I’ll be back later today with more weather news, and end the day off with a sunset commentary. I hope you have a great day wherever you are reading from. Aloha for now…Glenn.
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