Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs
Posted by GlennSeptember 20-21 2007
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday:
Lihue, Kauai – 86F
Honolulu, Oahu – 89
Kaneohe, Oahu – 83
Kahului, Maui – 88
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 87
Temperatures early Friday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 4 a.m. hour:
Kaneohe, Oahu – 78F
Hilo, Hawaii – 71
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:
0.65 HANALEI RIVER, KAUAI
0.05 MILILANI, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.01 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.80 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
0.47 WAIAKEA UKA, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a fairly strong 1033 millibar high pressure system located far NNE of Hawaii. This high pressure system has a ridge of high pressure extending SW to the NW of Hawaii. Despite this high pressure cell’s high millibar rating, it is too far away to provide us its strongest trade winds. This pressure configuration will keep moderate to locally strong and gusty trade winds blowing. 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.
Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Here’s a tracking map covering both the eastern and central Pacific Ocean.
Satellite and Radar 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.
Beautiful offshore rainshower
photo credit: flickr.com
There will be some minor fluctuations in the trade wind speeds, although they will continue to blow across the Hawaiian Islands through at least the next week. Weather maps show a 1032 millibar high pressure system located far to the NNE of the islands Thursday evening. Wind speeds will range between light to moderately strong, all the way up to strong and gusty, depending upon your location. As usual, these breezes will be strongest during the days, and lightest in general during the nights. The trade winds are still strong enough now to keep the small craft wind advisory active in those windiest areas across the state.
Clouds and localized showers will remain most active along the windward sides of the islands through the remainder of this week into next week. Shower activity will depend largely on how much cloudiness is being carried into the state by the trade winds at any one time. We may see some minor shower enhancement at times, as a long lasting upper level low pressure system, to the west of Hawaii, will keep our overlying atmosphere a little unstable at times. That upper level low, along with the jet stream level winds aloft, will carry high cirrus clouds overhead at times as well.
It’s Thursday evening as I start writing this last paragraph of todays weather narrative. The weather will remain just fine for the most part here in the islands…that’s the bottom line. Looking into the fine detail a bit, this satellite imagery showed a band of clouds paralleling the windward sides of the islands Thursday, moving across the central islands during the day. This area of clouds brought a nice increase in showers to the windward sides, as the trade winds carried it aboard. At the same time, there were high clouds over the Kauai end of the chain, the cirrus variety, which have moved to the west of the state now. ~~~ We’re edging right up to the finish line in terms of our summer 2007 season, with just a short while before we slide over into the autumn season…as of late this Saturday night here in Hawaii. The autumnal equinox stands is more significant up in the middle latitudes, although down here in the tropics, we’re going to see lots more summer-like weather well into the future. ~~~ There’s a new hurricane, called Ivo, over in the eastern Pacific now. This storm will stay over there, as it heads towards the southern tip of Baja California at the moment. Here in the central Pacific, we have no such spinning storm activity, nor is any expected. ~~~ I will be back early Friday morning with your next weather narrative. I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever in the world you happen to be reading from! Aloha for now..Glenn.
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