Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha Paragraphs
Posted by GlennNovember 23-24 2007
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday:
Lihue, Kauai – 81
Honolulu, Oahu – 83
Kaneohe, Oahu – 80
Kahului, Maui – 82
Hilo, Hawaii – 81
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 80
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 5 a.m. Saturday morning:
Lihue, Kauai – 74F
Kailua-kona – 61
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Saturday morning:
0.04 MOLOAA DAIRY, KAUAI
0.35 MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.07 MOLOKAI
0.05 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.70 PUU KUKUI, MAUI
0.22 MOUNTAIN VIEW, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – High pressure centers to the NW and NE, along with a trough of low pressure to our east, will keep light to moderately strong NE winds blowing, gradually turning ENE to east later Saturday into Sunday. Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. 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.
The coast along Oahu’s south shore
photo credit: flickr.com
Other than a few windward biased showers, our weather here in the Hawaiian Islands will be beautiful through the weekend. The air flow coming into the state is still from the northeast direction Friday evening, blowing light to moderately strong in most areas. The northerly aspect to these winds will keep our air temperatures slightly on the cool side for a little while longer. The winds will gradually be turning to the ENE, and finally the more customary easterly trade wind direction, as we move through the next couple of days. This will warm our air temperatures up, and probably bring a few more showers to the windward sides. The south and west facing leeward beaches will be sunny during the days, while the north and east facing windward areas will see just a few showers falling.
As noted above, our weather will be lovely for the time being, at least through the weekend into Monday. The slight cool edge that we’ve been feeling in the breezes, will finally fade away, leaving us in a balmy atmosphere. The one natural hazard that everyone should be paying attention to however, is the large surf that will be pounding our north shores into this weekend. This is the autumn season’s first really large surf episode, and poses dangerous conditions to some of our local beaches, so please exercise caution when going to those north facing beaches. A high surf advisory is now in effect along those north facing shores. The next large surf episode will arrive later Monday into Tuesday…with no end in sight for these winter-like swells.
Looking further ahead, the computer forecast models are now indicating a change in our weather starting around Tuesday, and lasting through much of the new week ahead. The first thing we’ll notice is that our winds will turn from the trade wind direction, to the SE…as a trough of low pressure forms near the islands. This will bring in higher humidity, and an increased chance of showers…lasting off and on through much of next week. This is too still too far out into the future to know for sure if all of this will unfold as the models point out, although there is fairly good confidence in this unsettled weather pattern occurring as planned.
It’s Friday evening here in the islands, as I begin writing this last paragraph of this narrative. Have you been noticing the very large moon the last few nights? This month’s full moon occurs early Saturday morning here in Hawaii, at around 4am Saturday morning…in some parts of the world this big moon is called the Beaver Moon. ~~~ I’m about to head over to Kahului to take in my next new film, this one called No Country for Old Men. This is a screen adaption from a book written by Cormac McCarthy. This film is set in West Texas, about a man on the run with a suitcase full of money, who is pursued by a number of individuals. Tommy Lee Jones is the leading star, among others. This film has received very impressive grades from the critics…here’s a link to what they’re saying. This is no light weight film, so I won’t be adding a link to the trailer, although for those that are interested, there is a link on the page I referred you to above. I’ll let you know what I thought Saturday morning when I get back online with your next new weather narrative from paradise. Aloha for now…Glenn.
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