Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / July 30-31, 2011

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday:  

Lihue, Kauai –                    85                  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –     87 (record for Saturday – 92 in 1990) 
Kaneohe, Oahu –                82
Molokai airport –                 84
Kahului airport, Maui –         84 
Kona airport                       85  
Hilo airport, Hawaii –           83

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 5pm Saturday evening:

Barking Sands, Kauai – 86
Hilo, Hawaii – 76

Haleakala Crater –     48 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 43 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)

Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Saturday afternoon:

5.92     Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.46     Manoa Valley, Oahu
0.11     Molokai
0.06     Lanai
0.07     Kahoolawe
2.97     Puu Kukui, Maui
0.93     Kawainui Stream, Big Island

Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing two near 1030 millibar high pressure systems, one to the north and the other to the northwest of our islands. Our local trade winds will remain active into the new week. 

Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with this Infrared Satellite Image of the islands to see all the clouds around 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. Finally, here's a Looping IR satellite image, making viewable the clouds around the islands 24 hours a day. To help you keep track of where any showers may be around the islands, here’s the latest animated radar image.

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,500 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 web cams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon shining down during the night at times. Plus, during the nights you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise and sunset too…depending upon weather conditions.

Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest weather 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. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here.  Here's a tropical cyclone tracking map for the eastern and central Pacific.

 Aloha Paragraphs

Improving weather this weekend…
continuing into the new week ahead

The trade winds will remain active through this weekend and beyond.  Glancing at this weather map, we find two 1030 millibar high pressure systems, one to our north…and the other to the northwest. This map also shows the short dash red line…which is the trough of low pressure, which recently moved through the state, and continues moving away to our west Saturday night. 

Our trade winds will remain active…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts (mph), along with directions Saturday evening: 

31                    Port Allen, Kauai – NE  
23                 Kahuku, Oahu – NE  
31                    Molokai – NE
22                 Kahoolawe – ESE
29                 Kahului, Maui – NE
18                 Lanai – NE  
28                 Upolu Point, Big Island – NE 

We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Saturday night.  Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we find low level clouds impacting the windward sides of some of the islands…along with high cirrus clouds to our southeast. We can use this looping satellite image to see lower level clouds being carried along in the low level wind flow. Checking out this looping radar image we see light to moderately heavy showers being carried along in the wind flow, generally over the ocean to the west of Kauai…moving away.

Sunset Commentary: The trough of low pressure that moved across our islands on Friday, is now moving away towards the west. There were still signs this morning that suggested that the eastern side of this trough was keeping our showers enhanced, with even some towering cumulus clouds around. The trough continues to move steadily away, and as a result our atmosphere is becoming much less shower prone.

The bulk of this precipitation fell along our windward sides and in the mountains. Following closely in the wake of this departing area of low pressure, will be a fairly routine trade wind weather pattern. Sunday will be just fine, and noticeably drier than what we’ve been experiencing recently. As the trade winds pick up now, and continue on into the new week, we’ll see the return of our normal few passing showers along our windward sides. Monday is the beginning of August, and should find our weather matching climatology pretty closely. Look for drier weather through the first half of the new week, with increasingly strong trade winds arriving by Wednesday onwards.

Friday evening I went to Kahului after work to see a new film. This was the new Harry Potter film called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint…among all the many others. Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to Hogwarts for the epic battle between the good and evil forces of the wizarding world. Since I saw all the others, it seemed to make sense to see this one too.  This film has been getting great reviews, averaging a high A- grade. I've been bidding my time to see this one, as I didn't want the crowd to be too large. I ended up liking it quite a bit, as it was very engaging, as the whole series has been. If you're a Harry Potter fan, than I could certainly recommend seeing it. Here's a trailer for this film by the way, just in case you're curious about it.

Here in Kula, Maui, at around 530pm HST Saturday evening, skies were clear to partly cloudy. The air temperature was a warm 75.8F degrees, with a gentle breeze making my wind chimes sing out sweetly. I finally made it to the ocean this afternoon, and am so glad that I did, as I knew I would be. I can see the hand writing on the wall here, suggesting that I'll be taking an ocean swim every Saturday well into the future. It was rather windy, and there was a bit of mist in the air, although the water was warm, and it was easy to get into, without the slightest bit of being too cold. I stayed in quite a while, swimming around, and just hanging out soaking in the healing waters of the Pacific. I then went shopping in Paia, and came home for a late lunch, and an even later little cup of java…which I never got around to this morning. I have no plans this evening, and will likely just sit out and watch the sunset, and maybe with a small drink in hand, just to celebrate the weekend. I'll be here again Sunday morning, with your next new weather narrative from paradise, before heading out on my morning walk. I may come back with a few music video's to share, although that's not a sure thing. At any rate, I catch up with you in the morning, I hope you have a great Saturday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Extra: Fun loving dog video…thanks to youtube