Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / April 19-20, 2012

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

Lihue, Kauai –                     81  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –  82  (Record high temperature for Thursday – 89 / 1996) 
Kaneohe, Oahu –               82
Molokai airport –                 78
Kahului airport, Maui –      82  (Record high temperature for Thursday – 90 / 1953)   
Kona airport –                    81
Hilo airport, Hawaii –           77

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

Honolulu, Oahu – 81
Hilo, Hawaii – 74

Haleakala Crater –  50 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea –         41 (near 13,800 feet on the Big Island)

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,800 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. This web cam is 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. Here's the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui…although this webcam is often not working correctly.

 Aloha Paragraphs

Gusty trades easing up a touch into Saturday,
picking up again Sunday onwards…with just
a few windward showers through Saturday,
then increasing some Sunday-Monday

As this weather map shows, we have a near 1028 millibar high pressure system to the east-northeast.  At the same time, we have a weak cold front draped between two storms far to the northwest and northeast…to the north of the islands. Our gusty trade winds will become slightly lighter through Saturday, then increase a notch again Sunday into next week.

The following numbers represent the most recent wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Thursday evening:

13                 Lihue, Kauai – NE
23                 Honolulu, Oahu – NE
22                 Molokai – NE
35                 Kahoolawe – NE
35                 Kahului, Maui – NE
24                 Lanai – NE
27                 South 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.  Here's the latest NOAA satellite picture – the latest looping satellite image…and finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands. 

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands:
 
0.03               Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.06               Hakipuu Mauka, Oahu
0.00               Molokai
0.00               Kahoolawe
0.24               Puu Kukui, Maui
0.66              Island Dairy, Big Island  

Sunset Commentary: Classic spring weather conditions prevail here in the Hawaiian Islands Thursday evening. A moderately strong trade wind generating high pressure system remains anchored to the northeast, keeping gusty winds in place. At the same time, our overlying atmosphere is quite stable and dry, which continues to limit showers. As usual, the windward coasts and slopes are catching what few showers that are being carried our way on the winds. In contrast, the south and west facing leeward areas are mostly dry, with just a few high cirrus streaming across our island skies at times.

Looking ahead, a weakening cold front will push in our direction this weekend, bringing an increase in windward biased showers to the north and east facing windward sides Sunday into Monday. Through Saturday however, and then again by next Tuesday…our weather will be drier than normal for this time of year. Speaking of normal, our local surf conditions in the marine environment, will remain smaller than usual for this time of year as well. All things considered, our weather will remain on the pleasant side through the next couple of days.

I felt rather slow today, with little energy to do much more than laze around. I miss my family and friends on the west coast, and am just giving myself some time to acclimatize to paradise. I'll begin working for the Pacific Disaster Center on Friday, and am sure that my pace will pick up soon and as a matter fact…already has. Meanwhile, it feels good to be getting back into the weather here in the islands, which the updating of this website brings into focus quickly. I typically miss that temperate climate for a while, before this tropical reality works its way back into my system.

I've been invited for dinner at a friends house in lower Kula Friday evening, so rather than going to a film then, I'm going to see a new one tonight. This one is called Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, starring Amr Waked, Emily Blunt, and Ewan McGregor…among many others. There's another one that I want to see, called The Cabin in the Woods, but I'm a bit scared to see it alone, so will wait until I have a friend to go see it with me! At any rate, the snapshot of this salmon fishing film is: when Britain's leading fisheries expert (Ewan McGregor) is approached by a consultant (Emily Blunt) to help realize a sheikh's (Amr Waked) vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert, he immediately thinks the project is both absurd and unachievable. But when the Prime Minister's overzealous press secretary (Kristin Scott Thomas) latches on to it as a "good will" story, this unlikely team will put it all on the line and embark on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible, possible. Rotten Tomatoes film review site is giving this film a 70-75 grade out of 100, which is pretty good. The Cabin in the Woods is getting a high 92 rating. I'll let you know what I thought of this fishing film Friday morning, and by the way its a comedy. Here's a trailer for this film.

Here in Kula, Maui at 515pm, skies were partly cloudy, with light trades, and an air temperature of 70.3F degrees. It's interesting to be back in the tropics, after being in California over most of the last month. There the sun was usually warm when it was out, while the breezes were cooler…especially in the shade. As you know if you were following along during my trip, I ran into snow last week in the Sierra Nevada foothill country! I'll be back Friday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Thursday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.