Hawaiian Islands Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs / September 13-14, 2015

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday…along with the minimums Sunday:

85 – 80  Lihue, Kauai
88 – 79  Honolulu, Oahu
88 – 74  Molokai
90 – 76  Kahului AP, Maui – the record Sunday was 93…back in 1977
93 – 81  Kailua Kona
85 – 73  Hilo, Hawaii

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands, as of Sunday evening:

1.87  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
4.36  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
1.11  Puu Alii, Molokai
1.16  Lanai
2.48  Kahoolawe
3.15  Kaupo Gap, Maui
3.26  Hilo AP, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Sunday evening:

22  Waimea Heights, Kauai – ESE
22  Kii, Oahu – E
29  Molokai – N
29  Lanai – NE
30  Kahoolawe – NE
29  Kapalua, Maui – NNE
27  Upolu AP, Big Island – ENE

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.

Aloha Paragraphs

Weather systems…northwest and west

Here’s a wind profile…of the area around the islands

Thunderstorms offshore to the northwest, west,
southwest and south

Heavy rains have fallen over parts of Oahu, Maui County and
the Big Island – large thunderstorms just southwest of the state!

There are showers in our area, some are heavy…mostly
over the ocean – looping radar image

Small Craft Advisory…windiest coasts and channels
around Maui County and the Big Island

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Light southeasterly breezes will continue, locally stronger…with trade winds returning soon. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a wind profiler of the central Pacific. We find a large, moderately strong high pressure system far to the north of the state. At the same time we see a storm low pressure system far northwest of the islands. Our winds will remain light from the southeast, as this storm’s presence continues to interrupt our trade wind flow a little while longer. This in turn will keep sultry conditions in place into Monday. It may take until later Monday into Tuesday, before we get back into a late summer trade wind weather pattern. The trades may give way to more southeasterly winds by the weekend…bringing back muggy and voggy weather our way then.

The threat of heavy showers is finally fading to some degree…although still isn’t completely out of the picture here and there. The atmosphere remains shower prone, especially from about Oahu down through Maui County and the Big Island…which will continue for a while longer. This moisture will work together with an area of low pressure aloft offshore from Kauai…bringing heavy showers our way locally at times tonight. When the trade winds return, we’ll see windward biased showers arriving at times too…with generally fine weather along our leeward beaches. The latest models suggest that there will be off and on moisture sources riding in on these trades during the next week…with possible unsettled weather returning again by the weekend.

Here on Maui…It’s 625am Sunday morning, with partly to mostly cloudy skies…with showers falling locally. Now a little while later, it’s clear to partly cloudy, and by the way, I forgot to mention that I woke up a couple of times last night hearing light showers falling…along with seeing lightning flashes off in the distance here in Kula. / Now at 1105am, it’s slightly cool, cloudy, pea soup fog, with a light shower falling. Meanwhile, down below, down in the central valley and the beaches, before the fog cut off my view…it was sunny and nice!

– It’s now early afternoon, under cloudy skies, and a steady moderately heavy rainfall. It’s a nice cool day, at least for the summer month of September. / Now at 2pm, it’s pouring rain…really coming down!

– Now at 550pm, the rain has stopped, at least here in Kula, with a little bit of blue sky finally showing its face. It was a big rainy afternoon, with over 2.5 inches having fallen in a couple of hours or so. This may be towards the end of this recent wet weather event, as the trade winds return and help to stabilize the overlying atmosphere. There will still be showers falling along the windward coasts and slopes however, mostly during the night and early morning hours this coming work week. Then, as noted above, we may see yet another wet spell arriving by next weekend. At 605pm, thick fog has enveloped my area here in Kula, so I can’t see a thing around the rest of the island. / It’s now 730pm, dark and still very foggy, with no rain…although the eaves are still dripping lightly from the heavy rains earlier in the day.

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday Evening Film: My usual movie friend Jeff is out of town, so I’ll be heading downtown alone to see a film. I grew up as a kid in Long Beach, California, and my Dad had a friend who owned a small Pizza restaurant in Compton, which wasn’t too far a drive for our family. So, this time around I’ve decided to see the film called Straight Outta Compton, starring O’Shea Jackson, Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Aldis Hodge, Paul Giamatti, Carra Patterson, Elena Goode, and Alexandra Shipp...among many others. The synopsis: In the mid-1980s, the streets of Compton, California, were some of the most dangerous in the country. When five young men translated their experiences growing up into brutally honest music that rebelled against abusive authority, they gave an explosive voice to a silenced generation. Following the meteoric rise and fall of N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton tells the astonishing story of how these youngsters revolutionized music and pop culture forever the moment they told the world the truth about life in the hood and ignited a cultural war.

This was a strong film, encompassing lots of music, emotion, and yes…violence. It wasn’t one of my favorite films by any means, although I’m glad I got an insiders view into a much different world than my own. This isn’t the type of music that I’m drawn to overly, although I can appreciate it nonetheless. It had all the necessary ingredients for our current crop of films, music, scantily clad women, drugs, and business deals gone bad. It took the viewer from good music into the music business, leading to the good life, with many exceptions…along with lots of money flowing. Big parties, bottles and bottles of expensive booze, and of course marijuana smoke filling the room. As for a grade, I’ll give it a strong B, although not quite B+ is how I saw the film. Many of the critics and viewers of this film, at least online, gave it a much better rating than I. If you have any interest…here’s the trailer.

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> Atlantic Ocean:

1.)  A well-defined low pressure system located several hundred miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands is producing minimal shower activity. However, environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for development, and this system could still become a tropical depression during the next day or two while it moves generally northwestward across the central tropical Atlantic.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…80 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…90 percent

2.)  A tropical wave located just off the west coast of Africa is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for gradual development of this wave during the next several days while it moves westward at 10 to 15 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…medium…40 percent

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

1.)    Shower activity has changed little in association with an area of low pressure located over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Some slow development of this system is possible during the next couple of days while it moves little. After a couple of days, a slow west-northwestward motion toward Mexico is expected and land interaction should limit development. The Air Force Reserve reconnaissance aircraft originally scheduled to investigate the system Monday afternoon has been canceled.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…20 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…30 percent

>>> Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

>>> Eastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

1.)   A broad area of low pressure located several hundred miles south of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula is producing limited shower and thunderstorm activity. Development, if any, of this system should be slow to occur during the next few days while it moves generally northwestward at 5 to 10 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent

Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

>>> Central Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)