April 12-13 2006

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across Hawaii Wednesday:

Lihue, Kauai – 79F
Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Kaneohe, Oahu – 78
Kahului, Maui – 76
Hilo, Hawaii – 81
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 83

Temperatures early Thursday morning ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at the 4 a.m. hour:

Lihue airport, Kauai – 72
Hilo airport – 67

Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals during the last 24 hours (as of Thursday morning) on each of the major islands, including:

1.59 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
0.99 MANOA LYON ARBORETUM, OAHU
0.15 MOLOKAI
0.00 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
2.34 WEST WAILUAIKI, MAUI
1.04 HILO AIRPORT, BIG ISLAND

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map…showing a 1036 millibar high pressure system to the north of Hawaii. This high pressure cell will cause moderate to locally strong and gusty strong trade winds to blow Wednesday through Thursday. Here’s a Weather Map Symbol page for clarification about what all those funny weather symbols mean.

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 only available during the daylight hours here in the islands…that is unless there’s a big moon rising just after sunset for an hour or two!

Satellite 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.

Aloha Paragraphs
Beautiful Maui sunset



The trade winds continue to be the primary mover and shaker in the Hawaiian Island weather picture now. A 1036 millibar high pressure system, far to the north of the Aloha state, is the source of this brisk trade wind flow of air. The latest computer forecast models suggest that this high pressure cell will remain in the same location, more or less, through the rest of this week. This will keep alive the moderate to locally strong and gusty trade winds. The small craft wind advisory for many coastal areas across the state, including the major channels, will remain in force through this period.

As I was mentioning in yesterday’s narrative, this is common stuff during the spring months of the year. Wind speeds will range between about 10-25 mph, with some gusts topping 30 mph in places. If these trade winds get as strong and gusty as expected, we could see winds gusting up towards the 40 mph mark, or even above that in those locally windiest locations…particularly around Maui and the Big Island. The physical terrain features, such as channels and valleys, can often enhance or accelerate the wind flow, which is usually where the strongest winds blow in Hawaii.

All this trade wind action will help to carry moist clouds towards the windward coasts and slopes. These north and east facing windward shores will see passing showers at times, especially during the nights and early morning hours. These showers are being generated by what we call the orographic effect, which simply means that moisture is forced up the sides of the volcanic slopes by the trade winds…where it cools and condenses into clouds. These clouds are then coaxed to drop showers, which of course help to keep the lush tropical vegetation alive and well there.

The latest satellite images show considerable clouds taking aim on those windward sides of the islands. Those same pictures show a fair amount of higher cirrus clouds around too, which will help to dim and filter our Hawaiian sunshine at times. These cirrus clouds will depart our area over the next day or two. At any rate, the south and west facing leeward sides of the islands will see much less showery weather, with many beaches remaining completely dry. The strong trade winds may blow a few showers over into the leeward areas on the smaller islands. Oahu is a good example of this…where stray showers can reach into Honolulu at times. The Kona slopes on the Big Island may see a few afternoon showers as well.

It’s early Wednesday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin today’s sunset commentary. Geez, can we ever get rid of this prolonged period of high cloudiness? Well, the answer is yes, thank goodness! The good thing about this sun dimming stuff is that it doesn’t drop rain. However, and as any bonafide sun worshipper will tell you…it definitely cuts into the tanning time greatly. The satellite image that I provided you in the paragraph above, shows just how extensive this cirrus cloudiness is at the moment. At the same time, the windward sides have had to put up with lots of passing showers lately, most of them haven’t been heavy ones, but nonetheless, it has kept a good measure of dampness around for most of this week so far. I do see less showers along those windward sides later Thursday through Friday, with a break in the high clouds for all other areas happening soon too. It may have just been my mood, but then again it may have been the extensive cloudiness, which kept me off the beach today. I got my take out food at the health food store, and then drove down to Cove Park and ate it while gazing out at the ocean. There certainly weren’t any waves to ride in my mind, as it was nearly flat as a pancake! I hope you have a great Wednesday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Like clockwork, I’ll be back early Thursday morning with the next updated narrative. Aloha for now…Glenn.

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