Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday:
Lihue, Kauai – 79
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 83
Kaneohe, Oahu – 80
Molokai airport – 84
Kahului airport, Maui – 87 (Record high temperature on this date – 87F / (1956, 2006) Tied the record!
Kona airport – 81
Hilo airport, Hawaii – 82
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 5pm Friday evening:
Kahului, Maui – 82
Kaneohe, Oahu – 76
Haleakala Crater – 48 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea – 37 (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…which is working only sometimes lately.
Aloha Paragraphs
Trade winds – just a few showers – generally
nice weather Saturday and Sunday
As this weather map shows low pressure systems far to the north-northeast and north-northwest, along with their associated cold fronts draping southwest from their centers. At the same time we have a 1024 millibar high pressure system sitting out to our east-northeast, with its associated ridge extending west-southwest to near Kauai. The location of these low pressure systems, and this ridge of high pressure very close will result in generally light trade winds into Saturday…strongest near the Big Island and Maui County.
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph), along with directions Friday evening:
12 Port Allen, Kauai – SE
23 Waianae, Oahu – ESE
06 Molokai – SW
33 Kahoolawe – ENE
09 Lipoa, Maui – ENE
15 Lanai – NNE
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 Friday evening. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see generally clear skies across all of the Hawaiian Islands…with just a few to our northeast and southwest, and over the mountains in places at the time of this writing. We can use this looping satellite image to see a stream of clouds moving from southwest towards the northeast…to the northwest and north of the Hawaiian Islands, as well as far to the southeast. The lower level clouds upstream of the islands are being in our direction on the trade winds now. Checking out this looping radar image we see just a few light showers over the ocean for the most part.
Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Friday evening:
0.01 Moloaa Dairy, Kauai
0.02 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.00 Maui
0.01 Waikii, Big Island
Sunset Commentary: Now that the trade winds have reached across all of the islands, we'll have a winter trade wind weather pattern going on through the first part of the weekend. A high pressure ridge has moved north of Kauai, which has allowed these winds to fill in to its south. The trade winds will strengthen some, although computer forecast models continue to suggest that the trade winds will be short-lived, as southeast to south winds begin later Sunday…as the next cold front approaches. This front will push our high pressure ridge down over the islands again as we get into the early part of next week. This will prompt lighter winds, blowing from the southeast to southwest. These breezes will draw up tropical moisture locally, first on the Big Island end of the chain, gradually reaching Oahu and Kauai. Those same models suggest that we could be looking for more rainfall towards the end of the new week ahead, as another cold front gets closer, or even moves into the state. We'll also see volcanic haze increasing across the state during the new week, which should stick for 4-5 days.
Here in Kula, Maui at around 530pm HST, it was cloudy on the slopes of this Haleakala Crater, with an air temperature of 67.1F degrees. I can see out from under these clouds that the lowlands are just about completely clear, with still lots of sunshine down there. As I was mentioning above, the trade winds will prevail for the next few days, providing very few windward biased showers, with dry weather prevailing along our leeward beaches. Conditions will remain generally nice through most of the weekend, if not entirely. The next change will occur as a cold front approaches the state late Sunday into early next week, prompting a change in our wind reality…among other things. The trade winds will give way to southeast to south breezes, drawing warmer and somewhat more moist air into the state, along with an increase in volcanic haze. The cold front to our northwest will stall, and park itself there for several days, like the one last week did. It will have a bearing on our weather, like the previous one did, with shower bearing clouds being drawn across our islands, especially along our leeward slopes. Then, later in the new week it could turn wetter, as the cold front finally gets pushed down into the state, especially on the Kauai end of the state. We'll have to fine tune this prospect over the weekend.
I'll be heading down to Kahului in a little while, as I'm going to see a new film with a friend. This new film is getting good reviews from the critics, and is called Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, starring Tom Cruise, Jeremy Rennter, Simon Pegg, and Paula Patton…among many others. The synopsis: blamed for the terrorist bombing of the Kremlin, IMF operative Ethan Hunt is disavowed along with the rest of the agency when the President initiates "Ghost Protocol". Left without any resources or backup, Ethan must find a way to clear his agency's name and prevent another attack. To complicate matters further, Ethan is forced to embark on this mission with a team of fellow IMF fugitives whose personal motives he does not fully know. The tough scoring rotten tomatoes website is giving this a very high 93% rating, which is the top ranked film of the week! I've been looking forward to seeing this film since I became aware of it, and will be certain to provide my review Saturday morning, when I'll be back with your next new weather narrative. Here's a trailer for this film. I hope you have a great Friday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn
Email Glenn James: 
