Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / December 10-11, 2013

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Tuesday:

81  Lihue, Kauai
85  Honolulu, Oahu
83  Molokai
85  Kahului, Maui
84  Kona, Hawaii
82  Hilo, Hawaii

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops on Maui and the Big Island…as of 743pm Tuesday evening:

Kailua Kona – 79
Hilo, Hawaii – 71

Haleakala Summit –   46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 34 (13,000+ 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 – if it’s working.

Aloha Paragraphs

Trade winds lasting through Wednesday, locally quite strong and gusty…
then turning southeast later Thursday through Saturday – locally voggy

Clear to partly cloudy, with cloudy periods, a few windward showers…
afternoon showers increasing locally over the slopes starting Thursday,
with chance of heavy rains/thunderstorms Sunday morning into
early next week…first on Kauai

Small Craft Wind Advisory…parts of Maui County
and the Big Island

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

17  Poipu, Kauai – NE
44  Waianae Valley, Oahu – NE
27  Molokai – ENE
39  Lanai – NE
31  Kahoolawe – E
31  Kahului, Maui – NE
32  South Point, Big Island – NE

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

0.17  Wainiha, Kauai
0.54  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.03  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.08  Hana airport, Maui
0.10  Lower Kahuku, Big Island

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.

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Locally strong and gusty trade winds will last through mid-week, then becoming southeast…before turning south to southeast Friday into the weekend. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the Pacific Ocean. We find a near 1032 millibar high pressure system far to the northeast of the state, with a second high pressure cell to the north of Hawaii, with their associated ridges to the northeast of the central islands. At the same time we see a low pressure system far to our north, with an associated cold front just offshore to the north of our islands. Trade winds will remain quite gusty tonight into Wednesday…with small craft wind advisories over those windiest coasts and channel waters around Maui County and the Big Island. As we get into the Thursday through Saturday period, the winds will falter again, becoming softer from the south to southeast. As these winds swing around into the southeast direction…there will be volcanic haze being carried up over the smaller islands.

We’ll find a few showers along our windward sides while the trades are blowing…then shifting over to the leeward slopes during the afternoons…as the lighter southeasterly flow arrives later this week. Satellite imagery shows very few low level clouds scattered around the state, and over the offshore waters as usual. There are also some high level cirrus clouds offshore to the northeast of the Big Island. The islands from Kauai and Oahu down to Maui County to the Big Island, are clear to partly cloudy at the time of this writing. Here’s the looping radar image, showing almost the entire state is dry as we head into the night…just few a few showers heading towards the Big Island and east Maui.

Our weather will be pleasant over the next couple of days…albeit on the windy side locally. We’ll then shift into a lighter wind regime, as they veer around to the southeast after mid-week. This change will be caused by the approach of a cold front, although it will stall before arriving. This lighter wind period, with afternoon clouds with just a few showers around the mountains, and in the leeward upcountry areas, will last into the early part of the weekend. Thereafter, the models are pointing out a rather significant change in our local weather conditions. A re-invigorated frontal system will move into our area from the northwest Sunday morning, into early next week. This is forecast to bring localized heavy rains, and possible flooding, along with a chance of thunderstorms…first on the Kauai end of the chain. This outlook will need fine tuning as we get closer to its arrival, which I’ll be doing on a daily basis. I’ll be back with your next new weather narrative early Wednesday morning, I hope you have a great Tuesday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th…and has now ended

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea:

Gulf of Mexico:

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: The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15th through November 30th…and has now ended. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary

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