Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / January 9-10, 2014

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

78  Lihue, Kauai
79  Honolulu, Oahu
79  Molokai
82  Kahului, Maui
80  Kona, Hawaii
81  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 543pm Thursday evening:

Kaneohe, Oahu – 81
Port Allen, Kauai – 75

Haleakala Summit –   43 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 43 (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.

Aloha Paragraphs

 Generally fine weather Friday…still some clouds
with a few showers falling here and there

 Our lighter winds are now coming in from the
southeast – voggy at times into the weekend

There’s a chance that we’ll see some showers falling
locally, with even an isolated thunderstorm
this weekend 

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

16  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
18  Kahuku Trng, Oahu – SE
13  Molokai – ESE
20  Lanai – N
21  Kahoolawe – SE
15  Kaupo Gap, Maui -SE
17  PTA Range 17, Big Island – NW

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Thursday evening (545pm totals):

0.42  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.28  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.10  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.37  Kahakuloa, Maui
0.20  Kawainui Stream – 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 ~~~

Our winds are becoming southeasterly and lighter, with periods of vog…through the weekend into early next week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. ~~~ We find high pressure systems over the ocean far to the northwest and northeast of the state. At the same time, we see low pressure troughs just to the west and east of our islands…with an approaching cold front over the ocean further to our northwest.  Our winds are calming down now, and beginning to warm up, as well as bringing volcanic haze our way. Tonight and most of Friday will be generally fine, with just a few showers along our windward sides…and perhaps over the leeward slopes during the afternoon hours locally too.

Satellite imagery shows clear to partly cloudy skies, with still a few deeper clouds to the east and northeast of Maui and the Big Island. The lower level clouds are being carried towards us on the east and southeast wind flow. The bulk of them are now offshore to the west of Kauai, with a few offshore to the northeast of Maui and the Big Island…at least at the time of this writing. Here’s the looping radar image, showing generally light showers falling mostly over the ocean, although there are a few arriving along our windward sides locally.  Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can still see the recent impressive area of clouds to the east.  At the same time, there are thunderstorms far southwest of the islands…and an area of deeper clouds to the northwest of as state as well.

We’ll find a few windward showers, and a few afternoon upcountry showers too, otherwise…favorable weather conditions will prevail for the time being. As the southeast winds arrive now, we’ll see volcanic haze venturing up over  the smaller islands, from the vents on the Big Island.  Then, as we move into the weekend time frame, we could see an increase in rainfall. These showers will be spotty for the most part, along with a possible thunderstorm here and there as well. There will be a cold front approaching, although the models continue to show it stalling just before reaching Kauai. Meanwhile, there’s expected to be a lack of deep moisture in our area, thus the toning down of the heavier rains for the weekend. As we’ re into our winter season now, there may be additional fine tuning on this weekend outlook. As we get into early next week, the winds will remain light, with afternoon clouds and showers likely here and there, along with chilly early mornings. ~~~ I’ll be back early Friday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever you happen to be spending it. Aloha for now…Glenn.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary

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. 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.