Hawaiian Islands Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs / February 28 – March 1, 2018

Air Temperatures – The following high temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday…along with the low temperatures Wednesday:

77 – 73  Lihue, Kauai
83 – 74  Honolulu, Oahu
81 – 67  Molokai AP
81 – 63  Kahului AP, Maui
82 – 73  Kailua Kona
78 – 67  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

3.78  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
3.23  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.13  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.43  West Wailuaiki, Maui
4.30  Kulani NWR, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Wednesday evening:

30  Lihue, Kauai
33  Kii, Oahu
37  Molokai
28  Lanai
55  Kahoolawe
24  Kahului AP, Maui
37  South Point, Big Island

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of our tallest mountain Mauna Kea (nearly 13,800 feet high) on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here’s the webcam for the Haleakala Crater on Maui. These webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands, and at night whenever there’s a big moon shining down. Also, at night you will be able to see the stars — and the sunrise and sunset too — depending upon weather conditions.

Aloha Paragraphs

Strong high pressure northeast…causing blustery trade winds

A low and associated trough west of Hawaii

Deep clouds to the west…pushing higher clouds over us

Showers locally over the islands – Looping image

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

High Surfing Advisory…east facing shores of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and the Big Island

Small Craft Advisory…All coastal and channel waters

Broad Brush Overview: A moderately strong high pressure system northeast of the state, and a deep low pressure system to the west, will keep the strong and gusty east-southeast winds blowing through Thursday. An upper level trough will push through the islands, enhancing windward and mountain showers…with showers drifting across leeward sections on the smaller islands through Friday. A drying trend with decreasing wind speeds is on tap for the weekend.

Details: Satellite imagery shows a deepening low west of Kauai, with high cirrus clouds from this upper low streaming over the state. Meanwhile, a rather strong high pressure system remains in place far to the northeast of the islands, and a surface trough is forming to the west. These two weather systems will keep the strong gusty winds blowing through Thursday.

An upper level trough sweeps across the islands from the southwest Thursday, which will enhance shower activity statewide. The main impacts will be increased rainfall chances over windward and mountain slopes…with some showers drifting into the leeward sections. An upper level jet stream will continue to spread high clouds across the state, and help keep an off and on wet windward and mountain shower pattern going into Friday.

Wind speeds will begin to decrease some Friday, and will continue to diminish through the weekend. This will occur as the high pressure system to the northeast weakens temporarily, and the upper low pressure system to the west…drifts northwest away from the island chain. Shower activity will also diminish across the board, as the overlying atmosphere will become drier and more stable then.

Looking Ahead:  As we move into the first half of next week, the long range models are suggesting that a weak cold front will push into the state, with a slight increase in showers, followed by a shot of briefly cooler temperatures…tropically speaking. A prolonged period of strong trade winds will prevail through much of next week. This isn’t all that unusual, given the fact that we’re edging up towards the beginning of our spring season.

Here’s a wind profile of the Pacific Ocean – Closer view of the islands / Here’s the vog forecast animation / Here’s the latest weather map

Marine environment details: High pressure centered over the eastern Pacific for the past several days, continues to support rough conditions across Hawaiian waters…due to a combination of large seas and strong trades. Terrain induced accelerations over the Pailolo and Alenuihaha Channels, and across the waters near South Point are supporting gale force winds. These conditions will continue, then begin to slowly trend down tonight through the second half of the week…as high pressure weakens. Despite this expected downward trend, strong trades will continue.

Rough surf (nearing warning levels) along east facing shores will continue through the second half of the week, due to the large and persistent area of strong trades locally…and upstream of the state. Some overwash onto vulnerable low lying coastal roads may occur, especially around the high tides through tonight. A gradual downward trend is expected over the upcoming weekend.

Surf along north facing shores will remain small through the rest of the week into the weekend. A mix of small northwest and northerly swells is expected Sunday into early next week. A more sizable northerly swell will be possible next Tuesday through mid-week.

A small out of season south swell will be possible over the weekend, due to a recent gale to storm force low passing southeast of New Zealand this past weekend. Some of this energy has already begun to show up at the Samoa buoy, which should correlate to a Friday night/Saturday arrival locally.

Windy weather is the name of the game now

World-wide Tropical Cyclone activity

Here’s the latest PDC Weather Wall Presentation…covering a tropical disturbance being referred as Invest 94S in the south Indian Ocean

>>> 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:

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:

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: No active tropical cyclones