The latest update to this website was at 856pm Wednesday (HST)

 

Here are the highest temperatures Wednesday afternoon…and the lowest Wednesday morning:

82 / 75  Lihue AP, Kauai
m / m  Honolulu AP, Oahu
81 / 75  Molokai AP, Molokai
84 / 62  Kahului AP, Maui
83 / 71  Kona AP, Big Island
81 / 65  Hilo AP, Big Island

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

0.02  Mount Wailaleale, Kauai
0.01  Tunnel RG, Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.04  West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.01  Pahoa, Big Island

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

10  Port Allen, Kauai
16  Kii, Oahu
25  Makapulapai, Molokai
16  Lanai 1, Lanai
16  Hana, Maui
30  South Point, Big Island

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcams on the summit of our tallest mountain Mauna Kea (~13,800 feet high) on the Big Island of Hawaii, and atop the Haleakala Crater (~10,023 feet) 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.

 

https://weather.gc.ca/data/satellite/goes_gwdisk11_1070_100.jpg

Big Blue…click twice for largest version

 

https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES17/ABI/SECTOR/tpw/13/GOES17-TPW-13-900x540.gif 

 A cold front northwest…thunderstorms well south


https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES17/ABI/SECTOR/hi/GEOCOLOR/GOES17-HI-GEOCOLOR-600x600.gif

Many areas are clear to partly cloudy…some cloudy spots

 

https://cdn.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES17/ABI/SECTOR/hi/13/GOES17-HI-13-600x600.gif

Streaky high clouds arriving at times

 

https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/HAWAII_loop.gif

Very few windward showers

 

https://www.weather.gov/images/hfo/satellite/Kauai_VIS_loop.gif

Kauai and Oahu (Satellite)

 

https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/PHKI_loop.gif

Kauai and Oahu (Radar)

 

https://www.weather.gov/images/hfo/satellite/Oahu-Maui_VIS_loop.gif

Oahu and Maui County (Satellite)

 

https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/PHMO_loop.gif

Oahu and Maui County (Radar)

 

https://www.weather.gov/images/hfo/satellite/Hawaii_VIS_loop.gif

 Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, and the Big Island (Satellite)

 

https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/PHKM_loop.gif

Maui County and the Big Island (Radar)

 

https://radar.weather.gov/ridge/standard/PHWA_loop.gif

Big Island (Radar)

 

Model showing precipitation through 8-days (you can slow this animation down)

 

https://www.weather.gov/wwamap/png/hfo.png

Please open this link to see details on any current Watches, Warnings and Advisories noted above

 

https://www.weather.gov/images/hfo/graphics/pmsl.gif

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Glenn’s Wednesday comments:  I’m home here in upper Kula, Maui, Hawaii. I hope you have a good Christmas Day wherever you happen to be spending it.

It’s clear, with a cool low temperature of 49 degrees according to my outside temperature sensor.

525pm, the clouds have formed around the mountains again today, and not long before sunset I see a fair amount of what looks like vog in the skies here in Maui County.

It was a nice Christmas Day from a weather perspective, although the very dry conditions prevail. My high temperature here at my place was 72 degrees.

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview:  A stable subtropical ridge over the region will keep cloud cover and shower activity to a minimum until this weekend. Southeasterly wind flow will allow sea breezes to expand over all islands. On Saturday and Sunday a shallow cold front and upper level disturbance will move into the islands and combine forces, as high pressure builds in from the northwest. Expect periods of enhanced trade wind showers across the Hawaiian Islands this weekend, favoring the overnight to early morning hours along windward and mountain slopes.

Hawaii’s Weather Details:  Radar and satellite imagery show some patches of cumulus clouds and a few light showers moving into windward areas, with some wrapping around island terrain into leeward areas with the east-southeast flow. The atmospheric stability across the state can be clearly seen in the upper air soundings, with strong temperature inversions around 5,000 feet and 7,000 feet at Lihue and Hilo respectively. Also visible in satellite imagery is the vog plume extending west of the Big Island and remaining south of the smaller islands. The only land areas being impacted by reduced air quality at this point are the lower slopes from Kilauea to South Point and around to leeward slopes of the Big Island.

As the surface high pressure center continues to push off to the northeast of the state in response to the approaching weak cold front, trades will continue to weaken and veer east-southeast through Friday. With the trades weakening and most of the smaller islands falling into the wind shadow of the Big Island, sea breezes will increase clouds and showers over leeward interior areas by each afternoon, and land breezes will help to clear out leeward areas overnight. This land and sea breeze pattern will continue and expand in coverage through Friday, the period through which winds are expected to remain light.

The weak cold front will gradually approach the western end of the state Saturday, then dissipate as it tries to progress further down the island chain through the weekend. Increased moisture in the vicinity of the frontal boundary will increase rain chances, mainly across windward areas, as the trades strengthen in the wake of the dissipating front. The southern periphery of an upper level trough helping to drive low pressure systems across the northern Pacific will dip down across the state this weekend, then potentially form a cutoff low to the southeast of the Big Island. The proximity of this feature to the island chain will likely help to enhance windward showers over the weekend into early next week.

Fire weather:  No critical fire weather conditions are expected for the next seven days. Mostly dry weather remains in the forecast across the state with limited shower activity as the dry spell continues through Friday. Shower trends increase starting Friday night with enhanced trade wind showers into early next week.

Here’s a near real-time Wind Profile of the Pacific Ocean – along with a Closer View of the islands / Here’s the latest Weather Map / Vog map animation

Hawaii’s Marine Environment:  The trades will continue to ease as they gradually shift more east-southeasterly. Fresh trades will persist over the eastern waters, while light to moderate trades hold over the western end of the state. The Small Craft Advisory (SCA) has been cancelled as winds have dropped below advisory thresholds. The winds will become light and variable over the western waters tonight through Friday, meanwhile, east to southeast winds will slowly ease over the eastern islands, becoming gentle to moderate by Friday. A new high building north of the islands will allow moderate trades to gradually fill back in Friday night, and become locally strong over the weekend.

A large northwest swell will fill in tonight, peak Thursday and Thursday night, then gradually lower Friday through the weekend. This swell is expected to produce warning-level surf along most north and west facing shores as it peaks, and a High Surf Warning will likely be required. The swell will also elevate seas above the SCA threshold across a good chunk of the marine area, beginning late tonight and continuing into the weekend. A couple small to moderate sized northwest and north swells will move through early next week, but surf should remain below advisory levels.

Surf along east facing shores will trend slightly lower through Saturday as the winds locally and upstream of the islands diminish. East shore surf will then rebound back to near normal levels late Sunday through early next week as the trades return.

 

Merry christmas Stock Photos, Royalty Free Merry christmas Images | Depositphotos

 

 

World-wide Tropical Cyclone Activity

 

Atlantic Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Caribbean Sea:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Gulf of Mexico:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Northeastern Pacific:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

North Central Pacific:  There are no active tropical cyclones

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

Northwest Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Southwest Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

North and South Indian Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Arabian Sea:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)

>>> Here’s a link to the Pacific Disaster Center’s (PDC Global) Weather Wall website

 

Interesting:  ESA and NASA Satellites Deliver First Joint Picture of Greenland Ice Sheet Melting

Academics from Northumbria University are part of an international research team which has used data from satellites to track changes in the thickness of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Global warming is causing the Ice Sheet to melt and flow more rapidly, raising sea levels and disturbing weather patterns across our planet.

Because of this, precise measurements of its changing shape are of critical importance for tracking and adapting to the effects of climate warming.

Read More: Northumbria University