The latest update to this website was at 831pm Thursday (HST)

 

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

81 / 69  Lihue AP, Kauai
m / m  Honolulu AP, Oahu
m / m  Molokai AP, Molokai
84 / 59  Kahului AP, Maui
84 / 71  Kona AP, Big Island
80 / m  Hilo AP, Big Island

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

0.56  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.41  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.07  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.12  West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.46  Papaikou Well, Big Island

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

13  Port Allen, Kauai
21  Kaneohe, Oahu
27  Makapulapai, Molokai
21  Lanai 1, Lanai
29  Kahului AP, Maui
23  Pali 2, 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 is located northwest of the state


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

Variable clouds across the state

 

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

Low clouds arriving on the trades…some high clouds moving overhead from the north

 

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

Localized showers…not many

 

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

It’s clear to partly cloudy and calm, with a chilly low temperature of 49.5 degrees according to my outside temperature sensor.

The afternoon hours turned cloudy around the mountains here in Maui County, although the surrounding beaches remained quite sunny in contrast.

My high temperature here in upper Kula was 70.5 degrees, and has slipped to 64.7 degrees at 601pm.

The high cirrus clouds moving over the state from the north…lit up a pretty pink color at sunset.

The temperature here at my place now (840pm) has plummeted (I love that word) to 54.8 degrees.

 

Hawaii’s Broad Brush Weather Overview:  Moderate to locally breezy trade winds will weaken tonight into Friday, as a front approaches and stalls to the northwest. Overnight land breezes and afternoon sea breezes will prevail from Friday through early next week, with the weak background flow becoming more southerly. A cold front may move over portions of the state during the second half of next week.

Hawaii’s Weather Details:  Current radar and satellite imagery show a few clouds and isolated showers moving into windward areas on the moderate to breezy trades, with a slight focus over the eastern end of the state, where a higher concentration of moisture can be seen upstream. This fairly limited windward shower activity will continue overnight.

Trades will begin to weaken and veer southeast tonight into Friday, in response to an approaching weak cold front from the northwest. This will allow for a hybrid pattern to emerge, with some limited windward showers riding in on the weakening trades and some isolated sea breeze activity over the more wind-protected leeward areas.

Then as the front inches closer and stalls north of the state this weekend, trades will continue to weaken and veer south and then eventually southwesterly across the western end of the island chain. During this period, land and sea breezes will become more widespread, allowing limited cloud and shower development over leeward and interior areas during the day and clearing at night.

Model guidance has been consistently showing that an upper level trough will move down and sweep across the central Pacific, and finally help to drive the next front through at least a portion of the island chain by mid-week next week. As the southwesterly kona flow strengthens across the western half of the state late this weekend into early next week, in advance of this front, this may overcome the land and sea breeze pattern for Kauai and Oahu and focus clouds and showers over leeward areas…especially if any prefrontal convergence bands materialize in the southwesterly flow.

The latest model runs look to have come into slightly better agreement on the timing of this front, bringing it to Kauai’s doorstep on Tuesday evening, then slowly moving through the middle of the island chain by Wednesday evening before it stalls. This frontal passage looks to bring some beneficial rain to the area, along with breezy north-northeasterly winds for the western half of the state.

Convergence along this dissipating frontal boundary, an abundance of upstream moisture, and a new plume of moisture associated with a low level disturbance moving towards the eastern end of the state, will keep rain chances in the picture through the latter part of the week.

Finally, a hot spot over Halemaumau Crater on the Big Island continues to be seen on infrared satellite imagery. The University of Hawaii Vog Model shows that SO2 emissions should remain confined to portions of the Big Island and adjacent waters to the west and southwest through Friday. However, assuming constant SO2 emissions, vog will likely begin to increase across the rest of the state late Friday into early next week, as winds weaken and become more southerly.

Fire weather:  No critical fire weather conditions are expected for the next 7-days. Moderate to locally breezy trade winds will gradually ease into Friday. Land/seabreeze pattern will develop Friday into early next week as a weak southerly flow takes over. Relative humidities will stay above critical levels through the forecast period. A front may move through the state by mid-week next week, that could provide much needed rainfall to leeward locations.

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:  A high pressure system passing north of the islands will keep fresh to locally strong trade winds blowing for one more day. A Small Craft Advisory remains in effect for the typical windier waters around Maui and the Big Island. Trade winds will weaken and shift from a more southeasterly direction from Friday into Sunday as the high drifts into the East Pacific and an approaching cold front stalls northwest of the state.

Lighter southeasterly winds will place most islands, from Maui to Kauai, in the leeward wind and rain shadow of the Big Island. These weaker large scale winds will cause near shore land and sea breezes to expand in coverage during this time period. Southerly winds develop across the region from late Sunday into Monday ahead of another cold front.

An active period with several northwest swells will move through the islands through the next seven days. The first of several northwest swells was delayed a bit and will still build to advisory levels, then gradually decline on Friday. A low pressure system currently moving through the West Pacific is producing hurricane force winds along a fetch that lines up a significant northwest swell pointed directly towards the Hawaiian Islands. This significant northwest swell will swiftly build into the island chain through the day Saturday, the swell energy will peak by Saturday night and Sunday, and then slowly lower from Sunday night into Monday. This swell will produce warning level surf heights along exposed north and west facing shores through much of the weekend.

Yet another significant northwest swell will arrive from late Monday into Tuesday, possibly pushing surf heights back up to warning levels, with another reinforcing northwest swell pushing surf heights well above warning levels by next week Wednesday.

Surf along east and south facing shores will remain small through the first half of next week.

 

Maui Beaches Guide - The Snorkel Store

 

 

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:  As Wolf Populations Rebound, an Angry Backlash Intensifies

This month will mark the 30th anniversary of a landmark wildlife experiment: the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park. The gray wolf had been nearly extirpated throughout the northern Rockies and had been federally listed as endangered since 1974.

Diane Boyd, a wildlife biologist who had started collaring and tracking wolves that entered northern Montana from Canada in 1979, supported the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s broader reintroduction effort in the West over the last 30 years. “The return of wolves has been wildly successful beyond all expectations,” she says today. “It’s amazing.”

Thanks to reintroduction efforts and protections of the federal Endangered Species Act, which forbids any killing of the animal, wolves are now abundant across the West. They number roughly 3,000 and are now living not just in the Northern Rockies, but in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and among the giant sequoia groves of California.

Read more at: Yale Environment 360