Hawaiian Islands Satellite Interpretation Message

Hawaiian Islands Satellite Interpretation Message
Tue, 12 Oct 2010 00:30:00 -0500

Based on data through 0500 UTC October 12 2010.

Scattered to broken clouds cover all of the smaller islands, with the usual greater number over windward and mauka sections than over leeward areas. The only small island about to see more clouds is Kauai. The Big Island also has a classic cloud distribution, with scattered to broken clouds piled up on the windward coast and slopes, overcast but decreasing clouds over Kona and south Kau, and clear skies over the interior above 6000 feet.

There are nothing but low clouds within 500 miles of Hawaii. The clouds are scattered to broken for the most part, except for a handful of clumps with broken to overcast coverage. There are three clumps west of the Big Island that make up the Big Island plume. One is on the south Kona coast, another is centered about 130 miles to the west, and the third is about 450 miles to the west of Kona. Another clump extends about 160 miles north of the Kauai channel, and the last and largest area, about 200 miles wide, is centered 450 miles northeast of Maui.

With the poorer resolution of infrared imagery, it is difficult to tell if the clouds have a showery appearance. The last few visible images of the day however show that most of the clouds in the clumps have showers while less than half of the other clouds have showers. All of the clouds, except for those anchored on the Big Island, are moving to the west southwest at 20 to 25 mph. Clouds within the clumps extend up to 13000 feet, and the rest top off at 6000 feet.

Aloft, there is a poorly defined upper level low about 470 miles southeast of Hilo. A broad trough extends from the low center to approximately 10°N 151°W. A subtropical jetstream runs along a line from 20°N 167°W to 11°N 155°W to 19°N 140°W. The intertropical convergence zone, ITCZ, is situated within a 400 to 600 mile wide band south of the jet. Isolated thunderstorms are strung out within the band.

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CRAIG

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