Hawaiian Islands Satellite Interpretation Message

Hawaiian Islands Satellite Interpretation Message
Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:30:00 -0500

Based on data through 0500 UTC October 20 2010.

Except for scattered clouds over higher terrain, Kauai Oahu Molokai Sat under clear skies. Adjacent coastal waters were also clear with scattered clouds here and there. The few clouds around had tops near 3000 feet, and were moving to the southwest at around 10 mph.

Overcast clouds blanketed the west Maui mountains, with broken clouds drifting over leeward sections near Lahaina. The northeast facing slopes of mount Haleakala were also covered with overcast clouds that extended offshore to the north some 25 miles. Cloud tops were up to 13000 feet. Except for a small area of broken clouds over Ulupalakua, the rest of Maui was mostly clear.

Except for scattered clouds over the leeward slopes of the Kohala mountains, the Big Island was covered by overcast clouds. Broken to overcast clouds extended about 100 miles northeast and 50 miles southeast of the island. Numerous showers were falling out of the clouds over the ocean, and scattered showers were falling on lower elevations of the island itself. An embedded thunderstorm, cb, was located about 23 miles northeast of Hilo. Cloud tops varied from 13000 feet for the low clouds to 38000 feet for the cb. The clouds over and near Maui and the Big Island were nearly stationary.

Further afield, scattered towering cumulus, tcu, and cb were located south and east of a line from 17°N 180°W to 15°N 160°W to 16°N 150°W then up to 23°N 148°W. The biggest cb were located from 10°N to 11°N between 140°W and 148°W. Cb tops here were near 51000 feet.

To the north, an erratic 60 mile wide line of broken cumulus, cu, and isolated tcu ran from 26°N 152°W to 25°N 163°W to 29°N 170°W. The line, which was the remains of an old cold front, was drifting to the south.

Water vapor imagery, which looks at features mainly above 24000 ft, showed a trough aloft from 25°N 145°W to over the Big Island to 18°N 160°W and 18°N 180°W. The trough was probably responsible for the unstable airmass and the showers and thunderstorms east of the Big Island. Another trough aloft centered from 30°N 149°W to 24°N 155°W was moving to the east southeast at 35 mph.

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CRAIG

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