Hawaiian Islands Satellite Interpretation Message
Sat, 29 Jan 2011 06:30:00 -0600
Based on data through 1200 UTC January 29 2011.
The pressure gradient south of a northeast to southwest oriented surface ridge located less than 300 miles north of Honolulu continued to maintain a rather tranquil trade wind weather pattern across the aloha state early this morning. There were mainly broken low clouds with embedded scattered showers being transported over the windward coastal waters by the low-level trade wind flow. Plumes of broken low clouds and isolated showers also extended west of some of the islands. The largest of these plumes extended nearly 120 miles west of the Kona coast of the Big Island.
Just upwind of the main Hawaiian islands, the leading edge of a nearly 200 mile wide area of broken to overcast low clouds extended from near 22°N 154°W to 18.5°N 153.5°W, or less than 50 miles east of Hilo. This leading edge has moved westward at 15 to 20 mph during the past 6 hours.
The individual low cloud elements over the windward Hawaiian coastal waters were generally moving westward at 15 to 20 mph. The highest tops of the low clouds over the ocean surrounding the Hawaiian islands were estimated to be about 8 thousand feet.
As of 200 am HST Saturday, scattered to broken low clouds were mainly across the higher terrain and windward facing slopes of Kauai. Broken to locally overcast low clouds were affecting the Koolau mountains and windward shores of Oahu, while scattered to locally broken low clouds were elsewhere on that island. Scattered to locally broken low clouds were affecting the eastern tip of Molokai. There were a few low clouds above parts of Lanai. On Maui, broken to locally overcast low clouds were along the windward coasts and the lower windward slopes of mount Haleakala, while broken low clouds were over the western mountains. A few small patches of low clouds were elsewhere on Maui. Broken to overcast low clouds were affecting most of the lower elevations of the Big Island, except for the leeward coast of the Kohala districts where skies appeared to be mostly clear.
According to loops of water vapor imagery and satellite derived upper level winds, northeast to southwest oriented middle and upper tropospheric ridges were across the Hawaiian islands. As a result, the upper level winds above the Hawaiian islands were from the northwest at 50 to 55 mph early this morning. Water vapor imagery also indicated significant upper level subsidence above the state. The ridging aloft and at the surface were contributing to the stable atmospheric conditions being experienced across the Hawaiian island chain tonight.
Far to the northwest of Kauai, the leading edge of a 240 mile wide band of broken to overcast layered clouds with embedded showers associated with a cold front extended from near 30°N 168°W to 26°N 174°W to 23°N 180°W, or about 225 miles southeast of Midway atoll. The leading edge of the cloud band has moved toward the east southeast at 15 to 20 mph.
HOUSTON
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