Hawaiian Islands Satellite Interpretation Message
Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:30:00 -0600
Based on data through 0000 UTC January 04 2011.
Water vapor imagery shows an upper level low centered near 11°N 169°W, or about 1000 miles southwest of Kauai. The low was moving to the west at 10 mph. The area of mid and high level clouds has shrunk over the last six hours, and is now from 07°N to 13°N between 162°W and 170°W. Also, the cloud tops have warmed over the last six hours, which means that the isolated thunderstorms embedded in the mid and high level clouds are slowly dissipating. Cloud tops that were up to 43 thousand feet are now up to 39 thousand feet and lowering.
An upper level trough extends northeast of the low to 150 miles southeast of the Big Island then to 22°N 140°W. The trough separates a dry upper atmosphere to the north from a moist air mass to the south. Scattered to broken low clouds are located below the dry air aloft, while scattered to broken layered clouds and isolated small thunderstorms are south of the trough. Thunderstorm tops are up to 39 thousand feet.
The upper trough was sagging to the south, being pushed by an east to west high pressure ridge aloft. Subsidence associated with the upper ridge is causing the dry air aloft north of the trough.
Closer to home, scattered to broken low clouds are seen beneath the dry ridge aloft. Most of the clouds do not have showers. The few that do have showers are located east of Molokai, Maui and the Big Island. Skies are clear or have scattered dry clouds over adjacent waters.
The grouping of low clouds has not changed over the last six hours. Namely, broken to overcast clouds are clustered over the eastern half of Kauai, and the northeastern half of Oahu including the Koolau mountains. Broken to overcast clouds are also located over the Molokai mountains, the east-facing slopes of the west Maui mountains, and the eastern tip of Maui near Hana.
Clouds over the Big Island have increased, and are now broken to overcast over the windward slopes of the Kohala mountains, over the Hilo and Puna districts, over the Kona slopes from just north of mount Hualalai to South Point, and over the lower slopes of south Kau. The clouds over land are nearly stationary while those over water are moving to the west at 20 to 25 mph. Cloud tops ranged from 3 to 9 thousand feet.
CRAIG
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