Subject: Central Pacific: Satellite Interpretation Message

From: LDM Weather <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:29:45 -0600

292 
ATHW40 PHFO 160529
SIMHI 

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SATELLITE INTERPRETATION MESSAGE
NWS CENTRAL PACIFIC HURRICANE CENTER HONOLULU HI
0530 UTC WED JAN 16 2008

BASED ON DATA THROUGH 0500 UTC JANUARY 16 2008

PATCHES OF STRATOCUMULUS CLOUDS CONTINUED ACROSS MOST OF THE 
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS EARLY THIS EVENING. THESE STABLE LOW CLOUDS 
REPRESENTED A CONTINUATION OF THE COOL AIR THAT WAS BEING ADVECTED 
IN FROM THE NORTH TOWARD THE ALOHA STATE. THE LOCAL CIRCULATION 
PATTERN WAS BEING CONTROLLED BY A LARGE GALE LOW LOCATED FAR NORTH 
NORTHEAST OF THE ISLAND CHAIN. 

THE LOW CLOUDS OVER THE COASTAL WATERS SURROUNDING THE ISLANDS WERE 
GENERALLY MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTH SOUTHWEST OR SOUTH AT ABOUT 15 
MPH. THE HIGHEST TOPS OF THESE STABLE LOW CLOUDS WERE ESTIMATED TO 
BE NEAR 5 THOUSAND FEET.

AS OF 700 PM HST TUESDAY...BROKEN LOW CLOUDS COVERED MOST OF 
KAUAI...OAHU...NORTHERN MOLOKAI AND NORTHEASTERN LANAI. BROKEN TO 
OVERCAST LOW CLOUDS WERE ACROSS NEARLY ALL OF MAUI...EXCEPT FOR THE 
SOUTHERN COASTAL AREAS AND THE SUMMIT OF HALEAKALA. SKIES WERE 
MOSTLY CLOUDY ON THE BIG ISLAND BELOW THE SUMMITS OF MAUNA LOA AND 
MAUNA KEA. VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGES CONTINUED TO SHOW AN EXTENSIVE 
SNOW PACK COVERING BOTH OF THESE VOLCANIC PEAKS BEFORE SUNSET THIS 
EVENING.

ACCORDING TO LOOPS OF WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND SATELLITE DERIVED 
UPPER LEVEL WINDS...THE CENTER OF A LARGE MIDDLE AND UPPER 
TROPOSPHERIC LOW WAS LOCATED ABOUT 835 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF 
HILO. THIS SYSTEM APPEARED TO HAVE DRIFTED SLOWLY WESTWARD DURING 
THE PAST 6 HOURS. 

AT THE SURFACE...THE GALE LOW REFLECTING THIS UPPER LEVEL LOW WAS 
CENTERED NEAR 32N 151W...OR ABOUT 890 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF HILO. 
THIS LOW HAS MOVED WESTWARD AT ABOUT 12 MPH DURING THE PAST 6 HOURS. 
SCATTERED TOWERING CUMULUS CLOUDS WITH TOPS NEAR 30 THOUSAND FEET 
WERE WITHIN 150 MILES EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THE CIRCULATION CENTER. 
A 100 MILE WIDE BAND OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH TOPS NEAR 40 
THOUSAND FEET WERE ALSO ABOUT 500 MILES EAST AND NORTHEAST OF THE 
CENTER. THE VAST EXPANSE OF SCATTERED TO BROKEN STRATOCUMULUS CLOUDS 
STREAMING TOWARD THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS WERE ON THE SOUTHWESTERN  
PERIPHERY OF THE BROAD COUNTERCLOCKWISE CIRCULATION AROUND THIS LOW.

ELSEWHERE ALOFT...A BAND OF BROKEN CIRRUS CLOUDS STREAMING TOWARD 
THE EAST NORTHEAST REPRESENTED THE CORE OF A SUBTROPICAL JET STREAM 
LOCATED ABOUT 200 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF HILO. THIS JET STREAM 
APPEARED TO BE GRADUALLY SHIFTING TOWARD THE EAST SOUTHEAST AWAY 
FROM THE ISLANDS.

$$

HOUSTON

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
To unsubscribe from WX-TROPL send e-mail to [email-masked] with
"unsub wx-tropl" in the body of your message. For help with WX-TROPL
write to [email-masked]. For more information on tropical weather products, see the NHC Homepage at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.