http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/sim.php Hawaiian Islands Satellite Interpretation Message en-us W-HFO.Webmaster@noaa.gov (Honolulu Webmaster) W-HFO.Webmaster@noaa.gov (Honolulu Webmaster) 07 Nov 2009 18:22:00 GMT http://weather.gov/images/xml_logo.gif http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/sim.php http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/sim.php Based on data through 1730 UTC November 07 2009. 07 Nov 2009 18:22:00 GMT http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/sim.php#Data http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/sim.php Moderate to fresh trade winds are carrying both showery cumulus ' cu' and stable stratocumulus ' sc' over the islands from the east this morning, while areas of scattered to broken high clouds are moving over the islands from the southwest. Although broken to overcast showery cu are blanketing skies over most of Kauai and Oahu, most of the Big Island, including the windward coast and slopes, is under mostly sunny skies. Initial visible satellite images of the morning show an area of broken showery cu moving westward over both Kauai and Oahu, and surrounding waters. An area of broken high clouds currently moving over Kauai is making it difficult to determine low cloud coverage over the island, but showery cu are seen moving in from the east, with windward sides of the island likely under broken to overcast showery cu. Most of Oahu is blanketed in both sc and cu, with windward focused clouds and showers drifting over to leeward areas. The coverage of showery cu decreases from Oahu eastward, with scattered showery open-celled cu seen over Maui county waters. Broken cu are located along the windward slopes of all islands of Maui county, while scattered to broken sc are seen blocking some of the morning Sun over leeward areas as well. On the Big Island, low clouds are at a minimum over the island, with mostly clear skies being interrupted only by an area of broken sc near Upolu Point. A narrow band of showery cu lies just offshore the windward and Kau coasts this morning, marking the area where downslope winds from the island are meeting the incoming trade flow. High clouds near and over the islands are developing in response to an eastward-drifting low aloft that is about 900 miles west of Kauai near 245°N 175°W, with broken to overcast mid- and high-level clouds, and isolated embedded thunderstorms, covering a large area both north and west of the islands. The low appears to be opening into a trough over the past 12 hours, indicating a slight weakening trend, that is reinforced by the decreasing areal coverage of thunderstorms associated with the low over the past 12 to 24 hours. With an anticyclone aloft centered south of the islands, and it' s associated ridge extending northeast over the Big Island, the flow aloft over the islands is from the southwest, and is carrying scattered to broken cirrus elements over the islands. 07 Nov 2009 18:22:00 GMT http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/sim.php#Message http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/sim.php BIRCHARD 07 Nov 2009 18:22:00 GMT http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/pages/sim.php#footer