Satellite Interpretation Message
Issued by NWS

Current Version | Previous Version | Text Only | Print | Product List | Glossary On
Versions: 1 2 3 4 5
000
ATHW40 PHFO 200030
SIMHI

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SATELLITE INTERPRETATION MESSAGE
NWS CENTRAL PACIFIC HURRICANE CENTER HONOLULU HI
0030 UTC MON MAY 20 2013

BASED ON DATA THROUGH 0000 UTC MAY 20 2013

WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWED AN UPPER LEVEL LOW CENTERED ABOUT 570
MILES NORTH OF HONOLULU EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.  THE LOW WAS MOVING
VERY SLOWLY TOWARD THE SOUTHWEST OVER THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS.
SEVERAL RELATIVELY WEAK...FAIRLY SHORT-LIVED THUNDERSTORMS WERE
FORMING JUST EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THE UPPER.  THE STORMS WERE
GENERALLY LOCATED FROM 24N TO 30N BETWEEN 151W AND 154W.  HIGHEST
STORM TOPS WERE UP NEAR 35000 FEET.

A COUPLE OF VERY WEAK SURFACE LOWS NEAR 30N 156W AND 27N 157W HAD
FORMED BENEATH THE UPPER LOW.  THEY WERE MOVING SLOWLY TOGETHER
TOWARD THE SOUTH IN UNISON WITH THE UPPER LOW.  A WEAK ASSOCIATED
FRONT EXTENDED FROM 30N 152W TO 26N 153W...PASSING ABOUT 35 MILES
NORTHWEST OF KAUAI THROUGH 22N 160W AND CONTINUING WEST TO 22N
166W.  THE THUNDERSTORMS MENTIONED ABOVE WERE FORMING ALONG THE
NORTH PART OF THIS FRONT.

THE ASSOCIATED FRONTAL CLOUD BAND WEST OF 155W CONSISTED OF BROKEN
TO OVERCAST LOW CLOUDS.  THE CLOUD BAND WAS NEARLY 100 MILES WIDE AT
155W AND NARROWED TO 50 MILES ACROSS AT THE WEST END OF THE FRONT
AT 166W.  THE CLOUD BAND WAS MOVING VERY SLOWLY SOUTHWARD.  LOW
CLOUDS ALONG THE SOUTH EDGE OF THE FRONTAL BAND CONTINUED TO MOVE
ONTO KAUAI TODAY.

A ROUGHLY 150 MILES WIDE BAND OF LARGE...BROKEN TO OVERCAST CLUSTERS
OF LOW CLOUDS STRADDLED THE BIG ISLAND.  THIS BAND WAS ALIGNED
NEARLY FROM NORTH TO SOUTH...CENTERED ALONG A LINE FROM 25N 152W
OVER THE BIG ISLAND TO 16N 156W IN CONJUNCTION WITH A WEAK TROUGH.

AT 2 PM...SKIES WERE CLOUDY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY OVER ALL THE ISLANDS
EXCEPT MOLOKAI.  THERE...THE WEST HALF THAT ISLANDS STILL REMAINED
MOSTLY SUNNY.  TOPS OF THE LOW CLOUDS AROUND THE STATE WERE MOSTLY
AROUND 11000 FEET THIS AFTERNOON.  DUE TO THE WEAK SURFACE TROUGH
NEAR THE BIG ISLAND...LOW CLOUDS WEST OF IT WERE MOVING TOWARD THE
SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST.  EAST OF THE TROUGH...LOW CLOUDS WERE FLOWING
TOWARD THE NORTH AND NORTHWEST.

$$





USA.gov is the U.S. government's official web portal to all federal, state and local government web resources and services.