MKWC archive forecast page
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Please select a year and month and links of all available forecasts for that period will be given in the 'Select Forecast' menu.
Selection: 2003
09
Sep 03 2003 (afternoon)



Latest Forecast for Mauna Kea Observatories
5 pm HST Wednesday 03 September (0300 UTC Thursday 04 September) 2003

Warnings
None

Cloud Cover and Precipitation Forecast
Clear skies and dry air is expected at the summit through the night.

Summary of Key Meteorological Variables
Summit temperatures will be near 5 C tonight and 4.5 C tomorrow morning. Precipitable water is expected to be in the 2 to 2.5 mm range for the first half of the night and 1.75 to 2.25 mm during the second half. Winds will be from the northeast at 15 to 25 mph for today and 10 to 20 mph tonight. Shear will be between 25 to 35 mph through the night.

Discussion
The tradewind inversion will remain very strong and well-defined at 6 to 8 thousand feet through the forecast period. This will help limit low-level moisture ascent and keep the summit dry during this time. Daytime clouds will be very minimal and short-lived, if at all.

No high clouds are expected to be within 700 km of the summit through Friday night.

Winds are expected to drop from the 15 to 25 mph for tonight and settle in the 10 to 20 mph range for the remainder of the forecast period. Wind direction will start out from the northeast, but will be veering to easterlies as the next 2 to 3 days progress.

Summit temperatures will be near 4.5 to 5 C for tonight and 3.5 to 4 C for Thursday and Friday night.

Precipitable water is expected to decline from near 2 mm for tonight to about 1.6 mm for tomorrow night, and around 1.4 mm on Friday night.

The mid/low level ridge will maintain control of summit weather over the next 3 to 5 days. The large-scale subsidence induced by this ridge will help keep the tradewind inversion quite strong and summit temperatures relatively warm during this time. The core of the ridge is expected to slide to the north-northwest of the Islands over the next 24 to 48 hours. This will help decrease precipitable water as the extra subsidence dries out the 500 to 300 mb layer. Meanwhile, clear skies are also expected through Friday night. This is mostly in response to the lack of winds/forcing aloft to bring/develop high clouds in the summit region. Part of this is due to the lack of convective activity and their associated cirrus exhaust to the south of the Islands (i.e. the tropics). As a result, there aren't any clouds to be blown over the summit by the winds aloft. Some believe that the lack of convection is the result of Jemina, which helped pull in most of the available moisture/energy in the tropics. Aside from the storm's wake where lots of residual vorticity persists, convective activity behind and to some extent in front of the storm would be limited. This appears to be the case here. Regardless, excellent conditions are expected through Friday, whatever unproven theories contributed to this weather.

Astronomical Observing Quality Guidance

Vertical Profiles from MM5 (vertical coordinate is pressure in mb):
5 pm HST Wed 03 Sep (0300 UTC Thu 04 Sep) Seeing Cn2
8 pm HST Wed 03 Sep (0600 UTC Thu 04 Sep) Seeing Cn2
11 pm HST Wed 03 Sep (0900 UTC Thu 04 Sep) Seeing Cn2
2 am HST Thu 04 Sep (1200 UTC Thu 04 Sep) Seeing Cn2
5 am HST Thu 04 Sep (1500 UTC Thu 04 Sep) Seeing Cn2
8 am HST Thu 04 Sep (1800 UTC Thu 04 Sep) Seeing Cn2
Tonight's (Wednesday Night) CollageSeeing Cn2
Thursday Night's Collage (available after 0800 HST on Thursday)Seeing Cn2
Friday Night's Collage (available after 0800 HST on Friday)Seeing Cn2



3-day Forecast
Summary

(Latest GFS Trend)
8 pm HST
Wed 03 Sep
2 am HST
Thu 04 Sep
2 pm HST
Thu 04 Sep
8 pm HST
Thu 04 Sep
2 am HST
Fri 05 Sep
2 pm HST
Fri 05 Sep
8 pm HST
Fri 05 Sep
2 am HST
Sat 06 Sep
2 pm HST
Sat 06 Sep
0600 UTC
Thu 04 Sep
1200 UTC
Thu 04 Sep
0000 UTC
Fri 05 Sep
0600 UTC
Fri 05 Sep
1200 UTC
Fri 05 Sep
0000 UTC
Sat 06 Sep
0600 UTC
Sat 06 Sep
1200 UTC
Sat 06 Sep
0000 UTC
Sun 07 Sep
PW (mm, summit upward) 2 to 1.75 to 2.25 1.5 to 2 1.4 to 1.9 1.4 to 1.9 1.4 to 1.9 1.25 to 1.75 1.1 to 1.6 1.1 to 1.6
Summit Temp (oC) 5 4.5 9.5 4 3.5 10 4 3.5 9.5
Wind Dir/Speed (mph)
    Summit
    19,000 ft (500 hPa)
    24,500 ft (400 hPa)
    31,000 ft (300 hPa)
    35,000 ft (250 hPa)
    40,000 ft (200 hPa)
    46,000 ft (150 hPa)
    54,000 ft (100 hPa)
 
NE/15 to 25
N/14
NW/10
WNW/13
WNW/14
WNW/13
WNW/3
ENE/8
 
NE/10 to 20
N/10
NW/10
W/17
WNW/19
WNW/20
W/9
ENE/11
 
ENE/10 to 20
NE/5
NNE/1
SW/11
WSW/18
WSW/22
WSW/13
E/13
 
NE/10 to 20
NE/9
E/4
SSW/14
SW/22
SW/24
SW/12
E/12
 
ENE/10 to 20
ENE/7
SSE/5
SW/22
SW/25
SW/23
SSW/11
ESE/12
 
E/10 to 20
SE/5
S/14
SSW/23
SSW/25
SSW/25
SSW/18
ESE/14
 
ESE/10 to 20
SE/8
S/18
SSW/25
SW/26
SW/23
SSW/14
E/15
 
ESE/10 to 20
SSE/10
S/20
SW/22
SW/25
SW/20
SSW/15
ESE/16
 
E/10 to 20
ESE/5
S/14
SW/15
SW/19
SW/19
SW/17
E/6


Night (HST)
Sun Set
Twilight End
Twilight Beg
Sun Rise
Moon Rise
Moon Set
Illum (%)
RA
Dec
Wed.Sep.03/Thu.Sep.04
18:44
19:50
4:53
5:58
N/A
0:29
59
17 25.5
-26 10
Thu.Sep.04/Fri.Sep.05
18:43
19:49
4:53
5:58
N/A
1:28
70
18 27.8
-27 14
Fri.Sep.05/Sat.Sep.06
18:43
19:48
4:53
5:59
N/A
2:29
80
19 29.8
-26 37


Forecast issued by: Ryan Lyman
rlyman@hawaii.edu
(808) 932-2323

Next update at 10 am HST (2000 UTC) Thursday 04 September 2003.
Please call or email to be placed on the Mauna Kea Weather Bulletin email list.


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This page was last modified on: Wed, Apr 22 2009 - 2058 UTC
Send comments to: Ryan Lyman