Issued: May 19, 2013 8:30 AM HST

Based on data through 8:00 am May 19 2013 HST

Water vapor imagery showed an upper level low centered about 600 miles north of Honolulu at mid morning. The low was moving slowly south at less than 10 miles an hour. Isolated thunderstorms were forming just east of the low in the area from 24°N to 31°N between 151°W and 154°W. Highest storm tops were up near 38000 feet.

South of the upper low, upper level winds were flowing toward the east southeast over the Hawaiian islands. The upper low was enhancing any low clouds that formed over and around the islands, allowing accompanying showers to be a slightly heavy at times.

A weak surface low near 28.5°N 156°W had formed beneath the upper low. It was moving slowly south as well. An associated front extended down along the east and south side of the surface low. The front stretched from 30°N 152°W to 26°N 154°W to 24°N 160°W to 23°N 167°W. The thunderstorms were forming along the north part of this front. Broken to overcast low clouds were common along the front, within a 120 miles wide band, from 26°N 154°W southwestward. The low clouds within the frontal band were just brushing the north coast of Kauai at 8 am.

Also at 8 am, a large cluster of mostly overcast low clouds hugged the southeast coast of the Big Island. This cluster was about 300 miles long from northeast to southwest and 100 miles wide. The southeast side of the Big Island was mostly cloudy as was the north side of Kauai. But Oahu, Maui county and the rest of Kauai and the Big Island were mostly sunny this morning.

Tops of the low clouds near the Big Island were up to 15000 to 17000 feet. There appeared to be a weak surface trough near Maui. The low clouds from Molokai to Kauai were moving toward the south and southwest. Those clouds from east Maui to the Big Island were flowing toward the north and northwest.