Some Wind Characteristics of Kahe Point, O'ahu and Vicinity

A description of some surface wind characteristics of Kahe Point, Oahu and vicinity is presented. Over the long-term, winds are found to be bimodal. Nocturnal winds tend to be persistent tradewinds while daytime westerlies are occasionally observed. Windroses and diurnal variation of long-term resultant mean winds are presented in tabular format and discussed. Divergence calculations obtained from the least-squares method show divergence is associated with nighttime hours while convergence is associated with daytime hours. Local winds are observed in the form of sea-breeze and drainage-wind systems. Some aspects of these systems have been analyzed over a three-month period. Drainage is best developed during episodes of light ambient winds and clear skies and easily yields to synoptic winds. Sea-breeze circulation interaction with prevailing winds is found to be in good agreement with earlier numerical results of Estoque 1962. Hodographs display clockwise rotation about fifty-percent of the time while anti-clockwise rotation is observed one-tenth of the time. Keywords Meteorological data, Diurnal variations, Sea breeze, Wind direction, Atmospheric circulation, Hawaii. Theses.