Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / June 30 – July 1, 2012

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday:

Lihue, Kauai –                     82   
Honolulu airport, Oahu –  85   (Highest recorded temperature Saturday – 90 / 1988)
Kaneohe, Oahu –                 82
Molokai airport –                  81
Kahului airport, Maui –         84
Kona airport –                     84
Hilo airport, Hawaii –            83

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain top around the state…as of 5pm Saturday evening:

Port Allen, Kauai – 82
Molokai airport – 78
 
Haleakala Summit –     M (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit –   41 (near 13,800 feet on the Big Island)

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,800 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. This web cam is available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon shining down during the night at times. Plus, during the nights you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise and sunset too…depending upon weather conditions. Here's the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui…although this webcam is not always working correctly.

Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest weather information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here.  Here's a tropical cyclone tracking map for the eastern and central Pacific.

 Aloha Paragraphs

 
  Moderately strong trade winds through Monday…
increasing some Tuesday for a few days

Occasional windward showers…generally
during the nights and early mornings
  

As this weather map shows, we have a large near 1033 millibar high pressure system to the north-northwest of the islands.  Our local winds will remain active from the trade wind direction…a little lighter through this weekend into early in the new work week ahead.

The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Saturday evening:

23            Port Allen, Kauai – ENE  
33            Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
22            Molokai – NE 
31            Kahoolawe – NE
36            Kahului, Maui – NE
33            Lanai – NE
35            Puu Mali, Big Island – NE

We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean.  Here's the latest NOAA satellite picture – the latest looping satellite image…and finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands.

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Saturday evening:
 
0.41               Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.10               Kahuku trng area, Oahu
0.13               Molokai
0.00               Lanai
0.00               Kahoolawe
0.17               Puu Kukui, Maui
0.59               Piihonua, Big Island  

Sunset Commentary:  Our trade winds will remain at moderately strong levels through Monday. There's a likelihood that those trade winds may increase a notch Tuesday and Wednesday, which may prompt small craft wind advisories for those windiest areas in Maui County and the Big Island. There will continue to be a few off and on showers falling along our windward sides, running at about normal levels for the most part. These showers won't stretch over into leeward sides very much, with generally dry conditions prevailing there. There is a chance that we'll see a modest increase in windward showers later evening into Sunday morning…as a fairly minor cloud band arrives from Kauai down through Oahu, with a few on Maui. The general outlook however looks good going forward, with favorably inclined weather on tap Sunday and beyond.

As this large view satellite image shows, we have about the average amount of patchy clouds to our east. Meanwhile, there continues to be those brighter white, high and middle level clouds far to the southwest of our islands, with a few minor wisps also just to the north of our island chain too. Finally, here's a closer look at our islands using this satellite picture…so we can keep track of those clouds upstream of the islands…as they continue to be carried in our direction on the gusty trade wind flow. In sum, not all that many showers anywhere in the state for the time being, with pulses arriving occasionally along our north and east facing windward sides, during the night and early morning hours for the most part.

Friday evening I took the drive down to Kahului to see a new film, one that I'm not overly excited about seeing, although it is getting high grades by the critics. It was called Moonshine Kingdom, starring Jared Gilman, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Kara Hayward, Bill Murray and Frances McDormand…among many others. The synopsis: set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, Moonrise Kingdom tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore — and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle. Bruce Willis plays the local sheriff. Edward Norton is a Khaki Scout troop leader. Bill Murray and Frances McDormand portray the young girl's parents. The cast also includes Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, and Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward as the boy and girl. As almost always, I didn't have high hopes going to see a comedy about kids, although I've been fooled before, and I was again! I ended up liking it quite a bit. It was touching and very real, and yet had a few twists and turns…and even a tad bit of a sexy edge to it. I feel comfortable giving it a good strong B grade, perhaps something in between that and a B+. Here's the trailer…which for once doesn't need me to warn you about violence or the like!

Here in Kula, Maui at 525pm, it was partly cloudy and near calm…with an air temperature of 72F degrees. As noted above, our trade winds will continue blowing, carrying those windward biased showers our way periodically. Glancing at that satellite image above, we can see a typical amount of showery clouds upstream of the islands. Looking further ahead, our summer weather outlook for next week looks like it will match the climatological norm quite well…with nothing of particular note, and certainly not any tropical cyclones. ~~~ I'll be back Sunday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you're spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

[World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Central Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Eastern Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

AN AREA OF DISORGANIZED CLOUDINESS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHWESTERN GULF OF MEXICO AND THE ADJACENT LAND AREAS IS ASSOCIATED WITH AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW OVER NORTHERN MEXICO. THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INLAND BEFORE DEVELOPMENT CAN OCCUR AND IT HAS A LOW CHANCE…NEAR 0 PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

ELSEWHERE…TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. 

Here is a graphical tropical weather outlook…showing this tropical disturbance in the Atlantic Ocean

Western Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

South Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

South and North Indian Oceans: There are no active tropical cyclones

Interesting:  A new study to be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on 30th June has shown that caffeine boosts power in older muscles, suggesting the stimulant could aid elderly people to maintain their strength, reducing the incidence of falls and injuries. For adults in their prime, caffeine helps muscles to produce more force. But as we age, our muscles naturally change and become weaker.

Sports scientists at Coventry University looked for the first time at whether these age-related changes in muscle would alter the effect of caffeine. They found that caffeine continued to enhance muscle performance in two different muscles from mice, although it was less effective in older muscles. Jason Tallis, the study's primary author, said: "Despite a reduced effect in the elderly, caffeine may still provide performance-enhancing benefits."

For adults in their prime, caffeine helps muscles to produce more force. But as we age, our muscles naturally change and become weaker. So, sports scientists at Coventry University looked for the first time at whether these age-related changes in muscle would alter the effect of caffeine. Caffeine's effect was smallest for juvenile muscles, suggesting caffeine may not have an enhancing effect in developing muscles.