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

Lihue, Kauai –                       81  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –        79  
Molokai airport –                    81

Kahului airport, Maui –       84
 

Kona airport     –                   82  
Hilo airport, Hawaii –              82

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops around the state…as of 630pm Saturday evening:   

Kailua-kona – 78
Hana, Maui  –  72

Haleakala Summit    M       (near 10,000 feet on Maui)

Mauna Kea Summit – 39        (near 13,800 feet on the Big Island)

Hawaii’s MountainsHere’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.

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.

Aloha Paragraphs

http://whatsgoingonkauai.com/wp-content/themes/morning/functions/theme/thumb.php?src=http://whatsgoingonkauai.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/kauaiweather.jpg&w=630&h=350&zc=1&a=c 

Variable breezes……some stronger and gusty
around the western islands

Increasing clouds with showers, some locally heavy
over Kauai and Oahu…lighter showers elsewhere 


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

12            Makaha Ridge, Kauai – SE
16            Makua Range, Oahu – SW 
14            Molokai – SE    
12            Kahoolawe – E
14            Hana, Maui – ESE
15            Lanai – SW

18            Kaloko-Honokohau, Big Island – NW


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Saturday evening:

 

0.02          Anahola, Kauai
0.01          Hakipuu Mauka, Oahu
0.00          Molokai

0.00          Lanai
0.00          Kahoolawe

0.00          Maui
0.01          Pali 2, Big Island  


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 imageand finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands.


                                          ~~ Hawaii weather commentary ~~
 

Generally light breezes will come up from the southwest through south over the next several days…carrying vog at times.  We currently have a high pressure systems (weather map), located over the ocean far to the west and east of Hawaii…with an associated ridge extending westward from the eastern high pressure…to over the central islands. Meanwhile, we find multiple impressive low pressure systems, and their associated cold fronts, to our northwest through northeast. Our winds are expected to remain on the light side for much of the next week, with trade winds absent.

As we look at this satellite image, we see a deep area of clouds just to the west of Kauai, with a few embedded thunderstorms…along with a few high and middle level clouds elsewhere.  Those thick clouds to our west, associated with a trough of low pressure, and an associated cold front behind the trough, will be shifting over the Kauai end of the island chain this evening into Sunday…which is described below.

Friday night film: this time around I went to see The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part 2, starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser and Ashely Green…among many others. The synopsis: the astonishing conclusion to the series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2, illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions. I've seen all the films in this series, and have liked them all so far…so I saw no reason to skip this last one. I was surprised how much I enjoyed the film, although perhaps I shouldn't have been.  I enjoyed the characters, and have come to like each of them over the last several years. As expected, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson spent the most time in the limelight, which was entertaining…as they're both attractive people. There was the usual special effects action, flying around stuff, which was fun to watch. As far as grade goes, it got an easy B+ from me. If you'd like to take a sneak peek of this last film in the series, here's the trailer.

Heavy rainfall is forecast for Kauai and Oahu tonight into Sunday, the rest of the state may be just outside this rainy area…stay tuned. Low pressure is developing to the west and northwest of the state now…along with an associated cold front. This will provide instability, and a shower prone atmosphere over the western islands. This outlook suggests that there could be the chance of localized flooding here and there into Sunday. Meanwhile, Maui County and the Big Island may remain just to the east of this heavy precipitation, although this could change. This unsettled weather pattern should keep off and on showery weather over parts of the state through the middle of the new work week ahead.

There may be a break in this locally wet situation Sunday night into Monday, although the models show more wet weather arriving Monday night into Wednesday.
This would be the best opportunity for thunderstorms to flare up, which could lead to more possible localized flooding then. This second wave of showers might have a better chance of including the entire state, although it may stay over the Kauai end of the chain again. In sum: off and on showers, some locally heavy through the next several days, along with generally light winds. ~~~ I went to the Waldorf Haleakala School Christmas fair today, and ended up having a great time. I saw lots of old friends there, and enjoyed talking with lots of folks. There was really nice entertainment, including singing, and Hula dancing. I ended up staying about four hours, which was a long time for this weatherman to be out in public. The weather here on Maui was perfect, with not a drop of rain in sight all day. The folks and Kauai and Oahu will find a much different story, with locally heavy rain on the way. Here's a large satellite image, showing you the large cloud band that is inching towards Kauai and Oahu now…along with a looping radar image, so we can keep track of this rain event. I'll be back Sunday morning, or even later tonight, depending on how intense these weather circumstances become on Kauai. I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean Sea:
  There are no active tropical cyclones

Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

Eastern Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

Central Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Western Pacific Ocean:  Super Typhoon Bopha (26W) remains active in the western Pacific…located approximately 50 NM south of Palau. Sustained winds were 135 knots, with gusts to near 165 knots! The JTWC indicates that this very strong super typhoon will move just south of Palau…and onwards through the south and central Philippine Islands. This super typhoon will move by on the southern side of Palau, which will place the strongest winds that Bopha has to deliver, and extreme high surf on the coasts and inland of that small island. Here's the JTWC graphical track map…along with a satellite image.

South Pacific Ocean:
  There are no active tropical cyclones

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

Interesting:  The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federally funded research and development center located in Livermore, California. Their mission, in part, is to respond with vision, quality, integrity, and technical excellence to scientific issues of national importance. One such issue, which is tough to dispute, is the changing climate.

The top-rate researchers at LLNL created a new climate model by comparing 20 different computer models to satellite observations. They found that tropospheric and stratospheric temperature changes are clearly related to human activities.

The troposphere is the portion of the atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface, where all life forms live and breathe. The stratosphere rests just above the troposphere, between 6 and 30 miles above the Earth's surface.

Three different research groups produced the satellite temperature data sets, relying on microwave emissions of oxygen molecules. The raw data was processed in different ways by the three groups, accounting for complex effects such as instrument calibrations in different ways.

Together, their new climate model simulations will form the scientific backbone for the upcoming 5th assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2014. The researchers found that the lower stratosphere has been cooling over the past 33 years in response to human-caused depletion of the ozone layer.

They also found large-scale warming of the lower troposphere, with the largest increases over the Arctic and much lesser warming (if not cooling) over Antarctica. The conclusion was that the temperature increase in the lower troposphere was due to human-caused increases in well-mixed greenhouse gases.

"It's very unlikely that purely natural causes can explain these distinctive patterns of temperature change," said Laboratory atmospheric scientist Benjamin Santer, who is lead author of the paper. "No known mode of natural climate variability can cause sustained, global-scale warming of the troposphere and cooling of the lower stratosphere."