Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 75
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 80
Molokai airport – 79
Kahului airport, Maui – 82
Kona airport – M
Hilo airport, Hawaii – 75
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops around the state…as of 510am Thursday morning:
Honolulu, Oahu – 69
Barking Sands, Kauai – 64
Haleakala Summit – 41 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Loa Summit – M (13,000+ 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…if it's available.
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. The 2012 hurricane season is over in the eastern and central Pacific…resuming on May 15th and June 1st 2013.
Aloha Paragraphs
Small Craft Advisory ~ for gusty winds in some coastal
and channel waters…around the Big Island
Gradually lighter breezes…with windward biased
showers falling at times
As the winds veer around to the southeast, they will
become lighter, and at the same time…will carry
volcanic haze (vog) to the smaller islands
Afternoon showers will break out over the higher
terrain of the islands through Saturday…then
a vigorous cold front will bring heavier rains
Sunday and Monday – possible local flooding
~~~Air temperature at 535am HST Thursday morning,
partly cloudy skies, calm winds…at my upcountry
Kula, Maui weather tower: 55.8F degrees~~~
The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Wednesday evening:
20 Port Allen, Kauai – ENE
27 Kahuku trng, Oahu – ESE
25 Molokai – ESE
35 Kahoolawe – ESE
22 Lipoa, Maui – ENE
27 South Point, Big Island – NE
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Wednesday evening:
0.16 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.62 Moanalua RG, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.00 Lanai
0.08 Hana airport, Maui
0.39 Kawainui Stream, 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 image…and finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands.
~~~ Hawaii Weather Commentary ~~~
The trade winds will be giving way to lighter southeast breezes by Friday. Here's a weather chart showing a near 1024 millibar high pressure system located to the northeast of Hawaii…moving slowly northeastward. At the same time, we see a storm low pressure system far to our north…with an associated cold front draping down to our northwest and far west. Our winds will blow from the east-northeast and east, then shift to the southeast to south during the next 24 hours or so. As the winds come around the southeast, look for an increase in volcanic haze (vog) over some parts of the island chain. The current trade wind flow will be locally quite strong and gusty, making for rough and choppy ocean conditions…especially around Maui County and the Big Island for a little while longer.
Showers will gradually become more common…as we move towards the upcoming weekend time frame. The models continue to show our next cold front approaching the state Friday into the weekend, turning our winds to the south and southeast as it gets closer. This of course will cut off our trade winds, bringing us into a convective weather pattern. This type of situation typically displays clear cool mornings, giving way to afternoon clouds and some shower activity…over the interior sections. This setup will exist Friday into Saturday, perhaps even as early as Thursday afternoon here and there.
Here's a satellite image, showing considerable low level, stable clouds over the ocean…spreading across many parts of the state this evening. This relatively dry precipitation pattern will last for a little while longer, although our clouds will increase at times…with a few more showers than we've seen lately too. As the cold front approaches the state this weekend, we'll see additional tropical moisture being carried our way, leading to that localized increase in showers in our upcountry interior areas through Saturday.
A more distinct weather change will occur across our area Sunday, with showers lasting for a couple of days. A cold front is expected to arrive over Kauai at some point Sunday, bringing rainfall with it. This front will then spread down over the other islands into Monday. The weather models are keeping off and on wet weather over the state through perhaps even Tuesday morning. Thereafter, we should see cooler and drier air flooding into the state, in the wake of the Sunday-Monday cold front. This extended outlook may need some fine tuning, as things will likely change to some degree as we move forward. ~~~ I'll be back with your next new weather narrative early Thursday morning. I hope you have a great Wednesday night wherever you're 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: There are no active tropical cyclones
South Pacific Ocean: Tropical cyclone 10P (Garry) remains active in the southwest Pacific, located approximately 330 NM east of Pago Pago, American Samoa. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) shows this cyclone with 60 knot sustained winds, with gusts to 75 knots. 10P will be strengthening a bit more, reaching between 65 knots within 12 hours. Here's the graphical track map, along with a satellite image.
North and South Indian Oceans: There are no active tropical cyclones
Interesting: Global climate change is causing average temperatures to rise and producing more extreme highs during the summer months, months that are crucial for a successful crop yield. According to a new study from the University of Leeds, Reading, and Exeter, hotter summers may cause a decrease in crop yields over the next two decades. The only thing that can prevent it will be to improve farming techniques to counter the trend.
The damaging effect of hotter summers was examined in France, a largely agrarian country and breadbasket for much of Europe including Great Britain. The warmer temperatures have already caused a slowdown in the trend towards higher yields of maize (sweetcorn). Agricultural improvements that will be necessary include improved fertilizers, heat and drought resistant crop varieties, and irrigation techniques.
These improvements will be necessary to offset the 12% decrease in crop yield that is expected from future heat stress. The researchers worry that the current rate of improvement will not meet this target. According to Dr. Ed Hawkins of the National Center for Atmospheric Science at the University of Reading, "Our research rings alarm bells for future food security.
Over the last 50 years, developments in agriculture, such as fertilizers and irrigation, have increased yields of the world's staple foods, but we're starting to see a slowdown in yield increases. Our research into maize suggests the increasing frequency of hot days across the world might explain some of this slowdown.
"We expect hot days to become more frequent still, and our work on maize suggests that current advances in agriculture are too slow to offset the expected damage to crops from heat stress in the future." Their study of maize in France revealed that the crop has become less sensitive to rain quantity over the summer, and relatively more sensitive to temperature over the last 50 years.
Less rain can be offset by more irrigation, but there is no way to offset higher temperatures. Over the last 50 years, days with temperatures above 90 F have doubled in France. By 2020, hot days like this will occur over large parts of the country, and grow more common. That is why there must be emphasis on improving farming techniques to withstand the changing climate.
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