Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / August 26-27, 2013

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday:

86  Lihue, Kauai
88  Honolulu, Oahu
86  Molokai
90  Kahului, Maui – highest temperature on record Monday: 93 in 1984
88  Kona, Hawaii
84  Hilo, Hawaii

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops on Maui and the Big Island…as of 743pm Monday evening:

Kailua Kona – 82
Hana airport, Maui – 77

Haleakala Summit –   48 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 39 (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 working.

Aloha Paragraphs

Trade winds…losing strength by mid-week for several days

Small Craft Wind Advisory…windiest coasts and
channels around the state

A few windward showers, although limited…
with an increase expected Wednesday

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

21  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
33  Kahuku Trng, Oahu – NE
28  Molokai – ENE
28  Lanai – NE
37  Kahoolawe – ENE
27  Kahului, Maui – NE
30  South Point, Big Island – NE

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

0.11  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.01  Waianae Valley, Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Lanai
0.05  Hana airport, Maui
0.25  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 Narrative ~~~

The trade winds will remain active through most of Tuesday…then lighten up into Thursday or Friday. Here’s a weather chart showing a large near 1029 millibar high pressure system located far to the north-northwest of the islands. The models continue to show a reduction in our trade wind speeds by mid-week. This will occur as an area of low pressure aloft edges towards our area, along with a surface cold front well to the northeast. These weather features will prompt a lighter wind pattern for a few days. The longer range outlook suggests that the trade winds will rebound by this weekend and beyond.

A few showers will arrive along the windward sides…although generally dry most areas. Satellite imagery shows almost areas around the state mostly clear…unusually clear! Here’s the looping radar image, showing hardly any precipitation falling anywhere at the time of this writing. As the lighter breezes arrive Wednesday we’ll also see an increase in shower activity. Then, as the trades pick up again later in the week, those showers will diminish…followed by more dry weather by the weekend.

Glenn on Maui:  Besides the smokey air over some parts of Maui, it’s was another nice summer day. The air temperature up here in Kula was a warm 82.4F degrees at 545pm, while at about the same time, down at the Kahului airport near the ocean…it was just a little warmer 84 degrees. I can see just a few low clouds, with most areas on this island completely clear.  On another note, I see that there continues to be more and more posturing in terms of a Syrian strike, like the United States taking military action, in response to a chemical bombing that happened there.  The huge fire in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, is becoming more and more dangerous too. I’ll be back again early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise, I hope you have a great Monday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn. 


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

A TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED SOUTH OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS IS EXPECTED TO MOVE WESTWARD AT ABOUT 15 MPH OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS APPEAR SOMEWHAT FAVORABLE FOR A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TO FORM BY THE END OF THE WEEK WHEN THE TROPICAL WAVE INTERACTS WITH AN ELONGATED SURFACE TROUGH THAT EXTENDS FROM THE WINDWARD ISLANDS EASTWARD FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES INTO THE CENTRAL TROPICAL ATLANTIC. THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE…NEAR 0 PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS…AND A MEDIUM CHANCE…30 PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 5 DAYS.

AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE CONTINUES TO PRODUCE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN COAST OF MEXICO
SOUTHWARD OVER THE PACIFIC FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES. ENVIRONMENTAL
CONDITIONS STILL APPEAR CONDUCIVE FOR THE FORMATION OF A TROPICAL
DEPRESSION DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...BUT THE DISTURBANCE HAS
A BROAD AND COMPLEX STRUCTURE THAT COULD LIMIT DEVELOPMENT.  THIS
SYSTEM HAS A MEDIUM CHANCE...50 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL
CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS WHILE MOVING WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AT
ABOUT 15 MPH.  THE LOW IS EXPECTED TO REACH COLDER WATER WEST OF
THE BAJA CALIFORNIA PENINSULA BY THURSDAY...AND FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
AFTER THAT TIME IS NOT LIKELY.  THIS SYSTEM HAS A HIGH CHANCE...60
PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 5 DAYS. 
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER PORTIONS OF
SOUTHWESTERN MEXICO DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS IN ASSOCIATION WITH
THE LOW...AND INTERESTS IN THAT AREA SHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF
THIS SYSTEM.

Interesting: Save the World’s Rarest Cat By Doing One Thing, Say Researchers – Conservationists can ensure the world’s rarest wild cat escapes extinction by doing one simple thing, say researchers — but they need to do it soon.

What’s the secret? Start factoring in the effects of climate change when deciding how to save endangered species, says a new study. For the Iberian lynx, the most endangered wild feline of all, conservationists had better hurry. There are only 300 or so left in the wild.

The Iberian lynx lives now only in two small areas of Spain’s Andalusian region. At one time it was plentiful throughout Spain, Portugal and southern France. Years of habitat loss, poaching and a diminished food supply have decimated its numbers. Should it become extinct, the Iberian lynx will be the first wild cat to do so in 2,000 years.

Despite aggressive conservation efforts, including a captive breeding program, today the Iberian lynx is just barely holding on. The good news is that lynx population numbers are up from 94 two decades ago to 312 today, thanks to years of dedicated effort.

The bad news is that if conservationists don’t adjust their current management plans — which this study says fail to account for the effects of climate change — this wild cat may be lost forever.

Anticipated climate change impacts “will rapidly and severely decrease lynx abundance and probably lead to its extinction in the wild within 50 years, even with strong global efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions,” the study, published in July in the journal Nature Climate Change, concluded.

How Exactly Do We Factor in the Effects of Climate Change?

Here’s the key: Don’t focus on the lynxes, focus on the rabbits. According to researchers, the Iberian lynx depends on the European rabbit as a primary food source. In fact, 90 percent of the lynx’s diet is rabbit. Adults need to eat a rabbit a day. A female feeding cubs needs three rabbits a day.

Unfortunately, the effects of climate change are destroying the rabbits’ habitat in southern Spain, pushing them to move farther north in search of food and more favorable conditions. This study concludes that there won’t be enough rabbits to support any substantial growth in the lynx population in the Andalusian region.

Over $123 million have been spent to date trying to repopulate the Iberian lynx and reintroduce it into this area, which is its original range. That’s the problem, according to the study. Researchers say the lynxes need to be introduced to locations targeted by their food source to give the species any real chance of survival.