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

78  Lihue, Kauai
80  Honolulu, Oahu
80  Molokai
82  Kahului, Maui
81  Kona, Hawaii
80  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 Wednesday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 77
Hilo, Hawaii – 68


Haleakala Summit –   37 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 27 (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



http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/132/f/4/falling_rain_by_catlover221-d650kal.gif

Light to moderate trade winds, turning lighter from the southeast at
times, continuing through this week…into early next week

Increasing rain on the windward sides, and elsewhere tonight into
Thursday night

Flooding rainfall with localized thunderstorms…most notably
over Maui County and the Big Island

Flash Flood Watch…Maui County and the Big Island tonight
through Friday morning 

Winter Storm Warning…Big Island summits tonight through
Thursday night, heavy snow…6+ inches – possible flurries
or sleet over the Haleakala Crater on Maui too

High Surf Warning for north and west shores of Kauai, and north
shores of Oahu, Molokai, and Maui…and west shores of the Big Island

High Surf Advisory west shores of Oahu, Molokai, Lanai,
and Kahoolawe

Small Craft Advisory over parts of Maui County and the
Big Island’s coastal and channel waters

 




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

21  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
24  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – NNE
20  Molokai – ENE
17  Lanai – NE
14  Kahoolawe – NE
17  Lipoa, Maui – E
27  Upolu airport, Big Island -NE


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

0.35  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.45  Maunawili, Oahu
0.18  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.42  Kula 1, Maui
1.56  Lower Kahuku, 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 ~~~



Generally light to locally moderate trade winds will continue through the rest of this week into early next week…shifting to the southeast and becoming lighter at times. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the Pacific Ocean. We find high pressure systems far to the northeast of the state. At the same time we see storm and gale low pressure systems far to our northwest, with an associated cold front well to the northwest of our islands. Finally, we see a low pressure trough, just to our east…moving towards our islands slowly. High pressure will remain active to our northeast, with light to sometimes moderately strong trade winds continuing…through the rest of the week into early next week, although they may veer to the southeast and become lighter at times too. There may be strong and gusty winds as well, associated with thunderstorms that are expected over the next few days.

We began to see localized showers today, with more general unsettled weather arriving tonight on both the Big Island and Maui County, with locally heavy rain and possible thunderstorms, potential flooding…and snow at times over the mountains into Thursday night. Satellite imagery shows patchy clouds over and near the islands at the time of this writing. There’s also a threatening area of towering cumulus, and thunderstorms over the ocean to the east of our area. This large area of heavy duty clouds will be the source of our upcoming heavy rainfall event. Finally, we see the leading edge of a cold front to the west and northwest of Kauai as well. Here’s the looping radar image, showing showers falling mostly over the ocean, although coming ashore along our windward sides in places too…especially over the windward sides of Oahu, Maui and the Big Island at the time of this writing. The trades will turn wetter during the next 24-36 hours, with heavy, potentially flooding rainfall arriving over the windward sides…and elsewhere at times too.

It looks like the primary focus of these much needed rains, will be over Maui County and the Big Island, at least first…then shifting westward over the other islands during the day Thursday. As we get into the upcoming weekend, these heavy showers will back-off some later Friday into Saturday, although another round of heavy showers, and possible thunderstorms with localized flooding…may arrive Saturday night into next Monday morning. At this point, we should be prepared for a bout of inclement weather over the next few days. It might be wise to clean the leaves out of the rain gutters, and other things like that too. It would be good to ready ourselves for less than perfect driving conditions too, be very carefully when on our wet streets, once the rains arrive. I’ll be back early Thursday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Wednesday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.



World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea:

Gulf of Mexico:

Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico.

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

Eastern Pacific: The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15th through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.


Central Pacific Ocean: The Central Pacific hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)


Western Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


South Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


North and South Indian Oceans: Tropical cyclone 03S (Amara) remains active in the South Indian Ocean. Here’s a JTWC graphical track map…along with a satellite image.

Tropical cyclone 04S (Bruce) remains active in the South Indian Ocean. Here’s a JTWC graphical track map…along with a satellite image.

Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)



Interesting: New Tapir Species Discovered – In what will likely be considered one of the biggest (literally) zoological discoveries of the Twenty-First Century, scientists today announced they have discovered a new species of tapir in Brazil and Colombia. The new mammal, hidden from science but known to local indigenous tribes, is actually one of the biggest animals on the continent, although it’s still the smallest living tapir. Described in the Journal of Mammology, the scientists have named the new tapir Tapirus kabomani after the name for “tapir” in the local Paumari language: “Arabo kabomani.”


Tapirus kabomani, or the Kobomani tapir, is the fifth tapir found in the world and the first to be discovered since 1865. It is also the first mammal in the order Perissodactyla (which includes tapirs, rhinos, and horses) found in over a hundred years. Moreover, this is the largest land mammal to be uncovered in decades: in 1992 scientists discovered the saola in Vietnam and Cambodia, a rainforest bovine that is about the same size as the new tapir.


Found inhabiting open grasslands and forests in the southwest Amazon (the Brazilian states of Rondônia and Amazonas, as well as the Colombian department of Amazonas), the new species is regularly hunted by the Karitiana tribe who call it the “little black tapir.” The new species is most similar to the Brazilian tapir (Tapirus terrestris), but sports darker hair and is significantly smaller: while a Brazilian tapir can weigh up to 710 pounds, the Kabomani weighs-in around 240 pounds. Given its relatively small size it likely won’t be long till conservationists christen it the pygmy or dwarf tapir. It also has shorter legs, a distinctly-shaped skull, and a less prominent crest.


“[Indigenous people] traditionally reported seeing what they called ‘a different kind of anta [tapir in Portuguese].’ However, the scientific community has never paid much attention to the fact, stating that it was always the same Tapirus terrestris,” explains lead author Mario Cozzuol, the paleontologist who first started investigating the new species ten years ago. “They did not give value to local knowledge and thought the locals were wrong. Knowledge of the local community needs to be taken into account and that’s what we did in our study, which culminated in the discovery of a new species to science.”