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

79  Lihue, Kauai
83  Honolulu, Oahu
80  Molokai
84  Kahului, Maui
82  Kona, Hawaii
76  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 643pm Wednesday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 79
Hilo, Hawaii – 73


Haleakala Summit –   39
(near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 30 (13,000+ 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 – if it’s working.

 


Aloha Paragraphs


http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d4/2d/0b/d42d0b244a3e35c4fb7ca114fce4216a.jpg

Trade winds continuing through Friday morning, then weakening
Saturday…with a shower producing cold front pushing
into the state Saturday night into Sunday


A few windward showers at times – generally sunny leeward
beaches during the days


Small Craft Wind Advisory…over those windiest coasts and
channel waters across the Hawaiian Islands

A visual picture of the trade winds moving across the islands
from the northeast – in real time / red color are strongest winds

High Surf Advisory...north and west shores of Kauai, Oahu,
Molokai, north shores of Maui…and west shore of the Big
Island too – through Thursday night





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

18  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
31  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
27  Molokai – NE
31  Lanai – NE
27  Kahoolawe – SE
23  Kapalua, Maui – NE
30  Upolu airport, Big Island – NE


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


0.14  Wailua, Kauai
0.26  Nuuanu Upper, Oahu
0.16  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.11  Haiku, Maui
1.94  Island Dairy, 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 ~~~



Moderately strong trade winds through Thursday, then lighter into Saturday…increasing again locally later Sunday into next week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system far to the northeast of the state, with the tail-end of an associated ridge extending southwest…north of Hawaii. There’s another high pressure cell to the north-northwest of Hawaii, moving quickly east. At the same time we see gale low pressure systems far to the northeast and northwest, with an associated cold front draping down, located north and northwest of our islands. ~~~ Our local winds will continue to come in from the trade wind direction, and be moderately strong through Thursday into Friday. The trades will become softer later Friday into Saturday…before increasing again later Sunday into next week.

We’ll find a few showers, mostly along the windward sides, especially during the night and early morning hours…lots of sunshine during the days on the leeward beaches.
Satellite imagery shows a few patchy low clouds around the islands, and offshore in most directions…along with an area of high clouds far to the east. Here’s the looping radar image, showing that there are just a few light showers being carried towards the windward sides of the islands, mostly along the Big Island, Maui and Oahu…at the time of this writing. We’ll find fairly typical trade wind showers drifting across our area through Friday. The leeward sides will have minimal shower activity…with lots of warm sunshine beaming down along our beaches during the days. Our local weather doesn’t get too much better than what we’re having now…its just great for our locals, and all the visitors who are here on vacation!

We’ll be experiencing a typical, early winter trade wind weather pattern through Friday…with a weak cold front arriving later Saturday into Sunday. The models continue showing this cold front approaching the state later Friday into the weekend. This front will move down into our chain of islands, although it’s still a question just how far it will make it before stalling. There are some of the forecast models slowing it down over the Kauai side of the state, while others bring it down over Maui, and even the north side of the Big Island. It may not be completely clear about how far it will ride into our area…until it actually gets here. This rather weak front will bring its associated showery weather to our windward sides…although nothing too impressive is expected. Looking further ahead, it now appears that New Year’s Eve and New Years Day, will have trade winds with passing windward showers…with more good weather along our leeward beaches. I’ll be back early Thursday morning, I hope you have a great Wednesday night wherever you’re spending it. Merry Christmas to everyone here in the islands, and elsewhere around this beautiful round globe of ours, I hope you had a great holiday! 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:
There are no active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting:
Tsunami threat to Sumatra continues – A great offshore earthquake, like the one that killed hundreds of thousands when it struck off Indonesia’s Sumatra coast in December 2004, would seem to offer a small measure of solace to survivors: The offshore tectonic fault that caused the temblor should require many centuries to recharge. Now, it appears such optimism is unwarranted. Three speakers here at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union earlier this month warned that the Indian Ocean coast of northern Sumatra could suffer another tsunami disaster in as few as 60 years.


That sobering news came in three talks by paleoseismologists—researchers who literally dig up records of past earthquakes and tsunamis-associated with Nanyang Technological University’s Earth Observatory of Singapore. Charles Rubin, Kerry Sieh, Jessica Pilarczyk, and their colleagues had been reading the millennia-long histories of past tsunamis in three kinds of geologic records and determining the age of each tsunami recorded there using radioactive carbon-14 dating.


The most novel record was found in a cave located 200 meters from the present-day coastline. Only the far-reaching inland surge of a tsunami can carry sand into this cave, where it can then be deposited layer by layer, tsunami by tsunami. Conveniently enough for the researchers, tsunami deposits in this cave are demarcated by dark layers of guano deposited between tsunamis by the cave’s resident bats. Other records were retrieved from tsunami deposits in coastal wetlands and exposed in eroding sea cliffs.


Taken together, the new records paint a disconcerting picture of highly erratic tsunami recurrence.