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

79  Lihue, Kauai
81  Honolulu, Oahu
80  Molokai
82  Kahului, Maui
82  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 1210am Wednesday morning:

 

Kailua Kona – 74
Hilo, Hawaii – 69


Haleakala Summit –   41 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 32 (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.

 


Aloha Paragraphs

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Winds becoming lighter into Wednesday from the
southeast – ushering in volcanic haze (vog) and
humidity…increasing winds from the south to
southwest Thursday into Friday

An active cold front will prompt pre-frontal showers
Thursday night into Friday…followed by the front’s
showers later Friday into Saturday – then cooler
drier weather later Saturday into Sunday

Showers locally around the Big island this evening,
although gradually ending later… just a few elsewhere



Happy New Year!






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

14  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
13  Kahuku Trng, Oahu – SE
18  Molokai – ESE
18  Lanai – ENE
20  Kahoolawe – ENE
12  Kaupo Gap, Maui – SE
20  PTA Range 17, Big Island – NW


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

0.25  Kilohana, Kauai
0.30  Kahana, Oahu
0.20  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.25  Kahakuloa, Maui
10.66  Island Dairy / 12.89 Waiakea Uka – 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 ~~~



Our winds becoming lighter into Wednesday from the southeast…then stronger from the south to southwest Thursday into Friday – voggy. 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, with a second closer high pressure cell north-northeast of Hawaii. At the same time, we see a low pressure system far to our northeast, with the tail-end of its cold front over the ocean just southeast of the Big Island. ~~~ The winds will come in from the southeast, and be lighter Wednesday. They will increase in strength, from the southeast to southwest Thursday into Friday. This will occur as our next cold front approaches the Aloha State then. We will see an increase in volcanic haze (vog) locally over the next couple days, and increased humidity…as the winds swing around through the southeast and southerly directions.

Fair weather across most of the state through New Years Day.  Satellite imagery shows clouds over and around most of the islands, although they are clearing rather quickly…at the time of this writing. The most prominent clouds are over parts of the Big Island, associated with a low pressure system to the northeast. This low and its cold front will continue to bring some rainfall to the windward side of the Big Island. The other islands aren’t expecting much in the way of rain, with just a few light showers here and there. Here’s the looping radar image, showing showers over parts of the Big Island, which continue to rain down into this New Years Eve. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see how showers are trying to move away from the Big Island, although continue to have a difficult time.  The Big Island has had so much precipitation the last several days, it will be good to see drying out soon. During the later afternoon hours, into the evening on the windward side of the Big Island, moderate to heavy rains were…or had been falling. This has been a major weather event in the islands, the Big Island receiving some much rainfall, way way more than usual!

The localized heavy flooding rains on the Big Island…will give way to drier weather soon. As noted above, an area of rainy clouds have brought lots of rainfall to the Big Island, and have hung in there along the windward side for the last two days. The two largest rainfall amounts were 6.98″ at Waiakea Uka…and 7.67″ at Island Dairy during the last 24 hours! In contrast, some parts of the Big Island have seen no rainfall at all…as it was mostly anchored over the north and east facing windward coasts and slopes. All things considered though, we should see fairly dry weather conditions in most areas of the state, with even the Big Island trying to dry out eventually. ~~~ As we’re into New Year’s Eve now, and then on into New Years Day, we’ll have lighter winds, which will prompt afternoon clouds around the slopes, with a few upcountry showers locally. The beaches should have the best chance of decent weather, with generally dry conditions there through New Years Day. ~~~ As we move into the second half of this week, the models continue showing another cold front approaching the state. If they are correct in their assessment, it will bring Kona winds (south to southwest) ahead of it, and rainfall to at least some parts of the state late Thursday into the weekend. The latest model output suggests relatively cool winter weather conditions later Saturday through Sunday into Monday morning. ~~~ I’ll be back many times this evening with more updates on all of the above, and the section just below too. I hope you have a great New Years Eve here in the islands, or wherever you happen to be reading from. I wish you all a most happy, healthy, and financially stable year ahead! Aloha for now…Glenn.

New Years Eve: I’m going to be writing a few things in this space through the midnight hour, not sure what yet, although there will be various things to read going forward…you may want to check back occasionally.

>>>Perhaps I should start off with the bottle of champagne that I’ve picked out for the celebration tonight. It’s French, and is called Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose. Here’s what the experts are saying:

94 points Wine Enthusiast –  Such an elegant, ethereal wine, this orange-pink wine is dry and crisp with fruity raspberry flavor at the fore. This particular bottling could improve for a year, but makes a great food Champagne now.

92 points Wine Spectator – The ripe black cherry, strawberry and damson plum fruit flavors offer an enticing profile in this seamlessly integrated rosé. Mouthwatering acidity and a mineral undertow mesh with hints of fruit cake, smoke and spice.

92 points  Stephen Tanzer – (roughly 50% chardonnay, 35% pinot noir and 15% pinot meunier) Light orange. Vibrant strawberry and orange zest aromas are complicated by notes of tea rose, smoky lees and chalky minerals. Bright, incisive red fruit flavors pick up a toasty nuance with air. Fresh, incisive and refreshingly tangy, with impressive finishing clarity and stony persistence.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate – The NV Brut Rose is a pretty, gracious wine. Freshly cut roses, red berries and spices take shape nicely in the glass as the wine shows off its understated, timeless personality. Billecart-Salmon’s NV Brut Rose is a reliably tasty wine.

>>>Champagne Quotes:  I drink champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty. ~ Madame Lilly Bollinger

Champagne has the taste of an apple peeled with a steel knife. ~ Aldous Huxley

Come quickly, I am tasting the stars! ~ Dom Perignon, at the moment he discovered champagne

>>>What does “Auld Lang Syne” mean?  The confusion over the song is arguably almost as much of a tradition as the song itself. As revelers stumble and mumble through the verses–singing the “auld lang syne” part much louder than the rest of the song because it’s really the only part people know–someone always asks what the words mean.


The title of the Scottish tune translates to “times gone by” and is about remembering friends from the past and not letting them be forgotten.


Despite its strong association with New Year’s Eve, “Auld Lang Syne,” written by Robert Burns in the 1700s, was never intended to be a holiday song.  Guy Lombardo is credited with popularizing the song when his band used it as a segue between two radio programs during a live performance at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York in 1929.  By coincidence, they played “Auld Lang Syne”  just after the clock hit midnight, and a New Year’s tradition was born.


The song, and the confusion that comes with it, has been immortalized in countless movies and TV shows…and of course parties galore!

>>>Speaking of songs, here’s some of my favorites through the years:

Simply Red – You’ve Got It / recommend full screen on any videos
Cold Play – Yellow

Todd Rundgren – Hello It’s me (1972)

Thievery Corporation – Take My Soul

Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know

Michael Jackson – Come Together

Thievery Corporation – Sweet Tides

 

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 06S (Bejisa) remains active in the South Indian Ocean, here’s the JTWC graphical track map…and a NOAA satellite image.

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


Interesting: Water year round in the land of ice – In Greenland where three quarters of the land mass is covered by the earth’s only inhabited ice sheet, water is not so easy to obtain. University of Utah researchers however, have discovered a new reservoir/aquifer in Greenland’s ice sheet. The reservoir is known as a “perennial firn aquifer” and covers 27,000 square miles an area larger than the state of West Virginia. Called a firn because water persists within layers of snow and ice that doesn’t melt for at least one season, researchers believe the discovery will aid in the understanding of snowmelt and ice melt as it relates to rising sea levels.


“Of the current sea level rise, the Greenland Ice Sheet is the largest contributor — and it is melting at record levels,” says Rick Forster, lead author and professor of geography at the University of Utah. “So understanding the aquifer’s capacity to store water from year to year is important because it fills a major gap in the overall equation of meltwater runoff and sea levels.”


In southeast Greenland since 2010, Forster’s team is studying the variability of snowfall accumulation. The little studied area covers 14% of southeast Greenland but receives 32% of the entire ice sheet’s snowfall.


In 2010, the team drilled core samples in three locations and returned in 2011 to approximately the same area, but at lower elevation. Two of the four core samples taken in 2011 came to the surface with liquid water pouring off the drill amidst air temperatures of minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Water was found at 33 feet below surface at the first hole and at 82 feet in the second.


“This discovery was a surprise,” Forster says. “Although water discharge from streams in winter had been previously reported, and snow temperature data implied small amounts of water, no one had yet reported observing water in the firn that had persisted through the winter.”


The aquifer is similar in form to groundwater potable aquifers on land accept that water is stored in the airspace between ice particles, like the juice in a snow cone instead of between rocks. Forster adds. “The surprising fact is the juice in this snow cone never freezes, even during the dark Greenland winter. Large amounts of snow fall on the surface late in the summer and quickly insulates the water from the subfreezing air temperatures above, allowing the water to persist all year long.”