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

79  Lihue, Kauai
80  Honolulu, Oahu
79  Molokai
84  Kahului, Maui
83  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 510pm Friday evening:

 

Kahului, Maui – 81
Honolulu, Oahu – 74


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

 


Aloha Paragraphs


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We’ll see a few showers locally, increasing this weekend…first
on Kauai, then Oahu during the night, and on to Maui
County early Sunday


Winds picking up from the south southwest…followed by
somewhat cooler north to northeast winds in the wake
of the cold front


A cold front will bring showers this weekend – with off
and on
showers through next Tuesday into Wednesday





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


18  Mana, Kauai – SE
27  Waianae Harbor, Oahu – SE
20  Molokai – SSW
27  Lanai – SW
17  Kahoolawe – SW
29  Kula 1, Maui – SE
24  South Point, Big Island – SE


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Friday evening (545pm totals):


0.16  Waiakoali, Kauai
0.63  Schofield South, Oahu
0.25  Molokai
0.06  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.43  Kepuni, Maui
1.09  Pua Akala, 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 will blow from the southeast to southwest…as a cold front approaches from the northwest. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. Here’s a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…centered on the Hawaiian Islands. ~~~ We find a developing gale low pressure system, with storm force winds rotating around it, to the northwest of Kauai. This low, and its associated cold front, are prompting southeast through southwest winds, which will become a bit gusty this weekend…ahead of this approaching front. The winds in the wake of the front will be cooler from the north, and then gradually swing around to the northeast into Monday. As the next low pressure system advances in our direction next Tuesday, there will be more southerly winds blowing ahead of the system arriving during the middle of the new week. It appears that we’ll finally get back into a trade wind flow by next Thursday or so…into the weekend.

Satellite imagery shows scattered clouds covering our area…both over the islands and the offshore waters
. There are patchy low clouds scattered over the state, although there are clear areas here and there too. There are also several of those brighter white ones at the time of this writing, to the northwest and east of our islands…which are towering cumulus. Here’s the looping radar image, showing most of the showers falling over the ocean, offshore from the islands. Some of these light to moderately heavy showers are making their way to our islands, carried along on the south to southeasterly wind flow. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see clouds being pulled northward across our area, up into the circulation of the low pressure system to our northwest. At the same time, we can see the approaching cold front steadily moving in our direction.

The current southerly winds will carry showers over the state locally tonight, followed by more showers Saturday and Sunday…as the cold front arrives.  This weekend’s cold front will migrate into island chain, first on Kauai Saturday, then Oahu Saturday night, and over Maui County Sunday…bringing another round of showers with it. This front is expected to stall at some point on its journey through the state…likely over or around Maui. This stalled front will act as a focus for off and on showers into Monday. This mildly unsettled weather pattern will stick around into Tuesday or so. As we get into the middle of the new week ahead, another low pressure system will approach the state, and bring increased showers. Next week’s low pressure system should be more of a rainfall producer than the one we’ll be dealing with this weekend, with possible flooding and thunderstorms not out of the question. There will need to be fine tuning to all of the above, as we move forward. ~~~ I’ll be back early Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui early this morning, at the 3,100 foot elevation, at my upper Kula, Maui weather tower, the outdoor air temperature sensor was reading 58.6F degrees at 558am this morning. It’s still dark as I write these words, so I can’t see the nature of the sky yet. Although, looking at the satellite imagery, it appears to be partly cloudy. It’s not precipitating at the moment, and the winds are completely calm.


~~~ Hi again, well here it is 850am, as I just got back from my fast walk. Earlier, for about five minutes, the sun was shining brightly…although now its cloudy with pockets of fog over my area. The air temperature is 61.5 degrees, and it feels like it could start to drizzle any minute. I could see sunshine, at least partial sunshine down near the coasts, although my view is totally cut off now. Skies have cleared a bit, and I can see lots of warm sunshine in the lowlands now.  I would imagine that the north shore beaches will be better off today, compared to the leeward beaches…due to the Kona winds that will be picking up in speed today. I have a meeting down in Kihei this afternoon, at the Pacific Disaster Center, where I’m the Senior Weather Specialist. This is the product that I did for them this morning, obviously I work part time, and from home. At any rate, I’ll be able to write from here one or two more times before I leave, and then again from down there later as well.

~~~ It’s 1115am, and large rain drops just started falling, widely spaced drops I might add. It doesn’t feel like the sky is going to let loose by any means, although there is water falling out of the sky nonetheless. The fog has lifted, although I’m surrounded by clouds, with dark bases, the kind that can act up rather quickly. There’s enough of a breeze that my wind chimes are starting to sing lightly. The air temperature has risen all the way up to 66.7 degrees…while the Kahului airport at about the same time was reporting a warmer 81 degrees, with mostly sunny skies in contrast to up here on the mountain.

~~~ We’ve pushed into afternoon hours now, and our skies have opened up quite a lot here on Maui. There are still some clouds over the mountains, although at the moment, I’d call it mostly sunny downcountry. The Kona breezes are blowing steadily, and are picking up a bit as expected. I’m almost ready to take the drive down to Kihei, where warm sunny skies prevail. The temperature here at my place, at 1225pm, was 69.6 degrees, the warmest its been all week. I’ll catch up with you next later this afternoon, or early this evening, once I’m done with my meetings at the Pacific Disaster Center.

~~~ I’m inside the Pacific Disaster Center office early this evening, down here in Kihei. So, I’m a bit out of touch with what’s happening outside. However, looking at the radar images above, it looks like showers are falling in some areas, carried up over the state from the deeper tropics…on the southerly Kona winds. I’m about to drive over and meet my neighbors in Kahului, at the Whole Foods Market…before seeing that film I was writing about below. I’ll catch up with you soon.

Friday Evening Film: This time around I’m going to see a war movie, and since I’m a Vietnam Veteran, it will be interesting. Yes, I was drafted into the army a long time ago, and what’s worse, was in the infantry…can you imagine! At any rate, this film is called Lone Survivor, starring Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, Emile Hirsch, Taylor Kitsch, Eric Bana and Alexander Ludwig…among others. The synopsis: the story of four Navy SEALs on an ill-fated covert mission to neutralize a high-level Taliban operative, who are ambushed by enemy forces in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. The critics are being pretty good to this film, and the trailer makes it look interesting…albeit on the intense side. I’ll let you know what I thought Saturday morning, and until then, here’s the trailer.



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: Tropical Cyclone 02W (Kajiki) is active as it moves from the Philippines into the South China sea. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image


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: US Solar Employment Growing at 10 Times the National Average –
When it comes to job creation, it appears that the U.S. economy has undergone radical change over the past couple of decades as the full extent of neoconservative economic, trade and tax policies, along with rapid technological change, have been more fully realized.


Historically wide and growing disparities in wealth and income in developed and developing countries alike was a focal point of discussion for the world’s super-wealthy at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, while the need to create more and better jobs and economic opportunities for all Americans was the theme of President Obama’s State of the Union (SOTU) address Tuesday evening.


The potential to spur sustainable, well-paying job growth — as well as lasting environmental and social benefits — has been one of the principal reasons the president has espoused policies and legislation that promote and foster development of renewable energy and clean technology. Though policies, legislation and regulations aimed at fostering “green” job growth have been criticized, refuted, opposed and undermined, the latest report from the Solar Foundation reveals that the U.S. solar energy sector continues to create jobs at a much higher rate than the economy overall.


56 new U.S. solar jobs a day — for over a year


Nearly 24,000 Americans got jobs in the U.S. solar industry in 2013, bringing the total number of U.S. solar industry jobs to 142,698 as of November 2013, according to the Solar Foundation’s, “National Solar Jobs Census 2013.”


“Employment in the U.S. solar industry has been rising at a nearly 20 percent rate since 2012, 10 times faster than that for average national employment, according to the Solar Foundation’s report. The U.S. solar energy sector added an average 56 new employees a day between September 2012 and November 2013, surpassing forecasts.”