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

80  Lihue, Kauai
80  Honolulu, Oahu
83  Molokai
85  Kahului, Maui
84  Kona, Hawaii
83  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 810pm Wednesday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 78
Port Allen, Kauai – 73


Haleakala Summit –   43 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 34 (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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Generally light south to southeasterly breezes

A few showers…otherwise decent weather into
Thursday







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

13  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
12  Waianae Valley, Oahu – SSW
14  Molokai – ESE
15  Lanai – NE
17  Kahoolawe – NE
15  Hana, Maui – E
20  South Point, Big Island – NE


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

0.88  N Wailua ditch, Kauai
0.84  Moanalua RG, Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.24  Kula Branch Station, Maui
1.32  Kealakomo, 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 breezes in most areas…variable directions. 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 trough of low pressure to the northwest of the islands. At the same time, we see high pressure systems well offshore to the northeast…with an associated ridge just offshore to the north of the state. Winds will generally be on the light side from variable directions. It may take until later this weekend before the trade winds return…continuing on into early next week.

Satellite imagery shows bright white, deep clouds to the east of the state…with lower clouds around Kauai and Oahu. The central islands are continuing to find rather clear skies for a change…at least along the coasts. The upcountry areas will start off clear Thursday, although like Wednesday, will find increasing clouds over the mountain slopes during the day. Here’s the looping radar image, showing just a few light showers over and around Kauai…with generally light showers offshore to the east of the Big Island. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see this rather dense area of clouds to the east and northeast continuing to migrate away.

We’ll find improving weather into Thursday…with another possible increase in showers later in the day into Friday. The heavy clouds to our east are continuing to pull away, leaving us finally out from under all of that sun dimming cloudiness of late. There will still be a few showers around, although much less than over the previous days. A trough of low pressure will pass across the state later Thursday into Friday, bringing a temporary increase in showers again. This will occur first on Kauai, then down to Oahu…and to Maui County Friday. As we move into the weekend time frame, we’ll see the return of light trade winds, with a few windward biased showers, and generally fine weather along our leeward beaches….which should continue on into early next week.  I’ll be back many times during the day with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Wednesday wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui, at the 3,100 foot elevation, at my upper Kula, Maui weather tower, the air temperature was 57.6F degrees at 550am on this Wednesday morning. I can see lots of stars shining, so it’s pretty easy to call for clear skies at sunrise this morning, although I’ll confirm that once the skies become light enough to see. It’s now 640am, and I can see that its totally clear, with not a cloud in the sky! The air temperature is 56.8, while my weather deck is still soaking wet…from yesterdays rains.

~~~ We got through the morning hours in a favorable way, with lots of sunshine beaming down along our local beaches. Here in Kula, the day started off completely clear, although it didn’t take long for clouds to start forming over these western slopes of the Haleakala Crater. I figured that I would take advantage of the clear skies, and took a drive up the mountain for 15 minutes or so, to sneak in some skateboarding. However, I hadn’t been up there more than a few minutes before clouds and fog over took me. I still was able to do some skating, although the fog made for a slightly slick road, which isn’t good for getting tight traction with my skateboard wheels. I hung out for a couple of hours, just enjoying the cool weather, drinking tea, and having a telephone conversation with a friend over on the windward side. She mentioned that it was cloud free at her place, while I was socked in with cool foggy weather. Oh well, I still enjoyed my time, and now at 1245pm, I’m obviously back home, under cloudy skies, with an air temperature of 71.1 degrees. By the way, looking down into the Central Valley, it sure looks like we have more volcanic haze back over us.

~~~ It’s into the evening hours here at my place, at 535pm, with an air temperature of 69.4, under partly cloudy skies. It got dark enough this afternoon, that I thought we might get a little something, although I didn’t see any drops. It was actually one of our best days in a while, and I expect another decent day again tomorrow. I mean after all, the Kahului airport got up to 85 degrees today, which is pretty darn good! I would imagine that both Kihei and Lahaina both had similar temperatures as well. I pushed up to near 73 here in Kula, which was feeling nice on my skin. Meanwhile, Oahu had a flood advisory for a while there this afternoon, with some generous showers on Kauai too…late in the afternoon. 

Extra: Humpback Whales in Maui waters…from a Drone – best using full screen / thanks to Nancy Lorenz…of Sebastopol, California



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 15S (Guito) remains active in the South Indian Ocean. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image.

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


Interesting: Protect the deep ocean now – The deep ocean, the largest domain for life on earth, is also its least explored environment. Humans are now encroaching more vigorously than ever into the ocean’s deep regions, exploiting the deep’s resources and placing its wealth of vibrant habitats and natural services for the planet at risk.


Lisa Levin, a biological oceanographer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, believes the vital functions provided by the deep sea—from carbon sequestration to nurturing fish stocks—are key to the health of the planet. As humans ramp up exploitation of deep-sea fish, energy, minerals, and genetic resources, a new “stewardship mentality” across countries, economic sectors, and disciplines is required, Levin says, for the future health and integrity of the deep ocean.


As the human population has more than doubled in the past 50 years, demand for food, energy, and raw materials from the sea has risen with it.


“At the same time, human society has undergone tremendous changes and we rarely, if ever, think about these affecting our ocean, let alone the deep ocean,” said Levin, who has conducted research on the deep sea for more than 30 years. “But the truth is that the types of industrialization that reigned in the last century on land are now becoming a reality in the deep ocean.”


“As we exhaust many coastal stocks, commercial fishers have turned towards deeper waters,” said Levin.


Beyond marine life depletion, the deep sea also is being threatened by the search for new sources for energy and precious materials. Oil and gas exploration now routinely targets seabeds in more than a thousand meters of water depth. Demand for modern technology devices—from cell phones to hybrid car batteries—has fueled a push by the mining sector to deep waters in search of new sources of metals and other materials.