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

75  Lihue, Kauai
79  Honolulu, Oahu
76  Molokai
78  Kahului, Maui
81  Kailua Kona
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 843pm Saturday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 79
Hana airport, Maui
– 68


Haleakala Summit –   43
(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.

 


Aloha Paragraphs


http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif

A cold front is stalled near the Big Island, with partly cloudy
skies and decreasing showers in its wake


A prolonged trade wind weather pattern will continue through
the upcoming work week, with off and on passing windward
showers…and generally nice weather on our leeward sides


Another front is expected to arrive next weekend – which could

bring us strong and gusty trade winds, and locally heavy showers

High Surf Advisory…north and west facing shores of Kauai, Oahu,
Molokai, and the north shore of Maui 


Small Craft Advisory
…all coastal and channel waters –
through noon today






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


20  Poipu, Kauai – NE
31  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
18  Molokai – NE
20  Lanai – NE
23  Kahoolawe – NE
09  Kaupo Gap,
Maui – NW
21  Upolu airport, Big Island – NE


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


1.30  Kilohana, Kauai
1.85  Wilson Tunnel, Oahu
0.98  Molokai
1.24  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.57  Lahainaluna, Maui
2.25  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 ~~~



Our winds will be generally trade winds in the wake of the recent cold front…lasting through the rest of the new week ahead. 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 continue to see several low pressure systems far northwest of the state, with a cold front coming out of a storm in the Gulf of Alaska…stalled near the Big Island. Meanwhile, we see a high pressure system moving by to the north of the state…with ridges of high pressure extending southwest and east. Our winds will come in from northeast, with trade winds remaining active through most of, if not all of the next week. They will maintain more or less moderately strong levels through Saturday, and then strengthen next Sunday into early next week.

Satellite imagery shows a wide band of clouds over the state…these brighter white ones are middle and high level clouds.
HThey continue to drift eastward, clearing the western islands at the time of this writing. There’s the looping radar image, showing light to moderately heavy showers over the state, although the majority of them are offshore over the ocean.  Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see this large swath of clouds over the state, associated with the cold front…gradually moving eastward. 

We’re now moving into a prolonged period of trade winds, which is something we haven’t seen for quite a while. It will take a while before we see the high and middle level clouds, associated with the dissipating cold front, move completely away…likely at some point tomorrow. There will continue to be some showers, although nothing heavy is expected. The upcoming work week should find pretty nice late winter weather conditions, with the best sunshine possibilities over the leeward beaches. Looking into the future, we could see another late winter cloud band arrive next weekend. This front will usher in strong and gusty trade winds, and a period of cool showers into early next week, stayed tuned for more details. I’ll be back Sunday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise, I hope you have a great Saturday night 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 59.5 degrees at 650am on this Saturday morning, under cloudy skies.
Looking over towards the West Maui Mountains this morning, I can see the cloud bases are over the top of those mountains, with just a few lower level clouds stretched across the Central Valley. These middle and higher levels of clouds are masking our sunshine, and will do a good job of that most of today. It looks like there’s some light rain falling from these clouds, as verified by this looping radar image…focused mostly over Maui County at the moment. Now at 710am, its lightly raining here in Kula.

~~~ It’s now 845am, with calm air giving way to windy, to calm again, bringing bouts of fog and light rain, and then lifting…still covered with those thick middle and high clouds. This is the kind of morning it is, at least so far, with lots of changes. It’s 61.7 degrees, with the next bank of pea soup fog just arriving. I was so much enjoying being back in bed, and watching this lovely weather, while reading National Geographic Magazine, an article by Garrison Keillor…I love his writing style. My Mom has been sending me these magazines for many years, which I always look forward to receiving, thanks Mom! Yes, she reads this page everyday, often twice a day, and helps me in the proof reading. I know I made some mistake in spelling, when my cell phone rings early…and its her making a correction. I promote her in doing this, and it happens quite often, as I miss spell words, or write the same word twice. Perhaps you’ve noticed this too!

~~~ We’re into the early afternoon now, at 1245pm, under mostly cloudy skies and light fog, with an air temperature of 66.6 degrees. I just got back from a quick trip down to Paia for my weekly shopping trip. It was warmer down there, and feeling quite humid, with evidence of lots of rainfall lately…lots of mud. I stopped off in Pukalani on the way home, as I had forgot garlic for some pasta I going to make. You know, I noticed how nice people were along the way! I’m not sure if its just Maui, or just being in the islands, but folks are so gentle here, and sweet. I sometimes forget about this, or just get used to it, after living here for almost 40 years now. I was touched this morning, as everyone I ran into was so pleasant, it makes me happy to be living here in the Hawaiian Islands! I’m sure that most people are very lovely all around the world, it’s just that we read about so much bad stuff in the news, it can make it seem like the world’s full of negativity energy or something…which just isn’t true.

~~~ It’s now late in the afternoon, at 430pm, under partly cloudy skies, with quite a lot of blue skies…and even some quick little sunny periods. It’s definitely turned the corner here, with much less clouds, no fog, and a warm 70.7 degrees. Down in Kahului, at more or less the same time, it was a warmer 77 degrees, while up top, at the summit of the Haleakala Summit, it was a cooler 48 degrees. Looking at that nice looking cloud band, using the satellite image above, we see that it is thinning, with already Kauai and Oahu are out from under it…as it continues to very slowly drift eastwards. There are still those lower level clouds over the western islands too, although they may go away with time too. I’ll be back early this evening with another one or two updates, catch up with you again then.

~~~ It’s now early in the evening, at 545pm, under partly cloudy skies, which look really nice before sunset. These clouds are middle level stratocumulus clouds, which may light up some as the sun goes down here and there over the eastern islands. The air temperature here in Kula is 68.9 degrees, with totally calm conditions. It turned out to be quite a nice day, after a bit of rough start, at least over the eastern islands. I expect further clearing of the clouds tonight through Sunday, with more sunshine beaming down in most areas, especially our leeward beaches. The windward sides may have some passing showers, although I don’t anticipate a rainy day over on those sides. Wow…a glorious sunset, memorable!

~~~ Pushing towards 9pm HST (Hawaiian Standard Time…which doesn’t change during the Daylight Savings Time period), with an air temperature of 60.1 degrees. It was such a beautiful sunset here in Hawaii, really nice! I’m home tonight, listening to music on my computer, currently Fleetwood Mac. They hit home for me, which I learned to love way back when I was in college, or somewhere back there in the past. There are so many bands that I liked, which still hold  sweet spots in my heart. Music has always been very important in my life, and continues to be today.



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)


North Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


South Pacific Ocean:
Tropical Cyclone 17P (Gillian) is now active in the Gulf of Carpentria, Australia. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, and a NOAA satellite image.


North and South Indian Oceans:
There are no active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting: Largest US grocery stores say ‘no’ to GMO salmon –
Many The two largest grocery stores in the United States, Kroger and Safeway, have promised to not sell GMO salmon. Over 9,000 stores nationwide have now committed to being free of the controversial fish.


Kroger, the US’s leading grocery chain with 2,424 stores, informed Friends of the Earth of its decision in an email from Keith Dailey, director of media relations at Kroger.
“Should genetically engineered salmon be approved, Kroger has no intention of sourcing it”, Dailey wrote.


Safeway, the number two conventional grocer with 1,406 stores, confirmed their position in an email to Friends of the Earth last week and said they plan to post their statement online:


“Should GE salmon come to market, we are not considering nor do we have any plans to carry GE salmon. The seafood products we offer will continue to be selected consistent with our Responsible Seafood Purchasing Policy, Responsible Sourcing Commitment and our partnership with FishWise.”


Campaigners welcome the move


Dana Perls, Food and technology policy campaigner with Friends of the Earth, said: “By making commitments to not sell genetically engineered salmon, Kroger and Safeway have joined the large number of grocery chains, from Trader Joe’s to Target, that have wisely chosen to listen to the majority of consumers who do not want to eat genetically engineered fish”


“Now Costco, Walmart, Albertsons and other retailers need to catch up and provide their customers with what they want: natural, sustainable seafood that isn’t genetically engineered in a lab.”


Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of Center for Food Safety, said: “Genetically engineered salmon are bad for the consumer, bad for the environment, and bad for our native salmon. We call on all fish retailers to reject this dangerous product that consumers don’t want.”


The total number of companies committed to not sell genetically engineered salmon now stands at more than 60 retailers, including Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, H-E-B, Meijer, Hy-Vee, Marsh, Giant Eagle, and now Safeway and Kroger, representing more than 9,000 grocery stores across the country.


FDA: GMO fish, animals may not be labeled


Nearly 2 million people have written to the FDA opposing the approval of genetically engineered salmon, in response to Aqua Bounty’s revised draft environmental assessment in 2013. Despite this outcry, the FDA is still considering approving GE salmon.


It has also said it will probably not be labeled, so consumers will have no way of knowing if the fish they are feeding their families is genetically engineered.