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

81  Lihue, Kauai
85  Honolulu, Oahu
79  Molokai
76  Kahului, Maui
78  Kailua Kona
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:

 

Kaneohe, Oahu – 79
Lihue, Kauai
– 72


Haleakala Summit –   45
(near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 41 (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://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e9/44/ad/e944ad2b8ad1a6f5fc474eb601cb7169.jpg
Just after full moon…tonight

The trade winds will remain active, as the old frontal cloud
band remains stalled over the eastern end of the state, which
will keep off and on windward showers, some heavy, falling
over parts of Oahu, Maui County…and the Big Island 

Our weather will turn drier beginning later Thursday into
Friday, with lighter winds going into the weekend, turning
southeast to south… ahead of a cold front that may bring
showers to Kauai around next Tuesday or so

Rising surf on our south shores Thursday…larger Friday
into Saturday




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


21  Port Allen, Kauai – NW
22  Kuaokala, Oahu – N
23  Molokai – NE
28  Lanai – NE
29
  Kahoolawe – NE
15  Lipoa,
Maui – NE
15  Upolu airport, Big Island – NNE


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Wednesday afternoon (245pm totals):


0.09  Kilohana, Kauai
2.39  Hakipuu Mauka, Oahu
0.07  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.02  Kahoolawe
2.96  Kahakuloa, Maui
2.71  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 ~~~



Trade winds remain active, light to moderately strong in most areas…then lighter breezes going into the weekend. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…focused on the Hawaiian Islands. ~~~ We see several low pressure systems, one to our northwest, another couple up to the north-northeast, and finally a third to the northeast…which has an associated weak frontal boundary breaking through the ridging to our northeast…located around the Big Island and Maui at the time of this writing. Our local winds will remain active, although become lighter as we move into the upcoming weekend time frame. We’ll see another late season cold front approaching the state this weekend, which should turn our wind southeast to south…which means there could be another round of voggy weather then.

Satellite imagery shows these long lasting, large areas of remnant moisture from the frontal boundary, that has stuck around over Maui County and the Big Island the last several days…and another batch offshore to the southwest of the state.
Looking at this larger satellite image, we see that this cloud band remains in place, keeping our windward sides generally cloudy for the time being…with clear to cloudy conditions over our leeward sides on Kauai and Oahu. Meanwhile, we see areas of high cirrus clouds well to the south and west of the state…which may move over the state later tonight into Thursday. Here’s a looping radar image, showing generally light showers falling, as they spread across our windward coasts and slopes, with the primary axis of showers over Oahu, Maui County and parts of the Big Island at the time of this writing.

Showers and drizzle continue to fall locally…most notably over the Koolau Range on Oahu, over the mountains and windward sides of Maui County…and down over the Big Island in places too. It appears that the trade winds will give way to east and southeast winds during the next several days. Kauai, being the further west, may see southwesterly winds later this weekend into early next week. As our winds veer to the southeast again, they will probably carry volcanic haze (vog) back over our area then. This will occur as yet another late season cold front approaches the islands from the northwest. It’s still a bit too early to know how close this front will get to Kauai, although it may bring showers to that western most island early next week…stay tuned. I’ll be back again early Thursday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Wednesday 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 57.4 degrees at 610am on this Wednesday morning. Skies are mostly clear, although clouds are stretching over into this area from the windward side. It looks showery, what else is new…over on the north shore of east Maui, and up the slopes from there. These clouds, as they have done all week so far, are stretching through part of the central valley towards Kihei. The latest satellite image shows that the cloud band that was brought into the state earlier this week, rather than diminishing…has expanded this morning! Update at 940am, cloudy, heavy mist, light winds…air temperature of 73.4 degrees.

It’s now just after 12pm, under cloud skies, off and on breezy trade winds, occasional misty drizzle…and an air temperature of 71.2 degrees. I just got back from Makawao, where it was raining, and rather windy. As I drove back up here to Kula, the precipitation eased back, although hasn’t stopped altogether. My neighbor just told me that a friend of ours, who lives down towards Keokea, said it was coming down quite heavily there. So, this puts us in the middle of wet weather to our left and right…although not so much here at the moment. Looking down into the central valley, I can’t see what’s going on down there, as there clouds between here and there. The report from the Kahului airport, and over on the west side at Kapalua, both reported light rainfall at 1130am. In contrast, it was mostly sunny in Lihue, Kauai, Honolulu on Oahu…and in Hilo on the Big Island. Update at 130pm, I just got a call from a friend who lives in Wailuku, and she said that it was pouring, with water running down the street in torrents, although not far away, it was only lightly raining! Update at 4pm, under cloudy skies, occasional gusty winds, heavy mist being blown horizontally…and an air temperature of 69.1 degrees. If the truth be told, I love days like this!

It’s now 545pm early this evening, under cloudy and foggy skies, drizzle, occasional gusty winds…and an air temperature a cool 65.8 degrees. Much of the last several days have been more like winter…than like later in the spring season. Like right now, I’ve got a turtle neck, my shearling wool slippers, and levi’s on, and not feeling the slightest bit too warm. My Mom tells me that I’m Welsh, and perhaps that’s why I love this type of weather so much…being from Wales. I think of that country as cloudy, cool, and often wet…and green too. Final note for the day, check out the still large, just past full moon tonight, if its not cloudy where you are.



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:
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:  Carbon Dioxide pushing weather around in the southern hemisphere So why is Antarctica is not warming as much as other continents, and why are there more droughts in southern Australia? According to new Antarctic ice core research published in Nature Climate Change, rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are intensifying the Southern Ocean winds, which are known to deliver rain to southern Australia, but instead they are pushing them further south towards Antarctica.


British Antarctic Survey’s Dr. Robert Mulvaney, and co-author of the study says: “The strengthening of these westerly winds helps us to explain why large parts of the Antarctic continent are not yet showing evidence of climate warming.”


Lead researcher Nerilie Abram, from the Australian National University, said: “With greenhouse warming, Antarctica is actually stealing more of Australia’s rainfall. It’s not good news — as greenhouse gases continue to rise we’ll get fewer storms chased up into Australia.”


“As the westerly winds are getting tighter they’re actually trapping more of the cold air over Antarctica,” Abram said. “This is why Antarctica has bucked the trend. Every other continent is warming, and the Arctic is warming fastest of anywhere on earth.”


While most of Antarctica is remaining cold, rapid increases in summer ice melt, glacier retreat and ice shelf collapses are being observed along the Antarctic Peninsula, where the stronger winds passing through Drake Passage are making the climate warm exceptionally quickly.


Until this study climate observations of the westerly winds were available only from the middle of the last century.


Dr. Abrams research has chronicled the westerly winds with data from tree rings and lakes in South America and now by analyzing ice cores from Antarctica. Dr. Abram and her colleagues have been able to extend the history of the westerly winds back over the last millennium.


She notes that, “The Southern Ocean winds are now stronger than at any other time in the past 1,000 years.”