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

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

 

Kailua Kona – 79
Hana airport, Maui
– 72


Haleakala Summit –   50
(near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 39 (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.hawaiilife.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Hanalei-Bay-Pier-View1-600x399.jpg
The beautiful island of Kauai


Our winds will be light, or a bit stronger in places, from the
southeast and east-southeast

Our weather will be generally quite dry, except for localized
afternoon showers over the interior sections, and a few
along the southeast and east sides of the islands at times –
locally quite heavy in a few places

We may see heavier showers arriving this weekend…
especially over Kauai and Oahu – with even a possible
thunderstorm forming

Flood Advisory…windward east Maui – through 715am




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


21  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
18  Kahuku Trng, Oahu – SE
22  Molokai – NE
17  Lanai – NE
23  Kahoolawe – ENE
15  Lipoa,
Maui – NE
21  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):


0.39  Hanapepe, Kauai
0.35  Palehua, Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.36  Hana airport, Maui
0.51  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 are coming out of the southeast and east-southeast today, with little change for several more days…at least. 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 low pressure systems far to our northwest and north, along with a late season cold front/trough stalled not far northwest of Kauai. We have a moderately strong high pressure system to our northeast…with a ridge extending southwest over the offshore waters northeast of the state. As a result of these weather features, our local winds will remain on the light side, from the south through east-southeast or even east. The southeasterly breezes will continue to bring voggy and humid weather our way…especially at sea level locations.

Satellite imagery shows large patches of low clouds over and around our island chain…mostly in the vicinity of Maui County and the Big Island.
Looking at this larger satellite image, we see those clouds mostly over the ocean at the time of this writing, drifting along in the east-southeast air flow. There are however parts of these clouds that have stretched over the eastern islands, and some others that have formed thanks to the daytime heating. Meanwhile, we continue to see the stalled cold front, or which is now a trough low pressure, not far to the northwest of Kauai. Here’s a looping radar image, showing just generally light showers falling, most of which are falling over the ocean…although a few are being carried over parts of Molokai, Maui, and the Big Island.

We’ll see light southeast breezes continuing, keeping our atmosphere rather stagnant and muggy. These southeast to east-southeasterly breezes won’t be robust enough to clear our atmosphere of the haze we’ve been putting up with lately, and in fact…continue to bring more vog our way.  We’ll find clear to partly cloudy mornings, giving way to mid-morning through early evening clouds developing over and around the interior sections. The air mass will remain generally dry and stable however, although there will be some showers falling locally. If an upper level trough moves near the state this weekend, and its looking more and more likely, we could see some heavier showers falling near Kauai and Oahu, or even a thunderstorm popping-up as well. I’ll be back again early Thursday morning, 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 a cool 53.8 degrees at 605am on this Wednesday morning. Skies were clear for the most part around Maui, with just a few minor clouds out along the windward sides. Looking more closely over that way, I can see those clouds moving along slowly under the influence of a light easterly trade wind air flow…which I haven’t seen for a while. The central valley still has some light volcanic haze in it, although somewhat less that has been there over the last many days.

It’s now late afternoon at 415pm, under cloudy skies, with a mist and drizzle, and an air temperature of 69.6 degrees. I was down at the Pacific Disaster Center in Kihei for most meetings most of the day, and just now got home. It was partly cloudy and warm down there, while I ran into clouds and light showers as I drove up the mountain. It was 10-15 degrees warmer down there near sea level, and I must admit, it feels good to get upcountry again, with its cooler air and misty conditions.

It’s now after sunset at 720pm, under clearing skies, and an air temperature of 66.7 degrees. My neighbor told me we got a good rain up here in the afternoon, and I can see that things are still pretty wet. Looking down at the central valley, and West Maui Mountains, I can see less volcanic haze. This is likely due to the return of light easterly trade winds today, or at least it seemed like they were trying to get started. I spent most of the day inside the Pacific Disaster Center office, so I kind of lost track of the weather for a good part of the day. Being inside an office like that, makes me appreciate that I work from home now, and can keep a much closer eye on the what’s happening in the sky!


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 has started again…and runs through November 30th.


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:  Camelopardalid Meteor Shower Coming to a circumpolar constellation near you: an all-new, never-before-seen, awkwardly named meteor shower that just might knock your astronomical socks off.


It’s called the Camelopardalid meteor shower, and, unlike annual showers such as the Perseids and Leonids that have been occurring for hundreds or thousands of years, it will occur for the first time the night of May 23 and early morning of May 24.


A meteor shower happens when the Earth passes through debris left in space by a comet (the Perseids, for example, are debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle); the debris, little chunks of rock and other material, burns up in the atmosphere to form what some people call shooting or falling stars.


The Camelopardalids will be debris from Comet 209P/LINEAR, a very dim comet that orbits the sun every five years; the comet was discovered in 2004 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project, a partnership of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory, NASA and the U.S. Air Force.


But, while the Earth has been passing through Swift-Tuttle debris to create the Perseids for thousands of years (the first written account of the shower was in 36 A.D.), this will be the first time the Earth has passed through Comet 209P/LINEAR’s leftovers.


Meteor showers vary in intensity: Some produce more meteors than others, and some years a particular meteor shower is better than other years.


It all depends on how much debris the Earth passes through, and some astronomers are predicting that all of Comet 209P/LINEAR’s debris trails from 1803 through 1924 will intersect Earth’s orbit, so the Camelopardalid meteor shower will be a meteor storm producing hundreds of meteors per hour.


So, how good will it be?


“That’s always a good question, more so with this meteor shower because it’s the first time we’re seeing it,” said Rich Talcott, senior editor of Astronomy magazine. “Over the past 15 or 20 years, astronomers have done a very good job at figuring out, OK, here’s where the debris streams will lie. I’m thinking the odds are pretty good we’ll get something nice May 24.”


Meteor showers are named for the constellation from which the meteors seem to radiate; that point is known as the radiant, and radiant for the Camelopardalids will be the constellation Camelopardalis (the giraffe).


Camelopardalis is a circumpolar constellation, which means that, rather than rising moving from east to west across the night sky, it goes around Polaris, the North Star, so it’s up all night.


It’s also easy to find because it’s close to the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, two easily recognizable constellations. From Lee County’s latitude, 26 degrees, Polaris is 26 degrees above the horizon, which is good news for area Camelopardalid watchers, said Carol Stewart, astronomer at the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium.


“In Southwest Florida, we have an advantage over Northern latitudes because the meteors will come in at us from a lower altitude,” she said. “Those are called ‘Earth-grazers,’ and they’re longer-lasting and run farther across the sky.”

Aside from clouds, a meteor watcher’s worst enemy is a bright moon, which can wash out all but the brightest meteors.

On the night of May 23, however, the moon is not present, and it doesn’t rise until 3:41 a.m. May 24; when it does rise, it will be a waning crescent, so it won’t affect the meteor shower.


Astronomers predict peak activity for the shower will be from 2 to 4 a.m. May 24, but Stewart will be looking at a wider window.


“They could start as soon as it gets dark the night of the 23rd,” she said. “I’m going to go out and check every hour. We don’t know because this is the first time, and I don’t want to miss it.”