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

82  Lihue, Kauai
86  Honolulu, Oahu
82  Molokai
87  Kahului, Maui
85  Kailua Kona
76  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 943pm Friday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 78
Hilo, Hawaii
-69


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



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Active trade winds continuing…then becoming lighter later this
weekend into early in the new week ahead


The trade winds will bring off and on windward showers,
along with generally nice weather along our leeward
beaches – with a few generous showers locally


Small Craft Wind Advisory…over the windiest coasts and
channels
around Maui County and the Big Island


 




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


27  Port Allen, Kauai – ENE
29  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – NNE
30  Molokai – NE
29  Lanai – NE
32  Kahoolawe – NE
33  Kahului,
Maui – NE
32  Upolu airport, Big Island – NE


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Friday evening (845pm totals):


0.59  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.41  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.02  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.73  Puu Kukui, Maui
1.06  Waiakea Uka, 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 trade winds will continue in the moderately strong category…and then weaken later this weekend into the first day or two of the new week. 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 have moderately strong high pressure systems to our northwest and northeast. At the same time, the high pressure cells to our northwest are pushing a cold front…down in our direction. This trade wind episode will continue today, although as we move into the weekend, our trade winds will ease up some…remaining somewhat lighter than they have been most of this week…for several days. The aforementioned cold front won’t make it down into our latitudes, although will be part of the reason that our trade winds take a hit in strength. The models suggest that they will increase again next Tuesday or Wednesday onwards.

Satellite imagery shows some lower level clouds moving along our windward sides…along with some generally thin high clouds around too.
Looking at this larger satellite image, we see the lower level clouds spread out across the state, brought our way by a rather minor cloud band. There a few cloud patches that have gotten carried over the mountains on the smaller islands, which have brought a few light showers to our leeward sides in places too. Meanwhile, there are areas of high clouds being moved around on the upper level winds to our north and south for the most part…and across the state in places too. We can now also see this cold front approaching well to the northwest, but it’s way too late in the spring season for this frontal cloud band to reach us. Here’s a looping radar image, showing mostly light showers being carried along in our trade wind flow, impacting the islands locally.

The trade winds will become lighter by Sunday, with isolated showers…some locally quite generous. We’ll find moderately strong trade winds continuing, and then becoming lighter by the second half of the weekend. If the winds take on a more southeasterly orientation, and become lighter than expected, we’ll be feeling rather hot and muggy. At the same time, there will tend to be more than the ordinary amount of showers in the upcountry leeward areas of our islands. The overlying air mass continues to be somewhat unstable and shower prone, thus there will continue to be showers at times, which may become quite heavy in a few place…especially by Sunday and Monday. The Kona slopes on the Big Island, and the leeward slopes of the Haleakala Crater on Maui in particular may see locally generous showers falling during the afternoons. I’ll be back many times during the day with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Friday 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 56.7 degrees at 605am on this Friday morning. Skies are mostly clear overhead, although there were some low level clouds over along the windward sides now, in addition to the normal capping clouds over the West Maui Mountains.
The radar images show more than the ordinary amount of showers soon to be arriving over our windward sides, so we can expect passing showers this morning. The leeward beaches in contrast will be in great shape, with small surf breaking.

It’s now 205pm, under partly cloudy skies, light trade winds, and a warm air temperature of 81.3 degrees. There’s a bit of haze beginning to collect in the central valley, although I’m doubtful whether its origins are volcanic, nonetheless…it’s there. I see some thin high cirrus clouds up above, although its not really thick enough to filter our sunshine very much. It’s actually a really nice day, with warmth everywhere, the range being 86 in Kahului…to 76 at the same time at the Hilo airport.

We’re into our early evening now at 515pm, under partly cloudy skies, light breezes, and an air temperature of 79.7 degrees. There’s probably enough high cirrus clouds around this evening, that we may find some nice sunset colors happening. I anticipate that Saturday will unfold much like what we saw today, with nothing untoward on the horizon at this time. I’ll be heading down the mountain to Kahului soon, to grab some dinner at Whole Foods, and then slide into my seat in the theater shortly thereafter. Have a great Friday night!

Friday Evening Film: This film is getting rave reviews by both the critics, and the audience, ranging between 91-95% liking it! It just opened last Friday here on Maui, but I’m going to take a chance that enough folks have seen it, that it won’t be sold out tonight. It’s called X-Men…Days of Future Past. Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence, Anna Paquin, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, and Ellen Page…among many others. The synopsis: The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. The beloved characters from the original “X-Men” film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from the past, “X-Men: First Class,” in order to change a major historical event and fight in an epic battle that could save our future.

I’ll let you know what I thought of it on Saturday morning, until then…here’s a 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:
There are no active tropical cyclones


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 begins on June 1st…and runs through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary / Information about the 2014 hurricane season in the central Pacific Ocean.


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: How Sharks Could Help Predict Hurricanes – Scientists have embarked on a remarkable new project to use shark and large marine predators as biological sensors in the hopes that they could help us predict the formation and course of potentially dangerous hurricanes.


Researchers from the University of Miami have tagged a total of 750 marine animals in the past ten years, all to track the temperature and salinity of sea waters at different depths. Earlier this year though, the researchers noticed something special about the data — the tagged marine life gravitated toward water that was about 79 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, which is the temperature at which hurricanes form.


Hurricane strength largely depends on how much warm water it has access to. In very simple terms, the hotter the water, the stronger the storm can become.


The tagged marine life, by gravitating to these waters, can help scientists get an overview of sea temperatures as we go into hurricane season, particularly because the tagged animals (scientists are currently monitoring about 50 sharks, tuna, tarpon and billfish) all dive. That means that when they later surface and trigger the tag to relay data via satellites back to the team, the scientists receive a “vertical picture” of what sea temperatures look like.


With that vertical picture, the scientists can work out an overall figure. This is known as the Ocean Heat Content or OHC, a figure used to estimate the strength and severity of a hurricane as it forms. The more accurate that data, the better the estimate is. Given that the marine animals are on the front lines, as it were, the data they can gather is extremely valuable when the difference in a couple of degrees can predict the difference between a tropical storm and potentially dangerous hurricane.


The breadth of the area that the marine life can cover may also help scientists. “We’ve had fish move from Veracruz, Mexico, to the mouth of the Mississippi River in 30 days. Plus, they go back and forth, it’s not a straight route, you could get tens of millions of data records,” marine biologist Jerald Ault is quoted as saying.


The scientists believe that if they increase the number of tags, they could potentially generate millions of data points, and with that data finesse a system that could monitor storms as they form and the paths they take with a detail that until now has been impossible.