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

81  Lihue, Kauai
86  Honolulu, Oahu
80  Molokai
86  Kahului, Maui
85  Kailua Kona
82  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 Thursday evening:

 

Honolulu, Oahu – 78
Hilo, Hawaii – 70


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

 

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1b/96/83/1b9683674f56eb586843024dc70bf0ec.jpg
Spouting Horn…Kauai

Active trade winds this week into next week…
locally strong and gusty

A few windward showers arriving in an off and
on manner

Variable high cirrus clouds…muting our daytime
sunshine – locally nice sunset and sunrise colors

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




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

27  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
37  Kii, Oahu – ESE
31  Molokai – NE
38  Lanai – NE
35  Kahoolawe – NE
31  Kahului, Maui – NE
35 Pali 2, Big Island – NE


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

0.96  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.27  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.03  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.15  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.50  Glenwood, 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 continuing well into the future. 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 a moderately strong high pressure system located far to our northeast…with its associated ridge extending southwest to the north of the state. There’s a second high pressure cell to the north, although appears to be dissipating at the time of this writing. At the same time, we have a small trough of low pressure located north-northwest of Kauai. Our winds will remain the common late spring trades, with only small daily variations in speed and direction…well into the future.

Satellite imagery shows a few lower level clouds over our area…along with high and middle level clouds. Looking at this larger satellite image, we see a large area of high and middle level clouds being moved along on the upper level winds to our southwest and west. At the same time, we find a counterclockwise rotating upper level low pressure system to the northwest. Some of these high and middle level clouds continue to move over the state, filtering our sunshine during the days. Here’s a looping radar image, showing mostly light to moderately heavy showers being carried along in our trade wind flow, impacting the windward sides here and there…which typically increase some during the cooler night and early morning hours.

We’re involved in a classic, late spring trade wind weather pattern…with no obvious interruptions on the horizon. The windward sides, as the trade winds remain somewhat stronger than usual, will bring showers our way in an off and on manner. Our weather will follow climatology quite closely through the next week at least, which means the trade winds will be our dominant feature…along with those passing windward biased showers. I’ll be back again early Friday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise, I hope you have a great Thursday 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 57.2 degrees at 550am on this Thursday morning. Skies are mostly clear overhead, although there are the usual lower level cumulus clouds riding the trades along our windward sides. There’s some generally thin high cirrus clouds around the edges, although it has backed off quite a bit from last evening. Trade winds, trade winds, and more trade winds…with no end in sight.

It’s now 1225pm under partly to mostly cloudy skies, light breezes, no rain…and an air temperature of 78.3 degrees. The high cirrus clouds are taking the edge off the nice sunny weather we’ve been having lately, although there is still quite a bit of muted sunshine around, especially down along our beaches. There’s a chance that we could see a nice sunset this evening, time will tell.

We’re now into the early evening hours at 6pm, under partly to mostly cloudy skies, with near calm winds…and an air temperature of 71.4 degrees. We’ve had a couple of very light and brief showers here in upper Kula, hardly amounting to anything however. Otherwise, it was a nice day, and there’s still that chance we could see some nice color at sunset. It’s one of those times, that it’s pretty easy to say: if you liked today, you’re going to be liking Friday as well…and quite probably Saturday and Sunday too. Update at 815pm, partly cloudy, drizzle, calm…with an air temperature of 67.1 degrees.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

 

Satellite imagery and surface observations indicate that the area of low pressure
about 40 miles east of Veracruz, Mexico, has become a little better defined this
morning as it moves slowly west-northwestward. However, the associated thunderstorm
activity is currently poorly organized. A tropical depression could form before the
low reaches the coast of eastern Mexico later today or tonight. An Air Force Reserve
reconnaissance aircraft is scheduled to investigate this system this afternoon. Whether
a tropical depression forms or not, this disturbance could produce heavy rains,
along with life-threatening flash floods and mud slides, over portions of southeastern
and eastern Mexico during the next few days.


* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…70 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…70 percent.

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: No tropical cyclones are expected through the next 5 days


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: No tropical cyclones are expected through Sunday morning


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: Climate change and nutrition – Researchers now say in a revealing Nature paper that the most significant health threat from climate change has started to happen.


Crops that provide a large share of the global population with most of their dietary zinc and iron will have significantly reduced concentrations of those nutrients at the elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 anticipated by around 2050, according to research by Israeli scientists published in Nature this month.


Given that an estimated two billion people suffer from zinc and iron deficiencies, resulting in a loss of 63 million life years annually from malnutrition, the reduction in these nutrients represents the most significant health threat ever shown to be associated with climate change, they report.


Humanity is conducting a global experiment by rapidly altering the environmental conditions on the only habitable planet we know. As this experiment unfolds, there will undoubtedly be many surprises. Finding out that rising CO2 threatens human nutrition is one such surprise.