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

79 – 69  Lihue, Kauai
79 – 70  Honolulu, Oahu
78 – 68  Molokai AP
73 – 70  Kahului, Maui
82 – 70  Kailua Kona
79 – 67  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.86  Mount Waiaeale, Kauai
1.41  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.37  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.04  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.60  Kahakuloa, Maui
0.81  Kawainui Stream, Big Island


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


28  Port Allen, Kauai
18  Bellows, Oahu
21  Molokai
29  Lanai
24  Kahoolawe
22  Kahului AP, Maui
30  Kealakomo, 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://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg


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


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


Our trade winds will remain active, although become lighter
this weekend, with considerable high and middle level clouds
arriving from the west, along with off and on generally light
passing showers along the windward sides…which may
increase some Friday

The computer models are pointing towards localized afternoon
upcountry showers, with lighter winds, and some vog early next
week for a few days…until the trade winds return, and their
usual windward showers arrive around Wednesday onwards

High Surf Advisory…east shores of the main Hawaiian Islands

Wind Advisory…Big Island summits – 35-50 mph with gusts to 60+

December Full Moon early Saturday morning



 



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~







The trade winds will continue to be active through the end of the week…although becoming lighter 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 profiler of the central Pacific. We find a rather weak high pressure system in the area east of our islands…with a ridge extending westward near our islands. Then there’s a more moderately strong high pressure system far to the northwest…which continues to move in our direction. At the same time, we have low pressure systems to the northeast, north and west of the state. The trade winds will continue to pass over the islands…although continue to lose strength as we push into the weekend. These gradually lighter trade winds will then get much softer and veer to the southeast through southwest early next week…for a couple of days. The trade winds should bounce back around the middle of next week onwards. 
 
There are some low level clouds, although with fewer showers arriving from the east…with an extensive area of high and middle level clouds continuing to push over us from the west.  Here’s the looping radar image showing hardly any showers falling over the nearby ocean, or impacting our windward sides…at least at the time of this writing. The air coming in from the east now, on the trade wind flow, is drier than it has been. There’s a large area of high and middle level clouds surrounding the state, which will remain over our area for several more days, dimming and filtering our Hawaiian sunshine…keeping partly to mostly cloudy skies in place. In sum: continued trade winds, more than the normal amount of clouds, off and on passing windward showers…which may increase Friday, with fewer showers along our leeward sides. I’ll be back with updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:



>>> Atlantic Ocean: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.



Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean 

>>> Caribbean Sea: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.



>>> Gulf of Mexico:  The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.





Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico. 



>>> Eastern Pacific: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 North Pacific hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on May 15, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.



Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.



Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) 



>>> Central Pacific:  The central north Pacific hurricane season has officially ended. Routine issuance of the tropical weather outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, special tropical weather outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.





Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)



>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: Typhoon 22W (Hagupit) remains active, moving through the Philippine Sea towards the Philippine Islands. Here’s a JTWC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image. 



  >>> 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:  Do you know what makes an organic apple different from one that is not labeled organic? – Now that the organic marketing concept has been around for a few generations, you’d think it would be easier to win consumers over. According to a recent survey by BFG Consulting it is. With the plethora of stores that now handle everything from organic bananas to pesticide-free, organically made canned food, today’s shoppers have little problem tracking down that “back-to-basics” version in or around the produce isle.





 The only thing is, do they really know what it is? Would they be able to explain what it is that makes it stand out from regularly grown food? According to BFG’s research, not necessarily.



Only 20 percent of the consumers who participated in the survey could accurately tell researchers the fairly stringent requirements that define the organic food market, even though almost 70 percent of those who were surveyed said they bought organic products.



It’s an interesting statistic, considering the fact that according to the USDA, organic purchases now represent 4 percent of food sales in the U.S. — and is continuing to grow. Even more interesting is that a significant portion (93 percent) of those sales occur in supermarkets and natural food venues, where there’s often plenty of dialogue about what makes organic food special. Another 7 percent of purchases occur at farmers’ markets and locations where organic food is often sought out.