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

79 – 65  Lihue, Kauai
81 – 65  Honolulu, Oahu
79 57  Molokai AP
84 – 60  Kahului, Maui
82 – 76  Kailua Kona
84 – 65  Hilo, Hawaii

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


0.02  Lihue, Kauai
0.01  Waianae Valley, Oahu
0.03  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.01  Hana AP, Maui
0.05  Laupahoehoe, Big Island


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


12  Waimea Heights, Kauai – SW
15  Kahuku Trng, Oahu – NW
18  Molokai – ESE
12  Lanai – NNE
27  Kahoolawe – NE
15  Hana, Maui – SE

20  South Point, Big Island – NE


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.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
Clear to partly cloudy across the state…with
two cold fronts offshore to the
northwest


http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Patches of low clouds…mostly over the offshore waters,
although over the coasts and mountains in places too


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

A few showers…although mostly dry weather
for the time being



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative
~~~


High Surf Warning
…north and west shores of Kauai,
Oahu, Molokai, and north shore of Maui, west
shores of the Big Island

High Surf Advisory…west shores of Maui, Lanai and
Kahoolawe, and for south shores of Oahu

Small Craft Advisory…for all waters except Maalaea Bay


Generally light winds…then increasing south to southwest kona winds Thursday into Friday.
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 high pressure system far to the northeast, with a ridge stretched back over the islands. At the same time, we have low pressure systems far to the north and northwest, with two cold fronts to the northwest of the state.
The volcanic haze (vog) is taking a short break across our area now, although there is a bit around in places. Thereafter, a cold front will approach the state, bringing gusty southwest kona winds later Thursday into Saturday. This cold front will usher in a brief period of north to northeasterly winds in its wake, followed by stronger trade winds through the middle of next week.

Rainfall will be sparse for the time being, with just a few showers here and there, followed by increasing showers Thursday night into Saturday…first on Kauai and Oahu. Here’s the looping radar image showing very few showers across our area…mostly over the ocean at this time. Generally dry pleasant weather conditions should prevail through most of Thursday. There will be clear to partly cloudy mornings, giving way to cloudy conditions along the slopes during the afternoons. These upcountry clouds won’t be doing much shower producing however. The first cold front to our northwest has stalled before arriving. Pre-frontal showers from a second cold front will arrive late Thursday into Friday morning along our leeward sides of Kauai and Oahu, brought by strengthening southwest kona winds. This front is anticipated to arrive later Friday into Saturday, bringing an area of showers with it, most notably over Kauai and Oahu. It will weaken as it slides down through the rest of the state, bringing fewer showers into Sunday morning. The trade winds behind the front may bring showers to our windward sides into early next week…especially over the Big Island and Maui.

Very large surf will pound our north and west facing shores…and locally our south shores too! This west-northwest swell will be the largest surf that we’ve experienced this winter surf season thus far. The more westerly aspect of this swell will cause shadowing in places…while other areas will be more exposed, such as the west facing shores of the Big Island. Some south facing shores may also experience some swell exposure. This swell is expected to peak into Thursday morning…before diminishing slowly during the day Thursday. A reinforcement to the swell is expected late Friday into Sunday, then surf will subside into next Monday. Tides will be running on the high side during this time, so run-up along our beaches may be higher than normal. Please be very careful when getting near the ocean in these areas! I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Wednesday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here in Kula, Maui: It looks clear here on Maui again this morning, although its still too dark to see exactly what kind of clouds exist at the time of this writing. The air temperature near its minimal reading, was 46.9 degrees, while at the same time down near the ocean in Kahului…it was a warmer 62 degrees. ~~~ We’ll here it is late in the afternoon, under cloudy skies up here on the slopes, with what looks like sunny conditions down at the beaches. It’s been cloudy here for the better part of the afternoon, with a current air temperature of 70 degrees. Besides seeing a little haze down below, I can see large surf breaking on the north shore. This large swell is bringing large to very large waves to most beaches today, except Maalaea Bay…and the east facing beaches – be careful! ~~~ It’s near 6pm, and its partly cloudy, although with cloudy areas over the mountains…and clear skies hanging in over the beaches. The volcanic haze is back with us, although its not too thick yet. I expect these clouds to evaporate tonight, with yet another chilly early morning on Thursday.


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:
There are no active tropical cyclones


>>> South Pacific Ocean: Tropical cyclone 07P (Niko) remains active, here’s the JTWC graphical track map for this strengthening tropical storm. Here’s the NOAA satellite image of this system…to the east of Bora Bora.

>>> North and South Indian Oceans:
There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)

 

Interesting: Global wheat yields threatened by warming with serious consequences Just one degree of global warming could cut wheat yields by 42 million tons worldwide, around 6% of the crop – causing devastating shortages of this staple food.


Market shortages would cause price rises. Many developing countries, and the hungry poor within them, would not be able to afford wheat or bread.


Climate change threatens dramatic price fluctuations in the price of wheat and potential civil unrest because yields of one of the world’s most important staple foods are badly affected by temperature rise.


An international consortium of scientists have been testing wheat crops in laboratory and field trials in many areas of the world in changing climate conditions and discovered that yields drop on average by 6% for every one degree Celsius rise in temperature.


This represents 42 million tons of wheat lost – about a quarter of the current global wheat trade – for every degree. This would create serious shortages and cause price hikes of the kind that have previously caused food riots in developing countries after only one bad harvest.