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

81 – 67  Lihue, Kauai
82 – 71  Honolulu, Oahu
8068  Molokai AP
79 – 72  Kahului, Maui
83 – 71  Kailua Kona
8465  Hilo, Hawaii

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


1.68  Kokee, Kauai
0.83  Makaha Stream, Oahu
0.40  Molokai
0.11  Lanai
0.28  Kahoolawe
2.12  Ulupalakua, Maui
1.39  Kawainui Stream, Big Island


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


30  Port Allen, Kauai – NW
30  Waianae Harbor, Oahu – NW
17  Molokai – NW
25  Lanai – NW
27  Kahoolawe – WSW
17  Maalaea Bay, Maui – SW

31  South Point, Big Island – SW


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
Drier and somewhat cooler air will be coming into the state…
in the wake of the cold front


http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
A fragmenting cold front is over the eastern islands…
although clearing is occurring from the west


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

Most of the showers are over the ocean…offshore from the eastern islands



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative
~~~



High Wind Warning
…Big Island Summits – west winds 40-65 mph
with gusts over 100

Small Craft Advisory…
for winds and rough seas – statewide

Gale Warning…Hawaiian Offshore waters

High Surf Warning…along most north and west facing shores /
High Surf Advisory…west shore of the Big Island


Winds gradually turning lighter from the west to northwest…in the wake of a cold front.
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 high pressure systems far to the northeast and northwest of Hawaii, with associated ridges of high pressure offshore to the west and east. At the same time, we have a low pressure system to the north, with an associated cold front moving into the area southeast of the Big Island.
 Gradually lighter winds will come in from the west to northwest in the wake of this cold front Wednesday and Thursday. As we get into later Friday, strong and gusty kona winds will develop again ahead of yet another cold front…arriving during the weekend.

An active Pacific cold front migrate into the area offshore to the east and southeast of the state. Here’s the looping radar image showing leftover showers from a dissipating cold front slowly leaving the eastern islands. Kauai, Oahu and Maui County has had this frontal cloud band move by, with improving weather expected in its wake into Wednesday. The outlook includes somewhat drier weather for the state through the middle part of the week. Looking further ahead, the models continue suggesting that yet another wet cold front will arrive during the upcoming weekend. I’ll be back with more information on all of the above, I hope you have a great Tuesday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here in Kula, Maui: The main weather element early this Tuesday morning is the advancing cold front, with its localized gusty kona winds and showers. It’s cloudy here on Maui, although here in Kula, it hadn’t started to rain yet..although now at 715am it’s started to come down. The air temperature near its minimal reading was 58 degrees here in Kula.
At the same time, it was a warmer 74 degrees down at the Kahului airport near the ocean…with 39 degrees atop the Haleakala Crater. The summit of the Big Island was an even colder 23.7 degrees atop Mauna Kea.

~~~ We’re into the early afternoon hours now at 1220pm, under clouds and thick fog, moderate breezes…and generally light showers and mist. It’s not all that cool despite the fog, breezes and drizzle, with an air temperature of 67.5 degrees. It’s been wet, is wet, although we should see a change over the next several days. Once we get this cold front through the state, drier weather will arrive, with just a few showers…although nothing like what we’ve been having. 

~~~ It’s now early evening before sunset, with still foggy skies, and passing mist and drizzle, like it’s been all day. The one change that has occurred in the last few hours, is that the air temperature has take quite a fall. It’s now 540pm, with the temperature at 59 degrees.


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 02W (Higos) remains active well to the east of Guam in the western Pacific, here’s the 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:  The Yukon Quest International Sled Dog race and climate change – For more than 30 years, the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog race, which begins Saturday, has followed the Yukon River between Whitehorse, Canada, and Fairbanks, Alaska.


A little open water along the Yukon Quest trail is nothing new, but in recent years, long unfrozen stretches of the Yukon River have shaken even the toughest mushers.


Last year, musher Hank DeBruin of Ontario had stopped along the Yukon River to rest his dog team in the middle of the night, when the ice started to break up.


“I was sleeping in my sled bag and I heard a roar, sounded like freight train,” DeBruin says. “So I threw all my stuff in the sled bag, pulled my dogs and my sled up the bank a bit and turned around, and there was wide-open water where the sled was sitting five minutes earlier.”


Stories like DeBruin’s have become more common, raising concerns about the impact of climate change on Alaska’s state sport.


Mushers have plenty of anecdotal evidence of warming temperatures and the impact on their sport. Cody Strathe of Fairbanks says warmer temperatures and dwindling snow have changed how he trains his dog team.


“Normally dogs like to run at colder temperatures, usually like below zero,” Strathe says. “So we try to run more at night so they have those nice cold temperatures, which they tend to like more with their nice big fur coats.”


Dog teams need snacks during the race, so Strathe and other mushers cut up frozen chunks of meat and tripe. Eventually all that meat gets packed into drop bags and sent out to checkpoints along the trail.


“If it’s really warm out, our meat can thaw and spoil, and then that is bad for the dogs,” he says. “They can get sick or have nothing to eat, so we have to package our food in ways so it can stay cold longer.”


Strathe insulates his bags with bubble wrap to help keep them frozen. Other mushers add blocks of ice or even snow. Mushers are also packing gear for a wider variety of trail conditions. In recent years, they’ve carried rubber boots and chest waders in anticipation of open water. They’ve also packed raincoats for themselves and their dogs.


National Weather Service Climatologist Rick Thoman says a day will come when climate change delivers a more serious blow.


“We will reach a point where this starts to affect the ability to have these races,” Thoman says. “Whether this is in five years or 50 years or 100 years is an open question.”


That open question looms large for Alaska’s state sport and the economy surrounding it. Unseasonably warm winter weather has slowed other dog races. Paige Drobny, a musher for eight years who will drive a dog team in the 1,000-mile Iditarod in March, says she’s not sure how long her racing career will last.


“With the weather that we’re having, if we don’t get winters here soon, I think that there’s going to be no choice but for the sport to die out, if we don’t get some snow in the state,” Drobny says.


Drobny says she and her husband spend upwards of $70,000 a year to raise and maintain their dogs. The potential loss of mushing both as a sport and a draw for tourists could have a big economic impact in Alaska.


This year, Yukon Quest officials considered moving the start line of the race because of open water and thin ice on rivers near Whitehorse. A last-minute drop in temperature and a snowstorm gave race personnel a reprieve.


Mushers are hoping for a smooth run, but their sleds are still packed with extra gear, just in case.