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

84 – 71  Lihue, Kauai
79 – 74  Honolulu, Oahu
77 – 73  Molokai AP
82 – 76  Kahului, Maui
86 – 70  Kailua Kona
88 – 65  Hilo, Hawaii

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

3.25  Waialae, Kauai
2.68  Makaha Stream, Oahu
1.10  Molokai
0.53  Lanai
0.78  Kahoolawe
10.24  Kaupo Gap, Maui!
1.09  Kahua Ranch, Big Island


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


28  Port Allen, Kauai – NW
30  Kii, Oahu – W
25  Molokai – SW
21  Lanai – NW
27  Kahoolawe – W
24  Maalaea Bay, Maui – SW
30  Nene Cabin, Big Island – NW


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
A large area of clouds over the ocean to the northeast and northwest of Hawaii,
with a large isolated thunderstorm cell south of the state…along with a cold
front near the Big Island

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
The leading edge of a cold front has moved cross the the Big Island…heading
out into open ocean – with dry and stable low clouds approaching to the north


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Clouds and showers essentially gone…in the wake of the cold front



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~


Wind Advisory…over the Big Island summits – 30-45 mph
with gusts to 60 mph from the west

Small Craft Advisory…for winds and seas – windiest coasts
and channels

High Surf Advisory…for the Waianae coast on Oahu  –
High Surf Warning…north and west shores of Kauai,
and north shores of Oahu, Molokai and Maui


 >>>Happy Valentines Day!<<<



The recent strong to very strong and gusty kona winds, are easing up…beginning to come in from the northwest to north Sunday. 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 of Hawaii, with an associated ridge of high pressure over the ocean to the south of the Big Island. At the same time, we have two low pressure systems to the north. These low pressure centers both have associated cold fronts, one of which is extending southward through the Hawaiian Islands. Locally very strong and gusty kona winds are blowing out ahead of this cold front. The air coming into the state in the wake of this cold front will turn drier and cooler from the northwest and north Sunday and Monday. It looks like our winds will be quite light through mid-week…with the potential for hazy weather at times locally.

The leading edge of a cold front is moving out over the ocean…to the east and southeast of the Big Island. Here’s the looping radar image showing rapid clearing in the wake of the frontal passage (fropa). This thin cloud band held up well, as it moved across the Big Island. The front brought rainfall, with a few brief heavier downpours locally. Our weather will turn drier, with light and variable winds, and possibly hazy conditions through the first half of the new week. Some of the computer models are still showing another cold front arriving around next Friday into Saturday…stay tuned. I’ll be back with more information on all of the above, I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here in Kula, Maui: It looks quite cloudy here on Maui, although still too dark to know for sure. The winds are strong and gusty here in Kula, followed by brief lighter wind periods…back and forth. The looping radar image above shows an area of showers continuing to move up over the central islands, including Maui County…on the gusty kona winds. Kona winds come up from the southwest direction, and bring warm and moist air from the deeper tropics.  The air temperature near its minimal reading was 61 degrees here at my Kula weather tower. At the same time, it was 75 degrees down at the Kahului airport near the ocean…with 41 degrees atop the Haleakala Crater. The summit of the Big Island was a colder 27.3 degrees atop Mauna Kea. The warmest temperature around the state at the same time was a balmy 77 degrees at the Honolulu AP. ~~~ And by the way, I sent my Mom a nice box of Godiva Truffles for this special day. She just called and told me she thought they were lovely, although would restrict herself to eating only one per day if she could help herself. Happy Valentines to my Mom…and all you other great ladies out there!

~~~ It’s now around 215pm Saturday afternoon here in Kula, with big gusts of wind at times, light to moderately heavy rains, and an air temperature of 66.9 degrees. Looking at the radar image, I see that very heavy rain has reached both Lanai and Molokai, and is moving directly towards Maui! The NWS just issued a flood advisory for Maui, for a thin but intense line of heavy showers…that will be moving through over the next hour or so.

~~~ It’s now early evening, and the cold front zipped through my area this afternoon, and is now already crossing the Alenuihaha Channel towards the Big Island. We had heavy rains, and very gusty winds earlier, although both of those weather elements appear to be through with us now. The winds are actually quite light now, with just a light shower left behind at the moment. The air temperature is 64.2 degrees, and we had a little over 2.00″ of rain from this front. I’m heading up to some friends hot tub now, to enjoy being out in the weather, but soaking in nice hot water at the same time! A bit later, after the hot tub, it’s dark and foggy here in Kula, with light drizzle still falling. By the way, while I was in the hot tub, I was being very still in the hot water, with light rain falling, and still gusty winds blowing…when a pheasant, not knowing I was there…walked by very close, it was a special few moments!


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: 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: 19,500 square miles of polar ice melts into oceans each year – Sea ice increases in Antarctica do not make up for the accelerated Arctic sea ice loss of the last three decades, according to the stark findings of a new NASA study.


As a whole, the planet has been shedding sea ice at an average annual rate of 13,500 square miles since 1979, the equivalent of losing an area of sea ice larger than the state of Maryland every year.


However, the rate of sea ice loss has recently doubled to now reach an alarming rate of nearly 20,000 square miles.


“Even though Antarctic sea ice reached a new record maximum this past September, global sea ice is still decreasing,” said Claire Parkinson, author of the study and climate scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “That’s because the decreases in Arctic sea ice far exceed the increases in Antarctic sea ice.”


Parkinson used microwave data collected by NASA and Department of Defense satellites for her study, which was published last December in the Journal of Climate. She added Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extents month by month from November 1978 to December 2013 to determine the global ice extent for each month.


Her analysis shows that over the 35-year period, the trend in ice extents was downward in all months of the year, even those corresponding to the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice maximum extents.


Furthermore, the global ice decrease has accelerated: in the first half of the record (1979-96), the sea ice loss was about 8,300 square miles per year. This rate more than doubled for the second half of the period (1996 to 2013), when there was an average loss of 19,500 square miles per year – an average yearly loss larger than the states of Vermont and New Hampshire combined.


“This doesn’t mean the sea ice loss will continue to accelerate,” Parkinson said. “After all, there are limits. For instance, once all the Arctic ice is gone in the summer, the Arctic summertime ice loss can’t accelerate any further.”


Sea ice has diminished in almost all regions of the Arctic, whereas the sea ice increases in the Antarctic are less widespread geographically. Although the sea ice cover expanded in most of the Southern Ocean between 1979 and 2013, it decreased substantially in the Bellingshausen and Amundsen seas. These two seas are close to the Antarctic Peninsula, a region that has warmed significantly over the last decades.