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

87 – 75  Lihue, Kauai
89 – 79  Honolulu, Oahu
87 – 73  Molokai
90 – 73  Kahului AP, Maui – the record Thursday…was 93 back in 1984
91 – 79  Kailua Kona
90 – 75  Hilo, Hawaii – tied the record Thursday…back in 1992

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

0.77  N Wailua Ditch, Kauai
0.41  Dillingham, Oahu
1.72  Kaunakakai Mauka, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.02  Kahoolawe
0.38  Haiku, Maui
1.50  Kahuku Ranch, Big Island

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

12  Makaha Ridge, Kauai – SE
18  Kuaokala, Oahu – SE
13  Molokai – SE
15  Lanai – SSW
23  Kahoolawe – SE
21  Maalaea Bay, Maui – NW
25  Upolu AP, Big Island – NE

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://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
Former tropical cyclone Jimena to the north of Kauai

Here’s a wind profile…of the area around the islands

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Former tropical cyclone Jimena is a swirl of low clouds…
with a dynamic area of thunderstorms east of the center

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Heavy showers falling over the islands locally


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
There are showers in our area…a few are heavy
looping radar image

Flash Flood Watch…Kauai through Oahu and Maui
County – through Saturday afternoon

Flood Advisory…most of Oahu – until 6am

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Light and variable breezes will continue through the rest of the week…with trade winds returning early next week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a wind profiler of the central Pacific. We find a large, moderately strong high pressure system far to the northeast of the state. At the same time we see former tropical cyclone Jimena offshore to the north of Kauai. Our winds will remain light, as former Jimena’s presence continues to interrupt our trade wind flow. This in turn will keep sultry conditions in place through the rest of the week. We’ll see a general drift of southeast to southwesterly air across the state, which means we’ll see volcanic haze in our skies locally at times. It may take until next Monday or so…before we get back into a more classic, late summer trade wind weather pattern.

Showers will arrive in a hit and miss fashion…increasing Friday into Saturday from Kauai to Maui County. The atmosphere will turn much more shower prone soon, as the moisture in the wake of former Jimena moves over the state, coupled with an approaching area of low pressure aloft…bringing wet conditions our way into the weekend. There’s a chance for an occasional thunderstorm, along with possible flooding at times locally during the next couple of days. This wet weather episode will require extra care while driving, and just in general, when you find yourself in one or more of these downpours! When the trade winds return early next week, we’ll likely see some windward biased showers finally returning…with fine weather along our leeward beaches. The latest models suggest we may see another slug of moisture approaching the state starting around the middle of next week…for a few days.

Here on Maui…It’s 6am Thursday morning and mostly clear to cloudy skies. The clear skies happen to be over the north side of the island, with clouds over the south and west sides. Clouds will increase during the day, with showers arriving at times, mostly in the upcountry areas this afternoon…although not exclusively. / Now at 1010am, I can start to see volcanic haze moving over us now. At the same time, the clouds are getting thicker and darker, at least over the mountains.

– We’re into the early afternoon now, with thick volcanic haze (vog) over all of Maui County!  The clouds are increasing, although nothing has fallen here at my place in Kula. / Just back from my early afternoon walk, at 110pm, and I got showered on, not soaking, but walking in the light rain nonetheless…enjoyable on such a muggy day as this. It’s coming down a little harder now, and by the looks of things, it won’t be long before the eaves are dripping steadily. By the way, it’s starting to getting foggy too.

–  It’s 510pm, lightly showering, cloudy…although the main thing is how voggy it is! It’s been a rather strange day, lots of clouds, haze, although not a lot of rainfall. We’ve seen just light off and on showers up here in Kula, it doesn’t look like much as fallen elsewhere, although I don’t know that for sure.

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> Atlantic Ocean:

Tropical Storm 08L (Henri) remains active over the Atlantic Ocean, with sustained winds of 40 mph…and is located about 680 miles south-southwest of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Here’s the NHC graphical track map, and a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing.

1.)  A large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms near the northern Leeward Islands is associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Grace. Upper-level winds are not expected to be favorable for redevelopment of this system during the next several days. However, heavy rain and gusty winds are possible across portions of the northern Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico for the next couple of days while the wave moves westward at 15 to 20 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…near 0 percent

2.)  A tropical wave located just offshore the west coast of Africa is producing disorganized shower activity. Some gradual development of this wave is possible by early next week while it moves generally westward across the tropical Atlantic at about 15 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…medium…40 percent

3.)  A small low pressure system located about 900 miles southwest of the Azores is producing some showers and thunderstorms. Development, if any, of this low is expected to be slow to occur while it moves westward to west-northwestward at about 10 mph over the next several days.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent

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

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:  There are no active tropical cyclones

1.)   Cloudiness and showers associated with a broad area of low pressure located several hundred miles south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec are disorganized. Any development of this system is expected to be slow to occur while it moves west-northwestward at around 10 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent

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: There are no active tropical cyclones

1.)   A weakening area of low pressure, former tropical depression Jimena, is centered about 350 miles northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. An associated area of showers and thunderstorms is located east of the center, and strong upper level winds will continue to inhibit any redevelopment of this system over the next couple of days as it moves toward the west and northwest.

* Formation chance through 48 hours, low…near 0 percent

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Tropical Storm 03C (Kilo) is dissipating in the western Pacific, with sustained winds of 52 mph, and is located about 309 NM east-southeast of Misawa AB, Japan. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, and a satellite image. Here’s what the computer models are showing – Final Warning

>>> 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:  Is the fate of the polar bear really doomed? – With global warming and melting ice, it isn’t easy being a polar bear anymore. Some studies have predicted that polar bears could very well be extinct by the end of the century. The good news is not all researchers think the bears are absolutely doomed. Scientists at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) have published a new paper indicating that things might not be as bleak for polar bears as their peers expect.

To understand the reason for the researchers’ cautious optimism, we must first understand the factors that are threatening the polar bear’s existence. Polar bears consume a diet of mainly young seals. In order to hunt these seals, polar bears need to rest atop sea ice – the same ice that is increasingly melting for most of the year thanks to climate change. In another 50 years, experts expect that the Arctic will be too warm for sea ice to form for half of the year, leaving polar bears without a reliable food source and in serious danger of starvation.

As it turns out, alternative food sources for the polar bears aren’t completely out of the question. For as long as biologists have tracked the animals, they’ve recorded instances of polar bears eating animals found on land like caribou and snow geese – as well as the snow geese’s eggs. “Polar bears are opportunists,” stated Robert Rockwell, a researcher with AMNH.

Can polar bears actually survive off these alternative food sources for long periods of time? To figure this out, researchers calculated the nutrients that a caribou and snow geese diet would provide. They found that even adult male polar bears would be able to obtain more calories than they would burn in hunting these meals. Moreover, the food would provide the sustenance necessary to avoid starvation during the summer months.

Unfortunately, not all polar bears have demonstrated a tendency to seek prey on land. That said, the researchers expect that necessity would push more polar bears to hunt on land to avoid starvation. They also expect that the bears could learn from their fellow bears how to hunt on land until the practice becomes second nature.

As it stands, the AMNH scientists aren’t willing to make any promises about the future of the creature. Since we have yet to see polar bears eat caribou on a large scale, the researchers can’t project whether the bears will make the necessary adaptations on their own accord. Given what we do know about polar bears’ potential for adaptability, though, it seems premature to count them out.

Since news of global warming became mainstream, polar bears have become one of the mascots of the environmental movement. Anyone who thinks the well-being of polar bears is the only compelling reason to combat climate change isn’t paying attention, though. Besides, the researchers themselves have pointed out that slowing the effects of climate change could be critical to the polar bear’s survival anyway. The more we can delay the melting of Arctic ice, the longer bears will have to learn how to subsist of land creatures.

The polar bear’s future may be uncertain, but for the animal lovers among us, it’s good to have some optimistic news about the creature’s prospects. It’s a shame that it’s taking so long for humans to get their act together when it comes to the environment, but if polar bears can find a way to withstand our carelessness, more power to them!