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

80 – 63  Lihue, Kauai
78 – 68  Honolulu, Oahu
78 – 64  Molokai
83 – 69  Kahului AP, Maui
83 – 67  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.01  Wailua, Kauai
0.35  Punaluu Pump, Oahu
0.14  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.43  Kahului AP, Maui
0.07  Laupahoehoe, Big Island

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

12  Port Allen, Kauai – SW
14  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
07  Molokai – NW
16  Lanai – NNE
14  Kahoolawe – NW
17  Maalaea Bay, Maui – NNE
21  Kohala Ranch, Big Island – NNE

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
The winter storm track remains north of Hawaii…
with a cold front moving by to our north tonight

Here’s a wind profile…of the offshore waters
around the islands – with a closer view

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Hurricane 01C (Pali) not a threat to Hawaii…far southwest

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Partly cloudy…along with clear and cloudy skies locally


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Just a few showers mostly over the ocean – looping radar image


High Surf Advisory…lowering surf along the north and
west shores of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai and north shore
of Maui

Wind Advisory…Big Island summits

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Light and variable breezes…extensive volcanic haze locally. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system just to our west, now nearly stationary. At the same time there’s high pressure cells far west and east-northeast. Meanwhile, we find storm and gale low pressure systems to our northeast through northwest. We see the tail-end of a cold front offshore to the northeast of the islands, with another cold front moving by to our north. Our winds will remain light and variable in direction, continuing all week, as a high pressure ridge remains over the state. This light wind situation will keep volcanic haze (vog) over the islands…at least at times locally.

We see patches of clouds over the islands locally…along with clear areas. The overlying atmosphere remains dry and stable, as it has been for an extended period of time. Thus, the clouds that are around now, aren’t dropping any significant rainfall. Looking ahead, periodic cold fronts are expected to continue moving by just to our north, with the continued slight chance of sliding down into the state with a few showers during the week…as is common during an El Nino winter. We should get used to this extended dry pattern, with the occasional frontal passage punctuating the upcoming serious drought in the islands.

Here in Maui County…We have a mix of clouds and clear skies early Monday morning before sunrise…along with still thick volcanic haze in the air. The light kona breezes continue coming up from the southwest this morning. Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 48.2 F degrees at 535am. The temperature was 65 degrees down near sea level in Kahului, with 68 out in Hana…and 46 atop the Haleakala Crater at the same time. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe’s highest elevation was reporting 70 degrees, with 62 degrees at Lanai City, and 66 at the Molokai airport. 

– We’re into the early afternoon now, with mostly cloudy skies as far as I can see from here in Kula…although there may be sunshine elsewhere. What I can see, and have been seeing, is lots of thick volcanic haze, to the point where I’ve discontinued my walks for the time being. The temperature is 74 degrees here in Kula at 140pm, although there’s just enough of a breeze…to make it feel cooler than that. It was 79 down in Kahului at the same time, and 75 in Hana…with a cooler 54 up at the summit of the Crater. / Now at 2pm, the temperature has fallen to 72.8 degrees.

– We’re heading into the sunset hour now at 530pm, under mostly clear skies, although the volcanic haze has done nothing but get even thicker during the day! It’s one of those times when I can’t make out the West Maui Mountains…from here in Kula. The temperature here at my Kula weather tower at 545pm had dropped to 62 degrees – 58.9 at 610pm / 810pm the temperature has dropped to 52.8…heading down into the 40’s again by Tuesday morning / 835pm – 51.9

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


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> Atlantic Ocean: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

>>> Gulf of Mexico: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

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: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 North Pacific hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on May 15, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

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, 2016. During the off-season, special tropical weather outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

Out of season Hurricane 01C (Pali) remains active, located about 1345 miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. Here’s the CPHC graphical track map, along with a satellite image...and finally what the computer models are showing.

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 06P (Ula) remains active north of New Zealand…in the southwest Pacific. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and finally what the computer models are showing.


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

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


Interesting: As gas prices fall, consumers going back to less fuel efficient vehicles – There were high-fives this week from Detroit to Washington, D.C., as car makers celebrated record auto sales.

Americans bought 17.5 million cars and trucks in 2015. That’s a huge turnaround from 2009, and the Obama administration cheered the rebound as vindication of the president’s decision to rescue General Motors and Chrysler from bankruptcy.

“Because of the policy decisions that were made by this administration to place a bet on those workers, America has won, and our economy has been better for it,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday.

There’s another element of the president’s auto agenda, though, that’s not looking so good: the drive for better fuel economy. In 2011, Obama struck a deal with automakers to sharply increase their vehicles’ efficiency. The move was designed to save money for consumers. It was also a key ingredient in the president’s recipe for reducing heat-trapping carbon pollution linked to climate change.

“By the middle of the next decade, the cars and trucks we buy will go twice as far on a gallon of gas,” Obama promised in 2013. “That means you’ll have to fill up half as often; we’ll all reduce carbon pollution.”

For a while, it worked. Automakers invested in fuel-saving technology, and consumers — burned by high gasoline prices — paid greater attention to miles per gallon. The average fuel economy of new vehicles rose from 22.6 miles per gallon in late 2011 to 25.8 mpg in mid-2014. But those improvements have now stalled.

Analysts at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute say the average fuel economy of a new car sold in 2015 was lower than the year before. Last month, the average dipped below 25 miles per gallon.

What’s behind the decrease? Cheap gas.

“When gasoline is cheap, the motivation just isn’t there for consumers to pay a whole lot of attention to fuel economy,” says Brandon Schoettle, who compiles the University of Michigan figures with his colleague Michael Sivak.

As gas prices tumbled through 2015, car buyers increasingly turned to less fuel efficient trucks and SUVs. And while those models go farther on a gallon of gas than they used to, they’re no match for gas-sipping compacts.

“There’s kind of two competing forces here,” Schoettle says. “The automakers are doing what they can to improve the technology and the vehicles and make the fuel economy for these better and better each year. But on the other hand, you’ve also got the consumer behavior and what drivers want to purchase and drive around.”

Automakers aren’t likely to discourage consumers from switching, since trucks and SUVs are typically more profitable than cars. And if the trend continues, the U.S. will have a tough time meeting its climate goal of doubling fuel economy by 2025.