Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Tuesday:
Lihue, Kauai - 80
Honolulu airport, Oahu - 82 (record high for the date – 87 – 1977)
Kaneohe, Oahu - 78
Molokai airport - 79
Kahului airport, Maui - 78
Kona airport – 78
Hilo airport, Hawaii - 74
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 5am Wednesday morning:
Lihue, Kauai - 73
Kahului, Maui - 60
Haleakala Crater - 37 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea – 27 (near 13,800 feet on the Big Island)
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. Here's the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui.
Aloha Paragraphs
Trade winds…still locally strong and gusty – showers
on the windward sides at times…occasionally elsewhere -
winter weather conditions atop Big Island summits -
best weather along the leeward beaches – showery
weather windward sections this weekend
As this weather map shows, we have a large near 1037 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of the islands. This high has a long ridge that extends southwest from its center. Our winds will gradually relax in strength as a cold front approaches from the northwest.
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph), along with directions Wednesday morning:
16 Lihue, Kauai – NE
24 Bellows, Oahu – NE
08 Molokai – NE
38 Kahoolawe – ENE
30 Lipoa, Maui – ESE
00 Lanai
32 Upolu Point, Big Island – NE
We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Wednesday morning. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see a large area of high and middle level clouds over the Big Island and to the south and southeast from there. We can use this looping satellite image to see those brighter white clouds to the southeast, associated with an upper level low pressure system…with some embedded thunderstorms, and another large area of clouds to the northwest…associated with an approaching cold front. At the same time we see lower level clouds being carried our way by the lower level southeast to easterly wind flow. Checking out this looping radar image we see light to moderate showers being carried along to the south of the islands…although into the island chain in places too.
Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Wednesday morning:
3.20 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.12 Kahana, Oahu
0.03 Molokai
0.00 Kahoolawe
1.94 Kaupo Gap, Maui
4.86 Saddle Quarry, Big Island
Sunrise Commentary: Our trade winds will remain blustery, at least locally today. The forecast continues to suggest that these trade winds will ease up some, shifting to the east-southeast and southeast Thursday and Friday…in response to an approaching cold front. The computer models have been all over the map the last several days, suggesting kona winds with a cold front for the weekend…and are now back to trade winds with lots of windward biased showers. It's a tough call trying to sort all of this out, lets give ourselves one more day, nonetheless…potentially wetter weather for Saturday and Sunday still seems likely.
Meanwhile, the gusty trades, which are now somewhat south of east, are bringing windward biased showers our way at times. We continue to find a cold pool of air aloft not far to the south of the Big Island, associated with an upper level low pressure system. Its presence is helping to keep our atmosphere destabilized and more shower prone than usual…especially around the Big Island. The chance for more than the normal amount of windward biased showers will continue for the time being, and then dry out temporarily Thursday and Friday.
Here in Kula, Maui at 610am HST, we had calm winds, with a cool air temperature of 49.6F degrees. As noted above, the trade winds will remain active now…with still those rather strong and gusty conditions here and there. There will be enough blocking of these winds by the Big Island however, that there should be lighter winds on the smaller islands Thursday and Friday. We'll see periodic showers, as we have an upper level low pressure system near the state now, with the heaviest of these impacting the Big Island side of the chain. In sum, gusty trade winds, with off and on passing showers…with the gradually relaxing wind speeds. There remains that good chance of the weekend turning locally wet again.
This satellite image shows that there are lots of clouds to our south, some of them are packing locally heavy showers and even thunderstorms to the south of the Big Island. Meanwhile, this radar image shows where our showery weather is occurring, most of which continues to be taking aim on the Big Island side of the chain. The air aloft over the state is colder than normal over that way, which will likely cause more snow to fall atop the summits on the Big Island at times today, here's the webcam for the Mauna Kea summit…with clouds or fog hiding the view at times. The air temperature at 6am this evening atop Mauna Kea was a very chilly 27 degrees! ~~~ I'll be back several more times during the day with additional updates, and then with a sunset commentary of course around 515pm. I hope you have a great Wednesday wherever you're spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: Astronomers have confirmed the existence of a new class of planet: a waterworld with a thick, steamy atmosphere. The exoplanet GJ 1214b is a so-called "Super Earth" – bigger than our planet, but smaller than gas giants such as Jupiter. Observations using the Hubble telescope now seem to confirm that a large fraction of its mass is water. The planet's high temperatures suggest exotic materials might exist there.
"GJ 1214b is like no planet we know of," said lead author Zachory Berta, from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The planet was discovered in 2009 by ground-based telescopes. It is about 2.7 times the Earth's diameter, but weighs almost seven times as much.
It orbits its red-dwarf star at a distance of just two million km, meaning temperatures on GJ 1214b probably reach above 200C. In 2010, astronomers released measurements of its atmosphere. These suggested that GJ 1214b's atmosphere was probably made up of water, but there was another possibility – that the planet was covered in a haze, of the type that envelopes Saturn's moon Titan.
Hot ice Mr Berta and his colleagues used the Hubble Space Telescope's wide-field camera to study the planet as it crossed in front of its star – a transit. During these transits, the star's light is filtered through the planet's atmosphere, giving clues to the mixture of gases present.
The researchers said their results are more consistent with a dense atmosphere of water vapour, than one with a haze. Calculations of the planet's density also suggest that GJ 1214b has more water than Earth. This means the internal structure of this world would be very different to that of our own.
"The high temperatures and pressures would form exotic materials like 'hot ice' or 'superfluid water', substances that are completely alien to our everyday experience," said Dr Berta. The planet's short distance from Earth makes it a likely candidate for follow-up observations with the James Webb Space Telescope, which may launch by the end of this decade.
Interesting2: Sharks have a reputation for being ruthless, solitary predators, but evidence is mounting that certain species enjoy complex social lives that include longstanding relationships and teamwork. A new study, published in the latest Animal Behaviour, documents how one population of blacktip reef sharks is actually organized into four communities and two subcommunities.
The research shows for the first time that adults of a reef-associated shark species form stable, long-term social bonds. The image contrasts with usual reports on this species, which mistakenly sinks its sharp teeth into surfers and swimmers from time to time.
Lead author Johann Mourier told Discovery News that "other species, such as grey reef sharks and scalloped hammerheads form polarized groups where individuals have a specific place, and such species may also have complex social organization."
Mourier, a scientist at the Center for Island Research and Environmental Study (CNRS-EPHE), and colleagues Julie Vercelloni and Serge Planes conducted the study at Moorea Island in the Society archipelago, French Polynesia. A total of seven sites were surveyed on a regular basis along just over 6 miles of the north shore of Moorea.
The surveys included nearly hour-long dives at a depth close to 50 feet, with the diver photographing nearby sharks. Analysis of the gathered data determined that the sharks were not within non-random collections, but rather had organized themselves into meaningful social groups.
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