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

79  Lihue, Kauai
85  Honolulu, Oahu
79  Molokai
83  Kahului, Maui
84  Kailua Kona
81  Hilo, Hawaii


Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops on Maui and the Big Island…as of 210pm Thursday afternoon:

 

Honolulu, Oahu – 85
Lihue, Kauai - 74


Haleakala Summit –   48 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 46 (13,000+ 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.

 


Aloha Paragraphs


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Locally strong and gusty trades prevailing…increasing
a notch later today into Saturday

Shower activity will be rather limited – with a modest
increase along our windward sides Friday

Small Craft Wind Advisory…over all of Hawaii’s
coastal and channel waters




The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions…as of Thursday afternoon:

29  Lihue, Kauai – NE
29  Honolulu, Oahu – NNE
29  Molokai – ENE
M   Lanai – NE
M   Kahoolawe – NE
33  Kahului, Maui – NE
37  Kamuela airport, Big Island – NNE


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Thursday afternoon (245pm totals):

2.72  Kilohana, Kauai
0.28  Pupukea Road, Oahu
0.05  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.84  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.73  Kawainui Stream, Big Island


We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean. Here’s the latest NOAA satellite picture – the latest looping satellite image… and finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands.


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



The gusty trade winds will prevail across our Hawaiian Islands, picking up a notch today into Friday, then softening later this weekend into early next week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…focused on the Hawaiian Islands. ~~~ We see a moderately strong, near 1030 millibar high pressure system, located some 900+ miles to our north, moving slowly eastward. At the same time, we see a weak cold front to our north, between the high pressure cell and our islands. Our winds will be from the northeast for the most part, which will remain locally rather strong and gusty through most of the upcoming weekend. As we move into Sunday into early next week, this trade wind flow will ease up for a few days, although likely continue through all of next week…rebounding by next Wednesday or so.

Satellite imagery shows scattered low clouds over and around the islands…with generally clear to partly cloudy skies along our south and west facing leeward beaches. The majority of the lower level clouds in our area are banked-up along our windward sides. The few higher level clouds are now well offshore, over the ocean to the south and southwest. Here’s a looping radar image, showing light showers moving across the island chain…falling along our north and east facing windward coasts and slopes. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we see the higher level clouds continuing to move away towards the northeast, and thinning as they go. Looking to our southwest and south, we see lots of high cirrus clouds down near the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ), which will move overhead here in the state. We may be treated to a colorful sunset this evening, at least locally.

As we move through this second half of the week, the only spike in rainfall will arrive Friday…otherwise shower activity will be rather limited. Our winds, at least in those windiest areas, will continue to gust up into the 30+ mph range in those windiest areas. The outlook over the next few days should include a few gusts up to 40 mph…or a bit stronger than that. Early this morning we were seeing gusts to 43 mph over parts of the Koolau Mountains on Oahu. These gusty trades will bring a few passing showers to our windward sides, and perhaps even a couple over into our leeward sides on the smaller islands at times. There are no dynamic cold fronts on our horizon, nor any rainfall enhancing upper level low pressure systems, thus no major rainfall events are expected through the next 7-10 days. We should however see a slight increase in showers Friday. The latest model guidance shows a shower producing frontal boundary arriving around the middle of next week too, although it will be a minor affair as well. I’ll be back many times during the day with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Thursday wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui, at the 3,100 foot elevation, at my upper Kula, Maui weather tower, the air temperature was 55 degrees at 600am on this Thursday morning. Looking out towards the windward sides of east and west Maui, there are clouds riding in on the trade winds, with a few showers. The leeward beaches around Wailea/Kihei, and Lahaina and Kaanapali were generally clear to partly cloudy, and dry. The higher level clouds that we saw yesterday are gone, so I expect a generally nice day overall statewide.

It’s now mid-afternoon here on Maui, and a its so spring-like…bordering on summer-like for sure! The air temperature here in Kula, at 230pm, was a very warm 78.4 degrees. Skies remain clear to partly cloudy, with hardly a breeze stirring the trees…although it’s a different story down near the coast.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th.
Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea:

Gulf of Mexico:

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 Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15th through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 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.


Central Pacific Ocean: The Central Pacific hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


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


North 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: Lava source may not be as deep as previously thought. History is littered with evidence of events where vast lava outpourings originated deep in the Earth. However, new research at Michigan State University shows that the source of some of these epic outpourings, however, may not be as deep as once thought. The results, published in the Journal Geology, show that some of these lavas originated near the surface rather than deep within the mantle.


Scientists conducted field studies at the Great Rift Valley of East Africa which provides a snapshot of how a continent can be torn apart.


Armed with new technology, scientists can better translate the story that is stored in the rift’s fossilized lava flows. What they learn is applicable to continental breakup around the globe, said Tyrone Rooney, MSU geologist.


“For decades, there’s been a big debate as to where the lavas from this massive outpouring came from,” he said. “Did they emit from deep within the Earth? Or was there some contribution from shallower sources? Our paper shows that some lavas came from within the African tectonic plate itself.”


To clarify, many non-scientists think of big eruptions in terms of Mount St. Helens or Vesuvius. These were mere drops in a bucket compared to what Rooney and his colleagues are studying. The ancient African outpouring is estimated to have poured out 350,000 cubic kilometers of lava about 30 million years ago.


While much of this lava is probably derived from deep sources, Rooney’s team found that some parts of the tectonic plate also have melted to form an unusual group of lavas in Ethiopia. The researchers showed that the rocks, artifacts from the ancient outpouring, had chemical signatures of materials found in the lithosphere and were distinctly different from most of the other rocks in Ethiopia.


In a surprise finding, the team’s lab experiments revealed that the Ethiopian samples matched rocks collected from other distant regions. The lavas in Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Sudan are similar, which means that some of the ingredients that supply the massive outpourings, or basalt floods, have a shallow source that is tapped as the continents split apart.


“We’re interested in this because these massive outpourings happen around the same time continents break apart, create new oceans and affect the planet and the environment on a global scale,” he said. “So knowing the source of the lava gives us insights into a process that we still know little about.”