Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs
Posted by GlennMarch 21-22 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday:
Lihue, Kauai – 81
Honolulu, Oahu – 83
Kaneohe, Oahu – 79
Kahului, Maui – 83
Hilo, Hawaii – 77
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – 82
Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level at 5 a.m. Friday morning:
Kailua-kona – 75F
Kahului, Maui – 65
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Friday morning:
9.66 MOUNT WAIALEALE, KAUAI
2.41 POAMOHO 2, OAHU
0.00 MOLOKAI
0.04 LANAI
0.00 KAHOOLAWE
0.79 PUU KUKUI, MAUI
1.07 GLENWOOD, BIG ISLAND
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map. A high pressure system is located far to the northeast of Hawaii this weekend. Our local trade winds have become lighter as the high pressure cell is now in the eastern Pacific Ocean…remaining light to moderately strong through Sunday.
Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with the Infrared Satellite Image of the islands to see all the clouds around the state during the day and night. This next image is one that gives close images of the islands only during the daytime hours, and is referred to as a Close-up visible image. This next image shows a larger view of the Pacific…giving perspective to the wider ranging cloud patterns in the Pacific Ocean…out from the islands. To help you keep track of where any showers may be around the islands, here’s the latest animated radar image.
Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of near 14,000 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The tallest peak on the island of Maui is the Haleakala Crater, which is near 10,000 feet in elevation. These two webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon rising just after sunset for an hour or two! Plus, during the nights and early mornings you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise too…depending upon cloud conditions.
Aloha Paragraphs
Whale watching from a kayak
Photo Credit: flikr.com
The trade winds will remain active, continuing that way through the weekend. Our trade wind producing high pressure system continues edging eastward. It has slipped into the eastern Pacific now, getting too far away to provide the strong and gusty trade winds that we saw earlier in the week. The winds are light enough now, that the small craft advisory flags have all been taken down…leaving no marine warnings or advisories in effect. The latest computer forecast guidance suggests that the trade winds will continue to blow through the next week…remaining more or less in the moderately strong realms.
The windward sides, and around the mountains of Hawaii, will see the most generous showers. A trough of low pressure is moving by to our north, which will add some degree of enhancement to whatever local showers that fall. The leeward sides will be remain dry for the most part, although even there could see a shower over the next couple of days. The wind
It’s Friday evening as I begin updating this last paragraph of today’s narrative. If we were to summarize the information in the two paragraphs above: somewhat lighter trade winds now, and passing showers along the windward sides and around the mountains. There’s nothing unusual about any of this, and is actually quite common, according to climatology…for the first several days of our new spring season. The one wild card at this point, is whether the trough of low pressure moving by to our north, will spark anymore heavy showers? What heavy showers you may ask? Well, how about the 9.66" that has fallen atop Mount Waialeale on Kauai during the last 24 hours! ~~~ Taking a look at this looping satellite image, we see that high and middle level clouds have thinned quite a bit Friday, and with any luck will stay away for the time being. I say "with any luck" in regards to the sun dimming and filtering that they do when they are around. ~~~ I’m meeting a friend in Paia for dinner, at a little vegetarian restaurant. The celebration is her 50th birthday, which is quite an occasion. ~~~ I will be early Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise. I hope you have a peaceful Good Friday night until then. Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: Those incoming federal tax-rebate checks could do more than boost the economy. They might also boost your mood, with one caveat: You must spend the cash on others, not yourself. New research reveals that when individuals dole out money for gifts for friends or charitable donations, they get a boost in happiness while those who spend on themselves get no such cheery lift. Scientists have found evidence that income is linked with a person’s satisfaction with their life and other measures of happiness, but less is known about the link between how a person spends their money and happiness.
"We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn," said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia. The findings, to be detailed in the March 21 issue of the journal Science, come as no surprise to some marketing scientists. "It doesn’t surprise me at all that people find giving money away very rewarding," said Aaron Ahuvia, associate professor of marketing at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, who was not involved in the current study.
Interesting2: Whether you are cresting the peak of a majestic volcano or walking on a city street, there are immense amounts of heat beneath your feet — enough to provide all the energy the human population will ever need. In most places, though, that heat is trapped by solid rock — unavailable to our carbon-choked, energy-hungry populace. But the power could now be unleashed.
The 2009 Department of Energy (DOE) budget released in early February includes about $30 million for geothermal energy exploration — mostly for the construction of Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) demonstration plants. This is the first step toward achieving enough clean, constant power from the earth to provide around 10 percent of our baseline energy needs — a goal put forward by a panel of experts in January 2007.
Interesting3: An explosion atop the long-erupting Kilauea volcano rained gravel-size rocks onto a tourist lookout, road and trail, injuring no one but forcing parts of a national park to close. It was the first explosion in Kilauea’s main Halemaumau Crater since 1924, scattering debris over about 75 acres, said Jim Kauahikaua, scientist-in-charge at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on the Big Island. The 4,190-foot volcano has been erupting from fissures along its side steadily for more than a quarter-century. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park draws thousands of people daily, with a visitors center and lodge near the crater rim.
No lava erupted as part of the 3 a.m. explosion. That suggests it was caused by hydrothermal or gas buildup, Kauahikaua said. Scientists monitoring the summit say that there’s a "remote possibility" of an eruption inside the half-mile-wide crater, but that it’s unlikely because other indicators of an eruption aren’t present. "The recent explosive event represents a significant addition and change to Kilauea Volcano’s ongoing activity, and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is using every means available to study its causes and consequences," Kauahikaua said in a statement.
Interesting4: For the first time, satellite imagery reveals thick Martian salt deposits scattered across the planet’s southern surface, which one planetary scientist claims could be sites of ancient life. The mats of sodium chloride — the same taste-enhancing mineral found on your kitchen table — serve as more evidence of Mars’ watery past, and researchers think the briney pools that made them could have been inhospitable to life. "If you’re trying to find life on Mars, the more and different places that exist, the better the chances are that one of them is going to have the right conditions," said Phil Christensen, a planetary geologist at Arizona State University. "It takes a lot of water to form salt, so this is another place to look." Christensen, who co-authored a March 21st study in the journal Science detailing the findings, said the salt deposits are a clear sign of water’s past presence, adding that they could be the most welcoming environment for life on Mars yet discovered.
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