Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs

The Hawaiian Islands will be slipping back into a light and variable wind pattern now, similar to the one we had last week about this time. The same dynamics are at play this time around, with storminess in the middle latitudes pushing a high pressure ridge down over or near the north of Kauai. When a high pressure ridge gets this close, our normal spring time trade winds falter quickly. Looking at this latest weather map, we see the isobars (lines of equal air pressure) widely spaced around the Aloha state. This implies light to very light winds in our area of the north central Pacific for the time being. The outlook continues to suggest that our low level winds will begin a gradual swing around to the southeast direction too. This is a recipe for an increasingly haze environment for many areas from the BigIsland up through Maui to Oahu…and perhaps even up the chain to Kauai? Light winds here in the tropics, will make our overlying atmosphere feel very warm and muggy during the days. The two relief valves are: the daytime sea breezes along the coasts, and the cloud cover that develops in the upcountry interior areas. The trade winds will return this weekend, bringing relief from the heat, humidity, and haze…which will extend into next week.

At the moment, the air mass over and around the islands is dry and stable. This is greatly limiting the rainfall capabilities of our local clouds. The light winds will prompt a convective weather pattern, with days beginning generally clear, and slightly cooler than normal for this time of year. Daytime heating, with the lack of cloudiness during the morning hours, will get air currents rising. The moisture being carried upwards in these thermals will cool quickly into cumulus clouds during the late morning hours. These convective clouds will gather most effectively over and around the mountains, and by afternoon, the mountains will be covered up in most areas. These clouds, if there was a lot of moisture around, and cold air aloft, would typically drop some serious showers. This time around though, there is neither, which will keep showers on the light side. Skies will clear again after dark, with the process repeating itself again the next day, through Friday into Saturday. As the trade winds return later Saturday, the emphasis for showers will shift back over to the windward sides. Looking into next week, this windward bias for showers will continue, with favorably inclined weather prospects for the leeward sides of the islands.

It’s early Wednesday evening as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. I had trouble with my website editing tool early this morning. My webmaster was able to correct the problem, and was able to get some new updated weather information online to you later in the day. I apologize for the delay in the narrative, and hopefully things will smooth out now, and remain that way well into the future! ~~~ Wednesday was a good day, although the volcanic haze accumulated quickly during the afternoon. Each of the islands acted as a heating pad for the cauliflower type cumulus clouds, that stacked up over them today. It’s getting rather muggy out there too, although the nights and early morning hours will be slightly cooler than normal. ~~~ On another note, I know a lot of folks are complaining of high gasoline prices these days, with good reason for sure. Today, here in Kihei, Maui, I filled up my tank, with gas that was selling for $4.35 per gallon…that’s as high as I’ve ever paid in my life! I was just reading today that over 50% of the worlds population uses rice as their main food staple. The price of rice, since the first of this year, has risen an astonishing 68%! Wow, the times they are a changing, as was coined by Bob Dylan way back when. ~~~ Regardless of rising whatever, you can count on my being back with your next new weather narrative from high priced Hawaii very early Thursday morning, at least probably. Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting: Visitors to Alaska often marvel at the crisp, clear air. But the truth is, the skies above the Arctic Circle work like a giant lint trap during late winter and early spring, catching all sorts of pollutants swirling around the globe. In recent weeks, scientists have been going up in government research planes and taking samples of the Arctic haze in hopes of solving a mystery: Are the floating particles accelerating the unprecedented warming going on in the far north? While carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trap the Earth’s heat are believed to be the chief cause of global warming, scientists suspect that airborne particles known as aerosols are also contributing to the Arctic meltdown.

To prove their suspicions, they are analyzing the haze, using mass spectroscopy and other technology to identify what is in it, where it came from and how it interacts with the clouds, the sunlight and the snow cover.
Their air samples have been found to contain dust from Asian deserts, salts that swell up moisture, particles from incomplete burning of organic material from forest and cooking fires, and all manner of nasties emitted by automobile tailpipes, factory smokestacks and power plants. Collectively, they are a United Nations of pollution. Through chemical analysis, the particles can be traced to their sources throughout Asia, Europe and North America. "The Arctic is a melting pot for mid-latitude pollution,” said Daniel Jacob, a Harvard scientist taking part in the research. "We have signatures of just about everything you can imagine flying around in the Arctic.”

Interesting2: Major greenhouse gases in the air are accumulating faster than in the past despite efforts to curtail their growth. Carbon dioxide concentration in the air increased by 2.4 parts per million last year, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Wednesday, and methane concentrations also rose rapidly. Concern has grown in recent years about these gases, with most atmospheric scientists concerned that the increasing accumulation is causing the earth’s temperature to rise, potentially disrupting climate and changing patterns of rainfall, drought and other storms. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has worked to detail the scientific bases of this problem and the Kyoto agreement sought to encourage countries to take steps to reduce their greenhouse emissions. Some countries, particularly in Europe, have taken steps to reduce emissions. But carbon dioxide emissions, primarily from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas have continued to increase.