August 19-20 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Tuesday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 87
Honolulu, Oahu – 88
Kaneohe, Oahu – 85
Kahului, Maui – 86
Hilo, Hawaii – 85
Kailua-kona – 85
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level, and on the taller mountains…at 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon:
Port Allen, Kauai – 88F
Hilo, Hawaii – 82
Haleakala Crater- 50 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 45 (near 14,000 feet on the Big Island)
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Tuesday afternoon:
0.10 Kokee, Kauai
0.11 Poamoho 2, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.25 West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.18 Laupahoehoe, Big Island
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1027 millibar high pressure system located north of Hawaii. Our local trade winds will remain active, blowing generally in the light to moderately strong range, although locally a bit stronger in those windiest areas.
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
Aloha Paragraphs
Sailing offshore from Molokai
Photo Credit: flickr.com
There will be a slight softening of our local trade winds now, although they will remain active through the rest of this week. The winds are still strong enough that the NWS is keeping a small craft wind advisory active over those windiest areas from Molokai down through Maui, to the
We can expect a few windward showers, increasing some later this evening into Wednesday from Kauai to Maui…less on the Big Island. The leeward sides will be nice and sunny for the most part during the days, with generally dry conditions prevailing. Looking at satellite pictures, there’s an area of clouds being carried in our direction by the trade winds
As many of you know, I attended a Pacific Disaster Center organized Climate Conference at the East-West Center last week. It was an impressive group of professionals, many of which were the top climate scientists from around the world. The long and short of the discussions concluded that the planet Earth is in trouble on many fronts. The scope of the problem is so large, and daunting, that it’s very difficult to know where to begin finding a solution. Actually, what was discussed was finding small, localized solutions (going green is a good way of describing this) rather than trying to tackle the big problems as a whole. Looking specifically at the Hawaiian Islands, what we will likely find is a trend toward having more El Nino like weather patterns. El Nino manifests as dry weather here in Hawaii, which can lead to severe droughts…and at the same time, more frequent tropical storms and hurricanes during summer into the fall months. Thus, we need to plan for conserving water, and preparing for storms that bring strong winds, high waves, and of course flooding over the upcoming decades, that is…if things continue to go in the direction they’re going now in the world.
It’s early Tuesday evening here in Kihei, Maui, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. We’re in the dog days of August now, down here in the tropical latitudes of the north central Pacific. The days are on the hot side, especially near sea level. Fortunately, the trade winds continue to blow, bringing their cooling and refreshing relief from the heat. Tuesday was yet another very nice day, the kind of day that sun worshippers love! It turned out to be about as normal a summer day as possible, just the way almost everyone who spent any time outside, could have wanted it. As noted above, satellite imagery shows an area of showery clouds moving into the windward sides of the islands…although the Big Island appears to be just out of reach of these showers. We can look for off and on showers into the night, and likely into Wednesday, which will go a long ways towards keeping our lush tropical vegetation watered. I’ll be back very early Wednesday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Tuesday night! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting:
Hawaii has announced the results of its beverage container recycling efforts for the fiscal year 2008, and the state increased recycling by four percent to reach 72 percent recovery, an all-time high. The state says this means more than 680 million containers were recycled from July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008. State law requires that if more than 70 percent of containers are recycled there would be an increase in the container recycling fee (this cover costs of collection and sorting), but the director of health decided to waive the fee increase (it’s currently one cent per container).
Interesting2: The
This is surprising given the media attention that global warming has recently received and reflects the division of opinion about the severity of climate change." Konisky recently surveyed 1,000 adults concerning their attitudes about the environment. The survey polled respondents about their levels of concern for the environment and preferences for government action to address a wide set of environmental issues. A strong majority of the public expressed general concern about the environment. According to the survey, the top three issues that the public wants the government to address are protecting community drinking water, reducing pollution of
Interesting3
:
The word "planet" has meant many different things over the millennia and even still its definition is evolving. The word is typically traced back to the ancient Greeks, who believed the Earth was stationary at the center of the universe while objects in the sky revolved around it. The Greek term asters planetai mean "wandering stars" and described the tiny lights that moved across the sky more dramatically than stars when compared over weeks and months. These wandering stars, back then, amounted to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Some think the Greeks and Romans of ancient times considered the sun and Earth’s moon as planets.
An Elizabethan-era stage play and comedy published in 1597, called "The Woman in the Moon," depicted the solar system with seven planets, including Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Sol (the sun) and Luna (the moon). Nicolaus Copernicus, in 1543, published his mathematical evidence of a heliocentric universe where the six planets revolved around the sun. Only six planets, including Earth, were known until the 18th Century. In 1781, Sir William Herschel discovered Uranus in that he determined the point of light was a planet and not another star as it had been considered until then.
Interesting4:
Dips in the sun’s activity have triggered centuries-long droughts in eastern North America, according to a new study that examined the geologic record stored within a stalagmite from a
For the new study, researchers cut and polished a stalagmite taken from
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