September 29-30 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 85
Honolulu, Oahu – 85
Kaneohe, Oahu – 84
Kahului, Maui – 86
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-kona – 85
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level, and on the highest mountains…at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon:
Port Allen, Kauai – 88F
Barking Sands, Kauai – 79
Haleakala Crater – 57 (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 Monday afternoon:
0.08 Kalaheo, Kauai
0.06 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.21 Kaupo Gap, Maui
0.13 Kealakekua, Big Island
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a dissipating cold front pushing through the state Tuesday. At the same time we find a new high pressure system following the front, which will bring northeast winds our way…gradually turning to classic trade winds into Wednesday.
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
Great sunset colors from the Kona coast
Photo Credit: flickr.com
Light northerly breezes will remain in place Monday night, under the influence of an early season cold front passing down through the state slowly. A brief period of cool (tropically speaking) north to northeast breezes will fill-in with this weak frontal cloud band into Tuesday. Winds will pick up some later Tuesday into Wednesday from the NE, increasing some from the more traditional ENE to easterly trade wind direction Thursday through the end of the week.
The leading edge of the cold front passed over Kauai Monday afternoon…and is in the process of moving over Oahu in the early evening hours. The band of clouds will work its way southward to Maui Monday night, then on to the Big Island early Tuesday. Here’s a looping radar image of the showers embedded in the front. Showers will remain in place along the windward sides, as the north to northeast winds keep clouds banked-up against those areas.
This is not a strong front, although it is bringing a period of light showers with it. The windward sides of the islands will find the most generous rainfall from this front, although a few showers should find their way over into the leeward sides in places. The windward sides will remain quite cloudy, with leftover showers falling there for a day or two. The leeward sides will clear out rather quickly during the day Tuesday.
It’s Early Monday evening here in Kihei, Maui, as I begin writing this last section of today’s tropical weather narrative from Hawaii. The slightly cool north breezes blew through the islands Monday, keeping modestly cooler air temperatures than normal, which should remain the case for the next day or two. Looking at the latest satellite image, we can see this cold front migrating down through the island chain. As the clouds associated with the frontal boundary move over each individual island, clouds will increase, with showers falling. This is exceptionally early in the autumn season for such a cold front to arrive. It would be more typical to see a front like this coming our way during the later part of October or November. ~~~ Looking out the window here in Kihei, I can see the first sign of the frontal cloud band, or at least the prefrontal clouds, showing up over the ocean to our north. I’ll have a better view of these clouds, once I get home to Kula. Tuesday should be a tad cooler than it was Monday, with the cooler air, from more northern latitudes, following in the wake of the cold frontal passage. I’ll be back very early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative, with updates about the front, and where it is located then. I hope you have a great Monday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: In South Korea, wind power would be a likely resource to help the world’s tenth largest energy consumer meet government goals to lower fossil fuel dependency through greater investment in renewable energy. Yet efforts to build wind turbines in South Korea have met fierce opposition, even among environmentalists, due to the lack of open land in the densely populated country. Only about 100 megawatts (MW) of wind power are installed nationwide despite plentiful wind resources and government price controls that keep renewable power competitive with traditional energy sources. The solution might be found off the Korean peninsula’s shores, and South Korea is not alone.
As more countries seek to increase their renewable energy ratios, many consider off-shore wind a potential solution to provide clean energy without affecting local landscapes and communities. Off-shore wind has so far taken a back seat to on-shore wind farms during the current boom in wind energy development. Off-shore turbines are more difficult to maintain, and they cost $.08-$0.12 per kilowatt-hour, compared to $.05-$.08 for on-shore wind. But off-shore wind farms offer several benefits over their land-based counterparts. Strong ocean winds allow one off-shore turbine to generate substantially more power than one on-shore turbine. Also, if an off-shore wind farm is located near a coastal city, clean energy would be available without dedicating land to new transmission lines.
Interesting2: Following a record-breaking season of arctic sea ice decline in 2007, NASA scientists have kept a close watch on the 2008 melt season. Although the melt season did not break the record for ice loss, NASA data are showing that for a four-week period in August 2008, sea ice melted faster during that period than ever before. Each year at the end of summer, sea ice in the Arctic melts to reach its annual minimum. Ice that remains, or "perennial ice," has survived from year to year and contains old, thick ice. The area of arctic sea ice, including perennial and seasonal ice, has taken a hit in past years as melt has accelerated. Researchers believe that if the rate of decline continues, all arctic sea ice could be gone within the century.
"I was not expecting that ice cover at the end of summer this year would be as bad as 2007 because winter ice cover was almost normal," said Joey Comiso of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "We saw a lot of cooling in the Arctic that we believe was associated with La Niña. Sea ice in Canada had recovered and even expanded in the Bering Sea and Baffin Bay. Overall, sea ice recovered to almost average levels. That was a good sign that this year might not be as bad as last year." The 2008 sea ice minimum was second to 2007 for the record-lowest extent of sea ice, according to a joint announcement Sept. 16 by NASA and the University of Colorado’s National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colo. As of Sept. 12, 2008, the ice extent was 1.74 million square miles. That’s 0.86 million square miles below the average minimum extent recorded from 1979 to 2000, according to NSIDC.
Interesting3: Flushed with the success of Olympic traffic controls and struck by the painful return to congested normality, Beijing on Saturday unveiled plans for smaller-scale but permanent controls on its drivers. Cars will be banned from the roads one out of five weekdays, in a system based on the number of their license plate, and 30 percent of government cars will be taken off the road entirely, the official Xinhua agency reported. The new rules will kick in for a six-month trial on October 11. Department stores will open and close an hour later and the government will encourage companies to allow flexible working hours or change their shifts to ease the rush hour traffic that brings parts of the city to a near standstill. It is also considering raising downtown parking fees. After the clearer skies and smooth roads of the Olympics the city has been buzzing with discussions of whether the traffic controls that grounded cars on alternate days for two months could be extended. Under the new system all cars will be free to circulate at weekends. On Mondays cars with license plates ending with 1 or 6 will be banned, on Tuesdays those ending with 2 or 7, on Wednesdays 3 and 8, on Thursdays 4 or 9 and on Friday 5 or 0.
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