May 12-13, 2010
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 81
Honolulu, Oahu – 85
Kaneohe, Oahu – 82
Kaunakakai, Molokai – 85
Kahului, Maui – 90
Hilo, Hawaii – 82
Kailua-kona – 83
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level around the state – and on the highest mountains…at 4pm Wednesday afternoon:
Kahului, Maui – 86F
Kaneohe, Oahu – 76
Haleakala Crater – 55 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 43 (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 Wednesday afternoon:
0.24 Mount Waialaele, Kauai
0.27 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.01 Kahoolawe
0.20 Hana airport, Maui
0.21 Mountain View, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1033 millibar high pressure system far to the northeast of the islands. This high’s ridge is located in the area north of Kauai. The trade winds will remain moderately strong…locally strong and gusty through Friday.
Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with this 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. Finally, here’s a Looping IR satellite image, making viewable the clouds around the islands 24 hours a day. 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 weather conditions.
Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest weather information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Here’s a tracking map covering both the eastern and central Pacific Ocean. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here. Of course, as we know, our hurricane season won’t begin again until June 1st here in the central Pacific.
Aloha Paragraphs
The pleasure of living right on the beach in Hawaii
The islands have settled into a well established trade wind weather pattern at mid-week…with little change expected well into the future. The late spring month of May is known to have trade winds blowing regularly, with climatology telling us they are usually active around 86% of the time. As this weather map shows, we find the long lasting 1033 millibar high pressure system located to the northeast of the
The overlying atmosphere remains dry and stable, which will limit our precipitation everywhere…right on through the rest of this week. Satellite estimates of rainfall totals this weekend may even be less than what we’re finding now…which would bring us down to near nothing. Looking at this IR satellite image, we see that lots of clouds are located just upstream of the windward sides. We can shift over to this looping radar image, which confirms however, that not many showers are falling anywhere at the time of this writing. In order to get a better look at what’s happening further afield, or over the ocean in this case, we can check out this even larger satellite picture, which shows several large thunderstorm cells down to the southwest through southeast of the islands, in the deep tropics. Some high cirrus clouds are streaming westward on the high level winds as well. We may eventually see some cirrus moving our way from the west, although the leading edge of that stuff looks pretty uneventful…perhaps reaching only Maui and the Big Island overnight.
It’s Wednesday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s narrative. As noted above, the trade winds are the name of the game as we move into the second part of our work week. This is good news, as they will keep our weather on the pleasantly warm side. Speaking of temperatures, the Kahului airport reached 90F degrees Wednesday afternoon, just missing the previous record for the date…which was 91 degrees back in 1953. I would expect another warm to very warm day Thursday, with little change in this regard right into the upcoming weekend. Rainfall will be less then average, remaining so right into the weekend as well. This will make hiking, tennis, golf, going to the beach, and everything else for that matter, an easy mark. The winds are strong enough now, that the NWS forecast office in Honolulu has issued a small craft wind advisory for those windiest areas around Maui and the Big Island. ~~~ Looking out the window here in Kihei, before I take the cruise back upcountry to Kula, [I know I say that everyday, at least M-F], it looks very nice out there. There are some clouds, but there’s more blue skies than clouds, at least down here by the beach. I hope you have a great Wednesday night, and that perhaps you can meet me here again on Thursday. I’m starting to already think about the weekend coming up! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: A U.S. Senate compromise bill aimed at battling global warming would cut emissions of greenhouse gases 17 percent by 2020, according to a summary given to senators and obtained by Reuters on Tuesday. The legislation, being offered by Democratic Senator John Kerry and Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman, faces a tough battle for passage in the Senate this year — especially without a Republican sponsor. Besides cutting carbon pollution, it contains incentives to expand U.S. nuclear power generation and offshore oil drilling.
But in the wake of the huge, April 20 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the proposal includes protections for coastal states that do not want oil drilling off their shores. The climate bill would be Kerry’s counteroffer to the U.S. House of Representatives, which passed a somewhat different version of climate control legislation nearly a year ago.
It aims to back commitments President Barack Obama made to world leaders in December that the United States for the first time would get serious about cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which many experts say will wreak havoc on the planet if left unchecked.
About 6.4 billion metric tons of the gases are sent into the atmosphere each year by coal- and oil-burning electric utilities, factories, refineries and vehicles in the United States, a level of pollution that is second only to China.
The proposed bill, which also was written by independent Senator Joseph Lieberman, builds on legislation approved in November by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Like the House-passed bill, it also would try to cut carbon emissions by more than 80 percent by 2050.
Interesting2: Airports across Morocco were closed Tuesday preceding the plane crash Wednesday morning in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Airports across Morocco were closed yesterday as one of the ash clouds from a previous eruption of the Icelandic volcano was steered toward the region. Rescue teams search the site of the Libyan Afriqiyah Airways plane crash in Tripoli, Libya Wednesday, May 12, 2010.
A Libyan Afriqiyah Airways plane with 104 people on board crashed on landing Wednesday at the airport in the Libyan capital Tripoli and a search and rescue operation was under way, the airlines said. The jet stream was carrying the ash southward across the Atlantic and curving across parts of Spain into North Africa.
Ash cloud concentration information showed there was some ash scattered across parts of northern Africa between the surface and 20,000 feet. "If part of the ash cloud was over the Libyan air space, it could have affected the instrumentation and engines during its descent into Tripoli" said AccuWeather.com Expert senior meteorologist Henry Marguisity. Observations from the Tripoli airport indicate that fog thickened shortly after the crash.
Visibility was 3.5 miles at midnight EDT, then dropped to three miles 20 minutes later. At 12:25 a.m., the visibility quickly lowered to 1.25 miles, but skies were clear above the layer of fog. Earlier in the day, blowing dust and haze was observed. An Afriqiyah plane, the same airline involved in this morning’s crash.
The Afriqiyah Airways plane bound from Johannesburg, South Africa, crashed close to the Tripoli airport at around 6 a.m. local time (midnight EDT), according to the Associated Press. The Airbus 330 was carrying more than 100 people. An eight-year-old boy is reportedly the lone survivor.
Interesting3: Did you think that the Clean Air Act applied only to companies! Think again. Certain violations of the Clean Air Act are considered criminal violations, and individuals may be subject to prosecution. A tip, do NOT file falsified reports or data to the agency. Joseph DeMatteo of Clark County, Nevada has been added to the EPA fugitive Web site for failing to surrender to federal law enforcement authorities following his indictment for criminal violations of the Clean Air Act.
"EPA is serious about enforcing the nation’s environmental laws and making sure that those who are charged with criminal violations are held accountable," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "The public can help EPA achieve its mission by reporting any information they have on the whereabouts of Mr. DeMatteo to EPA’s fugitive Web site or local law enforcement."
DeMatteo was one of 10 Nevada-certified emissions testers indicted on Jan. 6 by a federal grand jury for one felony count for falsifying vehicle emissions test reports in Las Vegas between Nov. 2007 and May 2009. The maximum penalty for the felony violations contained in the indictment includes up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Las Vegas is required to perform emissions testing because currently it violates ozone and carbon monoxide standards. Ozone is linked to a number of serious health problems, ranging from aggravation of asthma to increased risk of premature death in people with heart or lung disease. Carbon monoxide can cause harmful health effects by reducing oxygen delivery to the body’s organs.
All of the defendants, including DeMatteo, are alleged to have engaged in a practice known as "clean scanning" vehicles. The scheme involved entering the vehicle identification number for a vehicle that would not pass the emissions test into the computerized system, then connecting a different vehicle the testers knew would pass the test.
The allegedly falsified data was recorded on the vehicle inspection report, and an inspection report passing the vehicle was issued for anywhere from $10 to $100 more than the usual emissions testing fee. It is a crime to knowingly alter or conceal any record or other document required to be maintained by the Clean Air Act. An indictment is merely an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Email Glenn James: 
Normon Matthews Says:
Glenn, just a quick note of thanks for the recommendation for tuesday snorkeling a Molokini. It was amazingly calm and wonderful. The captian said that it was an exceedingly strange day for the 2nd windiest harbor in the world. Thanks again! Norm~~~Hi Normon, I’m glad that it turned out well for you, and thanks for letting me know! Aloha, Glenn