Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs / January 8-9, 2011

January 8-9, 2011

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday afternoon:

Lihue airport, Kauai –        75
Honolulu airport, Oahu –    78
Kaneohe, Oahu –              75
Molokai airport –               76
Kahului airport, Maui –       80
Kona airport –                    82
Hilo airport, Hawaii –         79

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 8pm Saturday evening:

Barking Sands, Kauai – 73F
Molokai airport – 64

Haleakala Crater –    34 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 19 (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 Saturday afternoon:

0.80 Kilohana, Kauai  
0.42 South Fork Kaukonahua, Oahu
0.01 Molokai 
0.01 Lanai
0.01 Kahoolawe
0.14 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.24 Ahumoa, Big Island

Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing two low pressure systems to the north…with a weak cold front just to our north as well. Our winds will become stronger and gusty from the southwest Sunday into Monday.

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 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 web cam 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 web cams 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 end until November 31st here in the central Pacific.

 Aloha Paragraphs

Cool with high clouds…not many showers
Artist credit: Patrick Ching
 

The current cool weather pattern will prevail Saturday night, and then warm up later Sunday. This weather map shows two low pressure systems to the north of our islands Saturday night. The closest low has a small cold front dangling south from its center.  The air flow across our island chain will be coming from the west to northwest. This will keep the air feeling chilly, although gradually warming up as we get into Sunday afternoon. A new fairly vigorous cold front will be approaching the state during the second half of this weekend, turning our winds stronger and gusty from the southwest. These warmer breezes will blow ahead of the cold front arriving later on Monday.  

Cool winds are blowing Saturday evening…the following numbers represent the strongest breezes, along with directions:

24 mph       Port Allen, Kauai – WNW
24              Waianae, Oahu – NW
08              Molokai – NW 
17              Kahoolawe – NW
22              Maalaea Bay, Maui – WSW
09              Lanai Airport – WNW  
28                South Point, Big Island – SW

Partly cloudy skies will prevail, with cloudy periods…generally due to high cirrus clouds. This large University of Washington satellite image shows lots of clouds to our east, associated with the low pressure system to our north-northeast. At the same time we see an area of clouds, many of which are high cirrus…connected to the approaching cold front to our northwest. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture, shows areas of low clouds scattered around the islands as well, although the predominate cloudiness is high cirrus clouds at the moment. Checking out this looping radar image shows just a few light showers moving quickly along in the westerly wind flow, generally over the ocean. These few showers will arrive over the islands at times, generally along the west and north shores and slopes.

Winter weather is having its way with us now, with more in the forecast as we move through the next week. The next cold front is making its way in our direction from the northwest now, and will arrive later Monday into the night. Winds will gradually shift to the southwest ahead of this next front…later Sunday into Monday. This cold front will bring rainfall as it passes down through the island chain into Tuesday morning. The chances are good that this next front will bring fairly generous rainfall. Conditions will improve Tuesday and Wednesday, bringing back favorably inclined weather conditions, at least temporarily. The computer models continue showing yet another cold front stalling near the islands late Wednesday into Thursday. There may be prefrontal showers on Wednesday, ahead of this front, especially on the leeward coasts and slopes. Warmer and increasingly humid air will flood into our area on these gusty south winds, keeping showers or rain in the forecast through the end of the work week.

Friday evening I went to see a new film called Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman, and Vincent Cassel…among many others. The synopsis: a featured dancer in the New York City Ballet finds herself locked in a web of competitive intrigue…with a new rival at the company. The critics are giving this new film a highly rated A- grade, while the viewers are giving it a solid B+ grade. I found the film to be very well done, and at the same time rather disturbing. It was so much different than many of the action films that I end up seeing…having a scary edge to it at times. I think Natalie Portman did an excellent job with her part. Lets see, what grade would I give it? I think it deserves close to an A, perhaps a B+ would be my score. Here's the trailer for Black Swan, which has a definite dark element to it. 

Here in Kula, Maui, early Saturday evening, its partly cloudy, with an air temperature of 59F degrees at 525pm. The outlook remains on the cool side through Sunday morning, although if the high cirrus clouds remain over our area, it would limit today's heat from escaping out to space overnight. Nonetheless, tonight will still be a cool one, as our winds remain northwest to westerly. As we move into later Sunday and Monday, the wind direction will shift to the southwest, bringing warmer air up from the deeper tropics. As noted above, we have more showers on the horizon through the next week. This will be most pronounced later Monday into early Tuesday, and then later Wednesday or Thursday…for several of the following days. We should just relax and settle into this winter reality, as after all, this is January, in the heart of our rainy season. ~~~ Some parts of the state should see a nice sunset this evening, with lots of potential color, as we have a rather thick shaft of high cirrus clouds overhead now. These should get carried downstream by Sunday, so that the Sunday will be a nice day for outdoor activities. I'll be back Sunday morning with your next new weather narrative, ready to discuss the inclement weather that we have coming up in even more detail. I hope you have a great Saturday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting: The past few years have seen a sharp rise in awareness, and criticism, of Japanese whaling practices. The Oscar winning documentary The Cove and Animal Planet's television show Whale Wars have brought western public attention to the killing of both large and small cetaceans.

Whale meat is sold openly in Japanese markets and caught by a government supported fleet of five ships that operates under the guise of conducting experiments for Japan's Institute of Cetacean Research. A memorandum passed by the IWC (International Whaling Commission) in 1986 theoretically abolished commercial whaling but allows exceptions for research based killings.

Japan technically operates within this mandate. The country has been granted the authority to set its own quota for the hunt and currently, the fleet kills 940 minke and 10 fin whales annually. The ships typically depart mid-December and hunt in a whale sanctuary off the coast of Antarctica.

Japan has rejected offers to join non-lethal whale research programs and stands to make an estimated profit of 100,000 US dollars per year from its catch. International whaling Japan is the main focal point of international attention.

Most anti-whaling organizations and movements centre their causes around the Japanese fleet in the Southern Ocean but while the Land of the Rising Sun receives the most attention, it is by no means the only nation involved in the whale hunt.

Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands all continue to catch and kill whales, none of which is for research purposes. Food rather than science is behind the continuation of Scandinavian whaling operations.

Interesting2: China will step up its controls over the mining of rare earths and release new industry standards to cut pollution, a minister and media said on Friday, after the world's biggest supplier cut export quotas for the minerals. China, which produces about 97 percent of the global supply of the vital metals, slashed its export quota by 35 percent for the first half of 2011 compared with a year earlier, saying it wanted to conserve reserves and protect the environment.

China will "strengthen the supervision and management of mineral resources mining … and deepen control over rare earth mining capacity and extraction," Minister of Land and Resources Xu Shaoshi said on a webcast on the ministry's website.

He did not elaborate. Xu added that China's campaign against illegal rare earths mining and effort to better manage the industry had achieved "notable results."

Meanwhile, new environmental standards, described as "stringent" by an expert who helped draft the rules, would limit the amount of permissible pollutants in each liter of waste water, the official China Daily said.

Under the rules, expected to pinch rare earths miners with raised environmental protection costs, levels of ammonia nitrogen would be cut from 25 milligrams to 15 milligrams per liter, and radioactive elements and phosphorus emissions would be reduced.

The new regulations could be formally unveiled as soon as February after being approved by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection in December, the China Daily said.

Interesting3: Packaging that alerts consumers to food which is starting to go bad is being developed by researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. The project aims to improve food safety and cut unnecessary food waste by developing a new type of indicator, made of 'intelligent plastics' which give a warning, by changing color, of when food is about to lose its freshness because it has broken or damaged packaging, has exceeded its 'best before' date or has been poorly refrigerated.

An estimated 8.3 million tons of household food- most of which could have been eaten- is wasted in the UK each year. The indicator is to be used as part of a form of food packaging known as modified atmosphere packaging, which keeps food in specially-created conditions that prolong its shelf life.

Freshness indicators typically take the form of labels inserted in a package but these come at a significant cost. Strathclyde researchers are looking to create a new type of indicator which is an integral part of the packaging, and so is far less expensive.

The project has received £325,000 in support from the Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Program. Professor Andrew Mills, who is currently leading the Strathclyde project, said: "At the moment, we throw out far too much food, which is environmentally and economically damaging.

"Modified atmosphere packaging is being used increasingly to contain the growth of organisms which spoil food but the costs of the labels currently used with it are substantial. We are aiming to eliminate this cost with new plastics for the packaging industry.

"We hope that this will reduce the risk of people eating food which is no longer fit for consumption and help prevent unnecessary waste of food. We also hope it will have a direct and positive impact on the meat and seafood industries."

By giving a clear and unambiguous sign that food is beginning to perish, the indicators being developed at Strathclyde could resolve potential confusion about the different significances of 'best before' dates and 'sell-by' dates. They could also help to highlight the need for food to be stored in refrigerators which are properly sealed.

Lisa Branter, acting head of the Proof of Concept Program, said: "Through the Proof of Concept Program, we are creating the opportunities to build high value, commercially viable spin-out companies from ground-breaking research ideas. What we want to achieve are more companies of scale created as a result of the Program, and this project is a great example of an idea which offers real business opportunities."