Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs / April 17-18, 2011

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

Lihue, Kauai –                    82
Honolulu airport, Oahu –      82
Kaneohe, Oahu –                81
Molokai airport –                 82
Kahului airport, Maui –         88
Kona airport –                     84
Hilo airport, Hawaii –           80

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 6pm Sunday evening:

Port Allen, Kauai – 84
Hilo, Hawaii – 75

Haleakala Crater –     50 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 43 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)

Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals Sunday evening:

2.69    Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.88    Schofield Barracks, Oahu
0.20    Molokai
0.08    Lanai 
0.00    Kahoolawe
0.17    Oheo Gulch, Maui
0.65    Mountain View, Big Island

Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1025 millibar high pressure systems to the northeast of Hawaii…with its associated ridge running southwest over the islands. Our winds will gradually becoming more generally easterlies Monday into Tuesday…as the ridge moves north of the state.

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 13,500 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 ended November 30th here in the central Pacific…and begins again June 1st.

 Aloha Paragraphs

Returning trade winds…fair weather
Full April Moon
 
 
 

Returning trade winds…with a more robust trade wind flow expected by later Monday into Tuesday. Glancing at this weather map, we find a 1025 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of our islands…with its associated ridge of high pressure extending southwest over the islands Sunday evening. As this ridge moves northward soon, trade winds will spread from the Big Island end of the island…on up over Oahu and Kauai. 

Gradually returning trade winds…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts, along with directions Sunday evening:

09 mph       Lihue, Kauai – SE  
15              Kahuku, Oahu – NE  
08              Molokai – SE  
27                Kahoolawe – SE
22              Lipoa, Maui – ENE
05              Lanai Airport  
23              South Point, Big Island – NE

We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Sunday night. This large University of Washington satellite image shows a trough of low pressure with its associated cloud band to our west through north. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see patches of lower level clouds around the islands…along with some brighter high clouds clouds associated with the trough around too.  We can use this looping satellite image to see the cloud band near Kauai moving towards the east-northeast, while the lower clouds near the Big Island are riding in on the easterly trade wind flow.  Checking out this looping radar image shows some showers around at the time of this writing, most notably over Oahu, with some showers near Kauai too.

Trade winds returned on the Big Island and Maui Sunday…which will gradually spread throughout the state Monday into Tuesday. The trade winds are right around the corner, and as a matter of fact, they have already arrived around the Big Island and even Maui. Nonetheless, the convective weather pattern will have its last day of influence on us today. We will see less afternoon clouds and showers today, at least on the Big Island and Maui. As we push into the upcoming new week, the trade winds will prevail, with generally fine weather conditions. ~~~ Here in Kula, Maui at around 5pm, the air temperature was 70.5F degrees. The high temperature down at the Kahului airport today was a very warm 88 degrees. I looked to see if that had been a record, and alas, it was several degrees shy of tying or breaking the record for the date. The highest maximum temperature for today was 91 degrees, which occurred back in 1981. Nonetheless, its a sure sign that springtime conditions are upon us. ~~~ Depending upon the cloud conditions where you live, you'll see the full moon tonight! ~~~ I'll be back with you early Monday morning, when I'll have your next new weather narrative ready for the reading. I hope you have a great Sunday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting: Community officials in southeast New Mexico want to expand a nuclear-waste storage facility deep inside an ancient salt bed to play a bigger role in handling spent fuel from U.S. reactors, a problem now under the spotlight due to the Japanese nuclear crisis. After years of delay, the government terminated a plan for a permanent nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Operators at 104 U.S. reactors are storing used fuel rods, which remain radioactive for years, in pools of water and dry cask storage facilities in 30 states.

The largest risk in the United States from the Fukushima event is "overpacking of the spent-fuel pools," said John Heaton, a former state representative from Eddy County, New Mexico, who supports expanded use of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near the town of Carlsbad. Since 1999, WIPP, an Energy Department program, has disposed of radioactive items from military facilities far below the desert floor in a 250 million-year-old salt bed.

By law, WIPP can only handle defense-generated waste, but Heaton said the geologic formation would be able to handle high-level commercial nuclear waste, pending more study. "We are convinced more and more every day that we are on the right track," said Heaton. On Monday, California Senator Dianne Feinstein urged U.S. nuclear regulators to rethink rules that allow spent fuel to remain in pools for long periods of time. While courts wrestle with arguments over the failed Yucca Mountain plan, the industry awaits a Blue Ribbon Commission's interim report due in July on nuclear-waste disposal options.

Interesting2: The Vietnam government and local people have approved a Saola Natural Reserve to protect one of the world's most endangered—and most elusive—mammals. Only discovered by the outside world in 1992, the saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis) inhabits the lush forests of the Annamite Mountains.

No one knows how many saola remain, but it has been classified as Critically Endangered as it is likely very few. Recently, conservationist William Robichaud told mongabay.com that the saola was "perhaps the most spectacular zoological discovery of the 20th century", comparing it only to the discovery of the okapi in central Africa in 1900.

The new reserve in Quang Nam Province rests on the border of Vietnam and Laos. "This new reserve will create a biodiversity corridor connecting the East of Vietnam to West side of Xe Sap National Park in Laos," explained Ms. Tran Minh Hien, Country Director of WWF Vietnam, in a statement.

There are no specimens of saola in zoos, making reintroduction impossible should the species go extinct in the wild. Over a dozen individual saolas have been held in captivity, but all died within a few months time.