Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday:
Lihue, Kauai – 82
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 86 (record for Saturday – 90 in 1982, 1995)
Kaneohe, Oahu – 79
Molokai airport – 82
Kahului airport, Maui – 85
Kona airport 85
Hilo airport, Hawaii – 82
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 5pm Saturday evening:
Barking Sands, Kauai – 85
Kaneohe, Oahu – 76
Haleakala Crater – 46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 37 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)
Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Saturday evening:
0.80 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.20 South Fork Kaukonahua, Oahu
0.01 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
1.03 West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.91 Glenwood, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1034 millibar high pressure system…to the northeast of our islands. Our local winds will remain locally breezy Sunday and 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. 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 shining down during the night at times. Plus, during the nights you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise and sunset 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. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here. Here's a tropical cyclone tracking map for the eastern and central Pacific.
Aloha Paragraphs
Trade wind weather pattern
The trade winds will remain active through this Father's Day weekend…then become lighter during the first half of the new week ahead. Glancing at this weather map, we find a 1034 millibar high pressure system located to our northeast. This high pressure cell has an elongated ridge of high pressure running southwest, putting it to the north and northwest of our islands. The placement of this high and its ridge will keep our trade winds blowing. We have small craft wind advisories active over those windiest coasts and channels southeast of Oahu, Maui County and the Big Island…which will last through the weekend. The computer forecast models continue to suggest that we’ll see a slight reduction, in terms of wind speeds…occurring around Tuesday for a few days.
Our trade winds will be locally strong and gusty today…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts, along with directions Saturday evening:
31 Port Allen, Kauai – ENE
28 Waianae, Oahu – ENE
32 Molokai – NE
30 Kahoolawe – E
33 Kahului, Maui – ENE
18 Lanai – NE
28 South Point, Big Island – NNE
We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Saturday night. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see high level clouds in almost all directions…parts of which are stretching over the state. We can use this looping satellite image to see a counterclockwise spinning upper level low pressure system to the west-south west of Hawaii…moving west slowly. Checking out this looping radar image we see showers being carried along in the trade wind flow, impacting the windward sides of the islands here and there…more of which will be arriving from time to time.
Sunset Commentary: We'll find trade wind weather conditions through this Father's Day weekend, into Monday. This will include locally gusty trade winds, and passing showers along our windward sides. The trade winds are being sourced by the long lasting moderately strong high pressure system to our northeast. The trade winds will likely taper off gradually through mid-week coming up, and then boost back up around by Thursday through the end of the week.
As far as precipitation is concerned, there will be periodic bands of showers arriving along our windward sides, flying over into the leeward sides on the smaller islands at times too. The computer forecast models continue to show yet another pool of cold air draping itself over the islands early in the new week ahead. This upper level low pressure system will help to destabilize our overlying atmosphere, adding intensity to whatever showers that are falling then. We could see a few thunderstorms forming, most notably on the Big Island leeward slopes.
Friday evening after work I went to the Maui Arts and Cultural Center for some social activity, and found it. I started off by having a nice fresh fish dinner (Ono), plated with rice and salad. A friend came by and sat down with me, and we had a nice talk. Then I ran into several more good friends while standing in the long line, and while sitting through the two films that I saw. They included Happy, and the other Connected, both of which I enjoyed. I was getting a little tired towards the end of the second film, although managed to stay awake…with a couple of nods of my head.
Here in Kula, Maui at 545pm Saturday evening, skies were partly cloudy in general, with an air temperature of 69.4F degrees. As noted above, the trade winds will remain in action, carrying showers to our windward sides at this through Monday. The trade winds will ease up slightly Tuesday through Thursday, while the showers may become somewhat enhanced during that time frame. I expect Father's Day on Sunday to be a decent enough day, and let me wish all you Dad's out there a great day! I'll be back online again Sunday morning, when I'll have your next new weather narrative ready for the reading. I hope you have a great Saturday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Music Videos: Baby come Back …Player
Magic …Olivia Newton-John
Hello its Me …Todd Rundgren
Escapade …Janet Jackson
Sara Smile …Hall & Oates
The Way you make me Feel …Michael Jackson / Brittney Spears
I'm not in Love …10cc
Interesting: Cutting emissions from US automobiles will be critical to any strategy for slowing global warming. America's adoption of hybrids, fully electric vehicles and fuel efficient small cars are also crucial to the transition to a low carbon economy. According to an Environmental Defense study, Global Warming on the Road, US automobiles and light trucks are responsible for nearly half of all greenhouse gases emitted by automobiles globally.
The Global Warming on the Road study, also found that the Big Three American automakers—General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler—accounted for nearly three-quarters of the carbon dioxide released by cars and pickup trucks on US roads.
The authors of the report found that cars in the US account for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas emissions because they are driven farther, have lower fuel economy standards, and burn fuel with higher levels of carbon than many of the cars in other countries.
Although the switch to electric cars will be difficult, it is not without precedent in the US. In 1900, 38 percent of America's fledgling car market was electric, and only 22 percent ran on gasoline. Then throughout the twentieth century, fossil fuels dominated vehicle production.
Today vehicle demand is starting to shift away from gas power towards hybrid and electric cars. Of the 11.6 million vehicles Americans bought in 2010, 2.4 percent were hybrids and this number is growing in 2011. The US vehicle market is forecasted to grow 11 percent in 2011 lead by hybrids and clean diesels. Sales of hybrids, diesels, and small cars are the fastest growing sector of the car market.
According to an analysis from the firm Baum & Associates, sales of hybrids, small cars and diesels rose at nearly three times the rate of the market as a whole from March 2010 to March 2011. Those three vehicle categories were up 46 percent this March, while the overall market was up 17 percent.
Interesting2: China has mobilized troops to help with flood relief and raised its disaster alert to the highest level after days of downpours forced the evacuation of more than half a million people in central and southern provinces. The official China Daily said more than 555,000 people had been evacuated in seven provinces and a municipality after rains in recently drought-stricken areas caused floods and mudslides in the Yangtze River basin.
Central authorities have raised the disaster alert to the highest level 4, and the government is describing the floods in some areas, such as eastern Zhejiang province's Qianting River area, as the worst since 1955. Local media said two dykes in the village areas of Zhuji in Zhejiang province were breached on Thursday, flooding two towns and 21 villages.
In the flood-hit Banshan and Moshan villages on the outskirts of Zhuji, hundreds of people had been evacuated, but many have since returned to guard their homes and belongings. "For us now, we will be worried if we leave our homes. That's why we are still staying here.
Yesterday, the water level was receding slowly so we came back to clean up our house," said 49-year-old Jie Jingping. Jie is staying put in her flooded home with her daughter and elder sister. The first floor of her village home is completely inundated and she has moved all their belongings to the second and third floors.
She said the local government has been distributing a box of instant noodles and a carton of bottled water to every family as flood aid. Other villagers said life was tough for some residents who were still trapped deep inside the village by the flood waters as aid distribution has been slow.
Interesting3: Fast action on certain pollutants such as black carbon, ground-level ozone and methane may help limit near term global temperature rise and significantly increase the chances of keeping temperature rise below 3.6 degrees F. Protecting the near-term climate is central to significantly cutting the risk of amplified global climate change linked with rapid and extensive loss of Arctic ice on both the land and at sea, said assessment authors including Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a climate and atmospheric scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.
The findings, released on June 15 in Bonn, Germany, during a meeting of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have been compiled by an international team of more than 50 researchers chaired by Drew Shindell of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Ramanathan is organizing a related briefing today in Washington, D.C., for several federal agencies on how to reduce emissions of global warming pollutants such as carbon dioxide, black carbon and ozone and prevent human deaths from traditional biomass burning cook stoves in developing nations. Big cuts in emissions of black carbon will improve respiratory health.
Close to 2.5 million premature deaths from outdoor air pollution could on average be avoided annually worldwide by 2030 with many of those lives saved being in Asia, it is estimated. Big cuts in ground level ozone could also contribute to reduced crop damage equal to between 1 to 4 percent of the annual global maize, rice, soybean and wheat production. Cutting these so-called short-lived climate forcers can have immediate climate, health and agricultural benefits, the report concludes.
This is because, unlike carbon dioxide (CO2) which can remain in the atmosphere for centuries, black carbon for example persists only for days or weeks. The researchers, however, also underline the fact that while fast action on black carbon and ground-level ozone could play a key role in limiting near-term climate, immediate and sustained action to cut back CO2 is crucial if temperature rises are to be limited over the long-term.
It is the combination of action on short-lived climate forcers and long-lived greenhouse gases which improves the chances of keeping below the 2-degree target throughout the 21st century. Black carbon is a major component of soot and is formed from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, wood and biomass.
Key sources include emissions from cars and trucks, cookstoves, forest fires and some industrial facilities. It affects the climate by intercepting and absorbing sunlight and darkens snow and ice when deposited, while also influencing cloud formation.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography have previously stated that soot and other forms of black carbon could cause as much as 60 percent of the current global warming effect of carbon dioxide, more than that of any greenhouse gas besides CO2. The troposphere extends from the surface of the Earth to between 10 and 18 kilometers above the surface of the Earth and consists of many layers.
Ozone is more concentrated above the mixing layer, or ground layer. Ground-level ozone, though less concentrated than ozone aloft, is more of a problem because of its health effects. Tropospheric ozone is a greenhouse gas and initiates the chemical removal of methane and other hydrocarbons from the atmosphere. Thus, its concentration affects how long these compounds remain in the air.
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