Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / October 13-14, 2011

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

Lihue, Kauai –                   84
Honolulu airport, Oahu –   87   (record high for the date – 91 in 1979)
Kaneohe, Oahu –               83
Molokai airport –                83
Kahului airport, Maui –        86  
Kona airport                      85
Hilo airport, Hawaii –          83

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 5pm Thursday evening:

Barking Sands, Kauai – 84
Hilo, Hawaii – 78

Haleakala Crater –     45 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 41 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)

Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Thursday evening:

0.10     Hanalei River, Kauai
0.33     Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.00     Molokai
0.00     Lanai
0.00     Kahoolawe
0.14     West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.52     Kealakekua, Big Island

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 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. This web cam is 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. The Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui just came back online, after being on the blink for several weeks.

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…high cirrus clouds

 

Our trade winds will blow in the light to moderately strong range today…then increase again later Friday into Saturday.  Glancing at this weather map, it shows a 1036 millibar high pressure system far to our north, with a weaker 1020 millibar high pressure cell to our northeast. There’s a cold front coming out of a weak low pressure system offshore of the California north coast…which runs southwest and west to another weak low pressure system near the International Dateline.  The trade winds will surge temporarily later in the day Friday into Saturday, pushing the cold front down into the state then. A slightly cooler air mass will rush in over the state along with and in the wake of this frontal passage…through Saturday night.  As a second cold front approaches from the north and northeast by next Tuesday or Wednesday…our winds may slow down ahead it, then increase again after its passage.

Trade winds continue…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts (mph), along with directions Thursday evening:

21                 Port Allen, Kauai – NE
23                 Honolulu, Oahu – NE
25                    Molokai – NE
17                 Kahoolawe – ESE
25                    Kahului, Maui – NE
21                 Lanai – NE
21                 Upolu 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 Thursday evening. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we find low clouds generally offshore of the islands…although they are being carried over the windward sides of the islands in places. We can use this looping satellite image to see those low clouds moving along in the trade wind flow. There's a large area of high level clouds located offshore, to the west of the islands….which have moved over the state again now too.  Checking out this looping radar image we see showers over the ocean, which are impacting the windward sides locally…and even into the leeward sides on some of the smaller islands.

Sunset Commentary:  The details of the upcoming weather remain in place, with only minor adjustments from the last several days. The trade winds will remain in place, generally blowing in the light to moderately strong range through most of Friday. The winds are forecast to surge a bit later Friday into Saturday, helping to push a weak cold front through the island chain into Saturday morning. These winds may feel slightly cooler than normal Friday evening into Saturday. As we push into the second half of the upcoming weekend into Monday, our winds will ease up…and warm up too as they swing around to a more easterly direction.

The cold front’s showers will fall along our windward coast and slopes for the most part, and over the lower mountains on the smaller islands. The gusty winds coming in with the cold front should carry some showers over into the leeward sides in places too. The atmosphere will dry out quite a bit in the wake of the front’s passage, remaining that way through most of the first half of next week. The computer forecast models continue to suggest that we could find a second cold front approaching the state at some between next Wednesday and Friday.

Here in Kihei, Maui at around 530pm HST Thursday evening, skies were partly cloudy, with the trade winds blowing.  There are some high cirrus clouds around, although they aren't thick at the time of this writing. Nonetheless, we should see at least some color around our sunset hour…perhaps more so on the other islands. I'm ready to take the drive back upcountry to Kula, and hopefully be home before dark. Geez, the sun is setting earlier and earlier these days, and rising later and later in the mornings too. This just happens as we push into autumn, and I don't actually mind all that much. As a matter of fact, there's a part of me that enjoys turning on the headlights on my car while driving home. I'll catch up with you in the morning, which is Friday already, wow time flies these days. I hope you have a great Thursday night until then, and that you can join me here again tomorrow. Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting: An international team of scientists has proposed a five-point plan for feeding the world while protecting the planet. The research concludes that "feeding the nine billion people anticipated to live on Earth in 2050 without exhausting the Earth's natural resources is possible, provided that we adopt a more sustainable food production approach."

The findings concludes that we can feed the increasing amount of people on this planet without exhausting the world's resources if we successfully pursue sustainable food production on five key fronts: halt farmland expansion, improve crop production, more strategic use of water and nutrients, reduce food waste and dedicate croplands to direct human food production.

"Agriculture is the largest single cause behind global warming and loss of ecosystem services, and at the same time the key to human well being in all societies. We now have the opportunity to not only cool the planet, but also to build resilient societies, and improve human wealth", says co-author Johan Rockström, Executive Director at Stockholm Resilience Center at Stockholm University and Stockholm Environment Institute.

Together with scientists from the University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, McGill University, UC Santa Barbara, Arizona State University and the University of Bonn, Rockström has for two years tried to find an answer to what could be the most compelling question facing humanity today.

Based on data gathered about crop production and environmental impacts using satellite maps and on-the-grounds records, the scientists propose a five-point plan for doubling the world's food production while reducing environmental impacts. "Our research has shown that it is possible to both feed a hungry world and protect a threatened planet," says lead author Jonathan Foley, head of the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment.

Interesting2: Mention prime geography for generation of solar energy, and people tend to think of hot deserts. But a new study concludes that some of the world's coldest landscapes — including the Himalaya Mountains, the Andes, and even Antarctica — could become Saudi Arabias of solar. The research appears in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology. Kotaro Kawajiri and colleagues explain that the potential for generating electricity with renewable solar energy depends heavily on geographic location.

Arid and semi-arid areas with plenty of sunshine long have been recognized as good solar sites. However, the scientists point out that, as a result of the limited data available for critical weather-related conditions on a global scale, gaps still exist in knowledge about the best geographical locations for producing solar energy.

To expand that knowledge, they used one established technique to estimate global solar energy potential using the data that are available. The technique takes into account the effects of temperature on the output of solar cells. Future work will consider other variables, such as transmission losses and snow fall.

As expected, they found that many hot regions such as the U.S. desert southwest are ideal locations for solar arrays. However, they also found that many cold regions at high elevations receive a lot of sunlight — so much so that their potential for producing power from the sun is even higher than in some desert areas.

Kawajiri and colleagues found, for instance, that the Himalayas, which include Mt. Everest, could be an ideal locale for solar fields that generate electricity for the fast-expanding economy of the People's Republic of China.