Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / February 2-3, 2012

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

Lihue, Kauai –                     79  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –       81  
Kaneohe, Oahu –                 80
Molokai airport –                  82
Kahului airport, Maui –         85  (Record high temperature on this date – 86F – 1956) 
Kona airport –                     80 
Hilo airport, Hawaii –           81   

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

Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Princeville, Kauai – 73

Haleakala Crater –  46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea –         37 (near 13,800 feet on the Big Island)

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,800 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. Here's the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui…which is working only sometimes lately.

 Aloha Paragraphs

 
    Lighter winds with generally dry weather –
  active surf north and west shores…rising –
  showers increasing around next Tuesday –
followed by briefly cooler air
 

As this weather map shows, we have a 1022 millibar high pressure system to the north of the islands…moving quickly towards the east.  At the same time, we have a 984 millibar storm low pressure system far to the northeast of the islands, with its associated long cold front extending down to the northeast of the islands. Our winds will slowing come down again Friday into this weekend.

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph), along with directions Thursday evening:

24                    Port Allen, Kauai – SE 
15                 Kahuku, Oahu – ENE
07                 Molokai – NNE   
20                 Kahoolawe – ESE  
21                 Kahului, Maui – NE
10                 Lanai – NNE 
22                 South Point, Big Island – ENE

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 see most of the low clouds over the ocean to the east of the state, coming into Maui and the Big Island at the time of this writing.  We can use this looping satellite image to see the lower clouds moving along in the trade wind flow. We can see an area of more major clouds moving by to the north as well. Checking out this looping radar image we see just a few light showers, generally over the ocean to the south and southeast of the Big Island, and moving through the Alenuihaha Channel between Maui the Big Island at the time of this writing.

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

0.02               Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.01               Hakipuu Mauka, Oahu
0.00               Molokai
0.00               Lanai
0.00               Kahoolawe
0.05               Puu Kukui, Maui
0.45                 Kawainui Stream, Big Island

Sunset Commentary:   A rather weak 1022 millibar high pressure system is moving by to the north of the islands this evening, which will prompt light to moderately strong trade winds blowing. As this high pressure cell gets further east by Friday into the weekend, our winds will tumble in strength. This latest weather map also shows a new cold front approaching to the northwest of Kauai. The latest computer models continue to show our local winds easing up Friday into the first part of the upcoming weekend. This will occur as the aforementioned cold front pushes closer, and in turn brings our winds down. The lighter winds will put us into modified convective pattern, with clear and slightly cooler than normal mornings, giving way to localized cloudy afternoons, and a few light showers over the leeward slopes in places. As we push into the second half of the weekend, into the first part of next week, we will find a couple of cold fronts approaching and getting closer, perhaps moving down into the state during the first part of the work week…bringing showery weather. The most favorable dynamics appear to bring the best chance for rain later Monday into next Tuesday, with the second cold front.

Larger than normal surf has been breaking along our north and west shores lately, with a new northwest swell arriving later today into Friday, followed by yet another large swell train of waves late Sunday into Monday. This late weekend swell may trigger high surf warning level waves. Looking even further ahead, by the middle of next week we may see a very large northwest swell. Fortunately, the south shores aren't seeing these large waves breaking, so that these beaches will be much more user friendly to the ordinary citizen wanting gentle beach conditions. The surf community, especially those big wave riders…are rejoicing in these winter high surf conditions however!

Here in Kula, Maui at 530pm HST, we had just a light breeze, with partly to mostly cloudy skies…and an air temperature of 63.3F degrees. As noted above, our weather will remain dry for the most part through much of the rest of this week. Our weather will remain rather placid, with generally lighter winds as we get into the weekend, which may allow some haze to begin forming in places. The latest computer forecast models continue to show a cold front or two approaching the state later this weekend, which may bring a period of unsettled weather at some point between Monday and next Wednesday. The models have been fluctuating a little on this wetter weather idea, although at the moment the odds seem favorable to finally have a few of these winter season cold fronts digging down into our tropical latitudes. I'll be researching this prospect closely over the next several days, and will be updating our chances of rain through the rest of this week. As I noted above, the first cold front may stall before arriving around Sunday night into Monday, or may bring some showers locally. The better chance looks to be for the second cold front to bring more generous showers later Tuesday into next Wednesday…stay tuned. ~~~ I'll be back early Friday morning with your next new sunrise commentary, I hope you have a great Thursday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting:  In January of this year, a comprehensive study of animals in the Southern Ocean was completed, showing that the region is under threat from climate change. The scientific journal Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography featured the findings of an international group of researchers who wrote over 20 papers about the effects on the Scotia Sea food web by above average water temperatures.

Primary producers, also known as autotrophs like phytoplankton, are organisms that make their own food from a primary energy source like the sun or deep sea vents. These organisms are eaten by zootrophs, such as krill, and then eaten by fish, and so on.

The study outlined how this food web is currently structured, how it has changed over time, and provides insight as to how it will respond to future climate change. The research team took three years and three separate expeditions at various times of year to study this complex web, using techniques ranging from net sampling to hydro-acoustics.

The team was lead by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), one of the world's leading environmental research centers. Dr. Geraint Tarling, lead researcher from the BAS said, "The Scotia Sea has some of the highest levels of productivity in the Southern Ocean.

With impacts like ocean temperature change and krill fishing taking place it’s essential we understand exactly who eats who." Recordings around the island of South Georgia — a British territory in the southern Atlantic Ocean – showed that this region has some of the strongest carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption rates compared to the rest of the Southern Ocean.

When more carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean from the air, it can disrupt the natural balance of marine life and upset the food web. This is because while the oceans can help mitigate global warming by absorbing CO2, excessive dissolved CO2 can have a negative effect on marine life.

CO2 is an acidic gas, which can cause the surface ocean pH to drop, which in turn makes the water itself more acidic. According to National Geographic, the increase in acidity makes it more difficult for animals that create their own shells and some algae to gather carbonate ions from the seawater, which is crucial for them to form their shells.

Many of these shell-forming animals are key links in the food web. In the Scotia Sea, it was found that there are short and long food chains in various areas. This observation is important because compared to findings from the Discovery Investigations – which took place over 80 years ago to investigate the biology of whales in the area – there were predominantly short food chains present.

This is an indication of the changing nature of the environment as well. "Our research shows there is likely to be regional extinctions of some species and the introduction of others so there will be winners and losers. This will have implications for the management of the Southern Ocean ecosystem in the face of the joint pressures of environmental change and the commercial harvesting of key species such as Antarctic krill," says Dr. Tarling.