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

Lihue, Kauai –                     79  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –       80   
Kaneohe, Oahu –                 79
Molokai airport –                  80

Kahului airport, Maui –          85 (record high for the date – 88 – 1951)
Kona airport –                     81
Hilo airport, Hawaii –            79 

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

Kahului, Maui
– 81
Princeville, Kauai – 73

Haleakala Crater –  46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea –         30
(near 13,800 feet on the Big Island)

Hawaii’s MountainsHere’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.

 Aloha Paragraphs

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/217/cache/beach-waikiki-hawaii_21765_600x450.jpg
East to southeast breezes into the weekend –
localized showers…especially Kauai and Oahu…
some may be locally heavy for a couple of days-
rough surf along our east facing beaches –
  high cirrus clouds – localized volcanic haze

Flash Flood Watch on Kauai

As this weather map shows, we have high pressure systems to the north and far northeast of the islands. At the same time we have a weakening cold front to the north of Kauai…and a trough of low pressure to the northwest and west of Kauai. Our winds will gradually relax in strength from the trade wind direction…veering to the southeast on the Kauai end of the chain.

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

22                 Princeville, Kauai 
17                 Wheeler AFB, Oahu – ENE
09                 Molokai – SSE     
33                    Kahoolawe – ESE  
22                 Lipoa, Maui – SE  
08                 Lanai – SE  

23                 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
Friday evening.  Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see an area of high and middle level clouds over the ocean to the west and northwest…with some embedded heavy showers near Kauai and Oahu at times too. We can use this looping satellite image to see those brighter white clouds associated with a trough of low pressure to our west and northwest. Checking out this looping radar image we see light to moderate showers, some of which are locally near Kauai…being carried into the islands in places.

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

6.21                 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.39               Moanalua RG, Oahu
0.01               Molokai
0.00               Kahoolawe

0.07               Puu Kukui, Maui
1.02               Waiakea Uka, Big Island
  

Sunset Commentary:
  Our winds will remain active, generally from the east through southeast. The forecast continues to suggest that these winds will continue into the weekend…in response to a trough of low pressure to our northwest. Meanwhile, these breezes will carry showers our way at times...some of which will be locally quite heavy. We continue to find an atmospheric destabilizing cold pool of air aloft, associated with an area of low pressure offshore from Kauai. Its presence is helping to keep our atmosphere more shower prone than usual…especially near the Kauai end of the island chain.  A flood watch is in effect on the island of Kauai into Saturday night, which may get extended over to Oahu as well. These off and on showers will remain part of our weather picture through the weekend. As we move into the new work week ahead, our weather should improve, along with strengthening trade winds as well.

This evening I'm going into Kahului to see a new film called Act of Valor, starring Alex Veadov and Roselyn Sanchez…among many others. The synopsis: an unprecedented blend of real-life heroism and original filmmaking, Act of Valor stars a group of active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs in a film like no other in Hollywood's history. A fictionalized account of real life Navy SEAL operations, Act of Valor features a gripping story that takes audiences on an adrenaline-fueled, edge-of-their-seat journey. When a mission to recover a kidnapped CIA operative unexpectedly results in the discovery of an imminent, terrifying global threat, an elite team of highly trained Navy SEALs must immediately embark on a heart-stopping secret operation, the outcome of which will determine the fate of us all. Act of Valor combines stunning combat sequences, up-to-the-minute battlefield technology, and heart-pumping emotion for the ultimate action adventure film-showcasing the skills, training and tenacity of the greatest action heroes of them all: real Navy SEALs. The rotten tomatoes website is giving a low grade of 26 out of 100. Oh well, I'm going to see it anyway, and of course will give you my own opinion in the morning. Here's a trailer for this action packed film.

Here in Kula, Maui at 510pm HST, we had calm winds, with an air temperature of 65.5F degrees. As noted above, most of our shower activity will be concentrated near Kauai and Oahu, with a few showers elsewhere at times. Our local winds will remain in the light to moderately strong category, generally varying between east and southeast. At the same time we find that an upper level low pressure is present to the west and northwest of the state. The placement of this cold pool of air association with this upper low…is prompting increased showers over the west end of the chain. Winds will be from the southeast over Kauai and potentially Oahu, while further from the trough of low pressure, the Big Island and Maui will likely have more of an east to east-southeast orientation, with windward biased showers into this weekend. The current flash flood watch strongly suggests that Kauai will be under the gun for locally heavy showers as we move into the weekend, be careful if you find yourself driving through one of these downpours! Kauai has already been pounded locally with heavy rains, so soil there is near full saturation locally. As more rains arrive, and even a few heavy rain producing thunderstorms, this could lead to problems on both Kauai and perhaps Oahu with time too. This isn't going to be a mostly sunny weekend, far from it as a matter of fact, as lots of sun dimming high cirrus clouds will continue to cross our local skies. ~~~ I'll be back Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative. I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you're spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting:  Birds in eastern North America are picking up the pace along their yearly migratory paths. The reason, according to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers, is rising temperatures due to climate change.Using migration information collected in eBird, a citizen science program database containing 10 years' worth of observations from amateur birdwatchers, assistant professor of biology Allen Hurlbert, Ph.D., and his team in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences analyzed when 18 different species of birds arrived at various points across their migration journeys.

Since 2002, eBird has collected more than 48 million bird observations from roughly 35,000 contributors. The study results were published in the journal PLoS ONE on Feb. 22. Pushing migration earlier in the year could negatively affect birds over the long term, Hurlbert said.

"Timing of bird migration is something critical for the overall health of bird species," he said. "They have to time it right so they can balance arriving on breeding grounds after there's no longer a risk of severe winter conditions. If they get it wrong, they may die or may not produce as many young.

A change in migration could begin to contribute to population decline, putting many species at risk for extinction." To minimize these threats, Hurlbert said he hoped the findings would be used to increase awareness around bird conservation.

The outcomes also could help scientists identify which parts of the eastern United States will experience the greatest migration shifts, as well as which species face the largest dangers because they will be least likely to adapt successfully to climate change.

Although eBird only contains a decade of amateur-submitted data, versus several decades of data compiled by select bird observatories, the information it contains provides greater geographic coverage. Hurlbert's team focused on bird species that occur over the entire breadth of the eastern U.S.

By reviewing the recorded temperatures and the exact dates on which bird watchers first noticed certain species in their areas, the researchers determined how closely bird migration tracks year-to-year variation in temperature. On average, each species reached various stopping points 0.8 days earlier per degree Celsius of temperature increase.

Some species' schedules accelerated by as much as three to six days for each rising degree. To date, the Northeast has experienced more relative warming than the Southeast. According to the review, Hurlbert said, the speed at which a species migrates is the biggest influence on how strongly it responds to increasing temperatures.

Slow migrators, such as the red-eyed vireo or the great crested flycatcher, were the most adaptable to changes. Additionally, the length of the migration path affects how quickly birds move from one location to another. "It makes sense that if you take your time to move north, you're sort of checking out the surroundings around you," he said.

"If the conditions seem too cold, you can decide there's no point in moving on that day. Species that tended to advance quickly, as well as those migrating from greater distances, such as Central or South America, were less able to adapt to temperature changes." However, being a slow traveler does not free a species from all climate change-induced migration challenges.

Because they stay in one spot longer, such birds have heavier habitat and food requirements, making them more dependent upon the resources that are available along their paths. That reliance could become a greater problem if climate projections for the next 50 years to 75 years hold true, Hurlbert said.

Climatologists predict the Northeast will continue to warm at a faster pace than the Southeast, potentially forcing slow migrators to move even slower and put greater strain on their migratory routes. "There's a lot of concern in the scientific community about climate change and how it will affect living things," he said. "This is a really useful data set that can likely address these anxieties around birds."