Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / February 28-29, 2012

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

Lihue, Kauai –                     78  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –       81   
Kaneohe, Oahu –                 76
Molokai airport –                  83
Kahului airport, Maui –          85 (record high for the date – 89 – 1951)
Kona airport –                     82
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 Tuesday evening:

Kahului, Maui – 77
Hilo, Hawaii – 70

Haleakala Crater –  39 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea –         34 (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.

 Aloha Paragraphs

  Locally strong and gusty winds –
windward showers…a few elsewhere
on the smaller islands – rough high
surf along our east facing beaches
through Friday…very small to near
flat surf south shores – high cirrus
clouds coming in from the west…
providing nice sunrise and sunset
colors! 
 

As this weather map shows, we have a high pressure system to the north and northeast of the islands. At the same time we have a weak low pressure system, with its associated small trough of low pressure to the west of Kauai. Our winds will be locally quite gusty from the trade wind direction over the next several days.

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

22                 Lihue, Kauai – E 
25                 Honolulu, Oahu – NE
20                 Molokai – NE   
40                    Kahoolawe – ENE  
32                 Lipoa, Maui – SE  
07                 Lanai – SW 
30                 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 Tuesday evening.  Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see low, middle and high level clouds over the ocean, stretching over the islands in places…with a few thunderstorms to the west and north of Kauai. We can use this looping satellite image to see the counterclockwise rotating low pressure system far to the northwest of Kauai, with thunderstorms to the west and northwest of the state. The upper flow of winds is carrying an increasing amount of high cirrus clouds our way. Checking out this looping radar image we see light to moderate showers, moving into the state locally…especially over the ocean to the west of Kauai at the time of this writing.

Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Tuesday evening:
 
3.58                 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.23               Nuuanu Upper, Oahu
0.00               Molokai
0.00               Kahoolawe
0.30               Puu Kukui, Maui
1.04               Glenwood, Big Island  

Sunset Commentary:  The threat of heavy showers remains only for the island of Kauai, as the trough of low pressure still isn't very far away to the west of Kauai. Satellite imagery shows some heavy showers over the ocean to the west and northwest of Kauai now. Meanwhile, high pressure to our north and northeast is helping to bring locally rather strong and gusty trade winds our way. These winds will carry showery clouds towards us at times through the rest of this week.  This moisture will generally fall upon the windward coasts and slopes, with a few making it over into the leeward sides on the smaller islands. Looking further ahead, our trade winds will once again give way to somewhat lighter breezes ahead of a frontal cloud band approaching, or even arriving later Sunday…or by next Monday. The trade winds will surge in the wake of this potentially wet frontal passage.

Here in Kula, Maui at 510pm HST, we had calm winds, partly to mostly cloudy skies, with high clouds…and an air temperature of 66.7F degrees. Looking at that satellite image above, we can see lots of high cirrus clouds out to our west…which have been moving over the state. These icy cirrus will filter and dim our late winter sunshine during the days well into the future…and provide colorful beginnings and endings to the days at times too. Meanwhile, the trade winds will be blowing, remaining quite strong and gusty through Thursday and Friday. These of course will carry showers to our windward sides at times. The leeward sides will be in better shape, although some of these showery clouds may travel over from the windward sides on the smaller islands at times as well. The trade winds will ease up some by the weekend, before increasing again in the wake of a frontal boundary around next Monday…remaining active for several days into next week. ~~~ Today I went up into the Haleakala National Park, which is essentially my backyard here in Kula. I talked on the telephone with an old friend in Durango, Colorado for awhile, Then I grabbed my skateboard out of the back and put it to good use. The section of road I chose wasn't too steep, so it was nice to just slice turns to keep my speed down to a reasonable limit. The weather was totally clear when I got up there, although later on, a thick bank of fog worked its way up the mountain over me. It was such good exercise, skating down, and then walking back up. Speaking of exercise, I walk early in the morning, and then again towards sunset each day, which adds up to 4.4 miles…much of which is uphill, which I walk fast. I'm not out for a nice stroll, its always about getting out there for a quick paced walk. ~~~ I'll be back early Wednesday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Tuesday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting:  Most people like chocolate in one form or another. Whether it is dark, milk, or white, people usually do enjoy what they taste. But if they eat a lot of it, which one will they like the most? According to a new study by the Association for Psychological Science and University of Michigan psychologist Ed O’Brien, research shows that people will enjoy their last piece of chocolate, the best.

O’Brien said that “endings affect us in lots of ways, and one is this ‘positivity effect.’” O’Brien’s research team also wanted to find out if this “last is the best” notion rings true in other unimportant things such as ice cream, potato chips, and soda. The research said that in fact it does. O’Brien said that this is true because “when you simply tell people something is the last, they may like that thing more.”

During the study, 52 students were told they were going to taste five different kinds of locally-made Hershey’s kisses. After each taste test, they rated it from 1-10. Some of the participants were told, “This is the next one,” before every trial. Another group of participants were told the same thing, except at the fifth and final taste trial, they were told that “This is the last one.”

The results showed that more of the participants liked the fifth chocolate best when it was designated as “the last chocolate” compared to when it was a part of an old-fashioned taste test. Also, 64 percent of the sample enjoyed the designated “last” chocolate the best, no matter what the randomized flavor was.

In comparison, only 22 percent enjoyed the fifth chocolate the best as it was described as the next chocolate. O’Brien said that there are a few theories behind the “last” chocolate being the favorite among the sample: firstly, it is motivational.

He said that in many cases, people want to “reap the benefits of this experience even though it’s going to end” and also to get something out of it at the end. O’Brien also said that another theory is that most people like happy endings, no matter if it is in a movie or a piece of chocolate.

He also said that this research could have implications in the academic world, where professors could now expect better grades from their students during the final exam.