Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 78
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 80
Molokai airport – 80
Kahului airport, Maui – 83
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 around the state…as of 530pm Saturday evening:
Kailua Kona – 79
Hana airport, Maui – 73
Haleakala Summit – 46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 41 (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.
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. The 2012 hurricane season is over in the eastern and central Pacific…resuming on May 15th and June 1st 2013.
Aloha Paragraphs
Rising very large surf on our north and west
shores…into Monday ~~~ be careful!
Sunny to partly cloudy, cloudy afternoons in the
upcountry areas, a few limited showers – cool mornings
Our winds will be light, generally from the southeast
this weekend into Monday…locally voggy
High surf warning for north and west shores of Niihau, Kauai,
Oahu and Molokai, and along the north shores of Maui
High surf advisory for the west shores of the Big Island…
starting this morning
Small craft advisory for building northwest swell…
producing hazardous seas
Air temperature at 520am HST Sunday morning, at my
upcountry Kula, Maui weather tower: 51.6F degrees
The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Saturday evening:
12 Poipu, Kauai – NE
25 Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
18 Molokai – E
21 Kahoolawe – ENE
20 Lipoa, Maui – ESE
M Lanai
22 South Point, Big Island – NE
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Saturday evening:
0.12 Mana, Kauai
0.01 St. Stephens, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.15 Kepuni, Maui
0.37 Pahoa, Big Island
We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean. Here's the latest NOAA satellite picture – the latest looping satellite image…and finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands.
~~~ Hawaii Weather Commentary ~~~
Our winds will be generally light and variable in direction this weekend, and will remain so into Monday…strengthening from the trade wind direction Tuesday onwards. Here's a weather chart showing a high pressure center far to our northeast. At the same time, we find low pressure systems over the ocean far to our north, with a cold front extending southward…over the ocean to the northwest and west of Kauai. At the same time, there's a high pressure ridge that is over Kauai, keeping our winds light, with some stronger gusts around locally.
Generally fine weather, with just a few showers…will prevail through most of Monday. Here's a satellite image, showing clear skies in most areas of the state this evening, although there were clouds just to the northwest of Kauai…and just east of the Big Island. As the winds remain quite light this weekend, there will be afternoon cumulus clouds developing over and around the mountains, although with just a few showers falling here and there. This light wind regime will prompt onshore daytime sea breezes, and offshore flowing land breezes at night. This weather pattern will exist through most of Monday, providing cool early morning temperatures.
As for that weak cold front, it will hold off arriving through Sunday, although it should bring showers our way late Monday into Tuesday. In sum: our weather will be quite placid through the rest of this weekend, and even into Monday. The overlying atmosphere will be stable, and quite dry too. The Big Island, at least some parts of that island, likely has the best chance for showers during the next 24 hours. We'll continue to see relatively cool and clear mornings elsewhere, which will give way to clouds locally during the afternoons…especially in the upcountry areas. Showers from these clouds will be limited. The surf will be very large on our north and west shores, remaining large through Monday night, prompting a high surf warning locally. Be careful of this much larger than normal surf!
As New Year's Eve rolls around, the cold front will have brought its showers to Kauai, heading to Oahu. It will slow down during the night, finally reaching Maui County at some point on Tuesday. Whether this frontal cloud band will reach the Big Island by Tuesday night, is still a question. Thereafter, a surge of relatively cool trade winds will fill in behind the front, bringing windward showers to all the islands for several days thererafter. ~~~ I'll be back Sunday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you're spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Friday night film: There are several good films that I've been anxious to see, although they just opened in our local theaters. So I decided to see one that's been around for a little while longer, and looked quite interesting. The one I picked is called Hitchcock, starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, and James D'Arcy…among others. The synopsis: is a love story about one of the most influential filmmakers of the last century, Alfred Hitchcock and his wife and partner Alma Reville. The film takes place during the making of Hitchcock's seminal movie Psycho. It's being billed as a drama, adaptation, biopic, and horror type film.
I hadn't seen Anthony Hopkins in anything lately, and I like his acting very much. Helen Mirren is also typically very good as well, so with this inspired couple, I'd hoped it would be very good. Well, I wasn't let down in the least, and very much enjoyed this film. The acting was superb for the most part, and held my attention throughout. Actually, I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, as it was filled with lots of style, and a good sense of humor too. Given the fact that it was based on the making of the Psycho thriller, I thought it might be scarier, although it wasn't at all. If you'd like to take a peek at the film…here's the trailer. Oh yes, I almost forgot, my grade for this great film is B+. I just watched the trailer again, and it reminded me just how good it really was!
World-wide tropical cyclone activity:
Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones
Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones
Eastern Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones
Central Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones
Western Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones
South Pacific Ocean: Tropical cyclone 05P (Freda) remains active in the southwest Pacific…located approximately 515 northwest of Noumea, New Caledonia. Sustained winds were 105 knots, with gusts to near 130 knots. This tropical cyclone will increase in strength, with 110 knot winds, and gusts to near 135 knots within 12 hours. Here's the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image.
North and South Indian Oceans: Tropical cyclone 06S (Mitchell) remains active in the south Indian Ocean…located approximately 225 NM west of Learmonth, Australia. Sustained winds were 35 knots, with gusts to near 45 knots. This tropical cyclone will reduce in strength for another 12 hours…then dissipate over the ocean to the west of Australia. Here's the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image. Final Warning
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