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

Lihue, Kauai –                         76  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –      80  

Molokai airport –                     76
Kahului airport, Maui –            79 

Kona airport     –                     M
   
Hilo airport, Hawaii –               76

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops around the state…as of 530am Thursday morning:

Molokai airport – 67
Lihue, Kauai – 61

Haleakala Summit    39       (near 10,000 feet on Maui)

Mauna Kea Summit –  M      (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…if it's available.

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

http://www1.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Surf+Up+Wave+Action+Around+World+6mt7gAf1nzjl.jpg

High Surf Advisorylarge waves on the north shores
of Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai and Maui ~ west
shores of Niihau and Kauai
, exceptionally large
surf
by late Thursday and Friday on the north
and west shores…into the weekend

Wind Advisory over the Big Island summits

Cool northerly breezes, giving a chilly feeling into
Thursday morning ~ grab that extra blanket tonight,
close your windows, put on socks…or whatever!

A windward shower producing cold front will arrive
later Friday into Saturday morning, followed by gusty
  cool north to northeast winds…and dry weather 

~~~Air temperature at 530am HST Thursday morning, totally
clear skies and calm…at my upcountry Kula, Maui
weather tower:
39.9F degrees ~~~


The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Wednesday evening:

21       Port Allen, Kauai – W
23       Waianae Harbor, Oahu – WNW 

10       Molokai – N  
   
18       Kahoolawe – WNW

10       Lipoa, Maui – NNE
 

17       PTA Kipuka Alala, Big Island – NW


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

 

0.26          Kokee, Kauai
0.01          Luluku, Oahu

0.00          Molokai

0.00          Kahoolawe
0.00          Lanai

0.20          Hana airport, Maui
1.00          Pahala, 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 imageand finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands.


                   ~~~ Hawaii Weather Commentary ~~~
 


Our winds will be rather light and variable in direction…although with a tendency towards north for the time being. Here's a weather chart still showing a strong, extra large 1040 millibar high pressure center, far to the northeast of Hawaii. At the same time, we see the tail-ends of two weak cold fronts over or near the state this evening.

Here's a satellite image, showing variable clouds over the state…with clear dry areas in places too.  This larger satellite view shows shallow areas of low clouds around Kauai, Oahu and the Big Island. We find what's left of the shower bearing band of clouds over parts of the Big Island. At the same time, a second weak front is bringing clouds and a few shores over Kauai and parts of Oahu too. This front will bring a few light windward biased showers to the state for the most part.  The leeward sides won't see anything from this minor system, as winds will remain rather light, keeping the showers from being carried over to the south and west sides of the islands.

Looking ahead, the models show another cold front bringing generally light showers our way Friday into Saturday morning, with gusty, cool and dry northerly breezes in its wake…through the weekend.  It appears that fairly normal trade wind weather conditions will return early next week for several days or longer. In sum, still on the cool side, with lower than normal dew point temperatures…making it feel nippy. Generally fair weather otherwise through Friday morning, with those light windward biased showers Friday night into the morning. Then, more cool and gusty northerly breezes this weekend…along with nice dry weather. In other words, not much rainfall, and generally good weather through the next week, albeit a bit cool at times. ~~~ I'll be back early Thursday morning with your next new weather narrative. I hope you have a great Wednesday night wherever you're spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

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:  There are no active tropical cyclones 

North and South Indian Oceans:  Tropical cyclone 09S (Emang) is dissipating in the South Indian Ocean…located approximately 490 NM south-southeast of Diego Garcia. Sustained winds were 35 knots, with gusts to near 45 knots. This tropical cyclone will dissipate soon as it remains over the open ocean. Here's the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) graphical track map, along with a satellite image. – Final Warning

Interesting: Evidence is increasing from multiple scientific fields that exposure to the natural environment can improve human health. In a new study by the U.S. Forest Service, the presence of trees was associated with human health.

For Geoffrey Donovan, a research forester at the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station, and his colleagues, the loss of 100 million trees in the eastern and mid-western United States was an unprecedented opportunity to study the impact of a major change in the natural environment on human health.

In an analysis of 18 years of data from 1,296 counties in 15 states, researchers found that Americans living in areas infested by the emerald ash borer, a beetle that kills ash trees, suffered from an additional 15,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 6,000 more deaths from lower respiratory disease when compared to uninfected areas. When emerald ash borer comes into a community, city streets lined with ash trees become treeless.

The researchers analyzed demographic, human mortality, and forest health data at the county level between 1990 and 2007. The data came from counties in states with at least one confirmed case of the emerald ash borer in 2010. The findings — which hold true after accounting for the influence of demographic differences, like income, race, and education — are published in the current issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

"There's a natural tendency to see our findings and conclude that, surely, the higher mortality rates are because of some confounding variable, like income or education, and not the loss of trees," said Donovan. "But we saw the same pattern repeated over and over in counties with very different demographic makeups."

Although the study shows the association between loss of trees and human mortality from cardiovascular and lower respiratory disease, it did not prove a causal link. The reason for the association is yet to be determined.