Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 77
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 73
Molokai airport – 79
Kahului airport, Maui – 82
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 430am Friday morning:
Barking Sands, Kauai – 72
Kahului, Maui – 63
Haleakala Summit – 41 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Loa Summit – 37 (13,000+ 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…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
January Full Moon coming soon
Artist Credit…Roy Tabora
Small Craft Advisory ~ for gusty winds in some coastal and
channel waters…around the Big Island / Maui County
Lighter winds Friday, showers mostly along our
southeast sides, and over the lower mountains
on the smaller islands…in the afternoon
As the winds veer around to the southeast, they will
become even lighter, and at the same time…will
carry volcanic haze (vog) to the smaller islands
Afternoon showers will break out over the higher
terrain of the islands through Saturday…then
a vigorous cold front will bring heavier rains
Sunday-Monday / localized flooding possible
~~~Air temperature at 535am HST Friday morning,
clear skies, calm breezes…at my upcountry
Kula, Maui weather tower: 53.1F degrees~~~
The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Thursday evening:
25 Port Allen, Kauai – SE
29 Kahuku trng, Oahu – ESE
17 Molokai – ESE
33 Kahoolawe – NE
30 Lipoa, Maui – SE
27 South Point, Big Island – NE
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of late Thursday evening:
0.46 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
3.87 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.06 Molokai
0.01 Kahoolawe
0.01 Lanai
0.28 Kaupo Gap, Maui
0.59 Glenwood, 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 ~~~
The trade winds will be giving way to lighter southeast breezes Friday. Here's a weather chart showing high pressure systems located to the north and northeast of Hawaii. At the same time, we see deep storm low pressure systems far to our northwest and northeast…with an associated cold front draping down to our northwest. Our winds will blow from the east, then shift to the southeast today through Saturday…veering to the south by Sunday. As the winds come around to the southeast, look for an increase in volcanic haze (vog) over some parts of the island chain.
Showers will become more common now, especially along southeast sides…and over the mountains during the afternoon hours. The models continue to show our next cold front approaching the state later Friday into the weekend, turning our winds to the south and southeast as it gets closer. This of course will cut off our trade winds, bringing us into a convective weather pattern. This type of situation typically displays cooler than normal mornings, giving way to afternoon clouds and some shower activity…over the interior sections.
Here's a satellite image, showing large low level cloud patches over the ocean…spreading across parts of the state this evening. These clouds have become more shower prone now, especially over Oahu at the time of this writing. Case in point, the rain gauges in the Koolau Mountains of Oahu picked up 2.78" of rain during the last 24 hours. We'll see more of these showers now, continuing at times going forward. As the cold front approaches the state this weekend, we'll see additional tropical moisture being carried our way on the southeast to southerly breezes, leading to localized showers in our upcountry interior areas during the afternoon hours too.
A more dramatic weather change will occur across our area Sunday, first on Kauai…then down through the rest of the state Monday. A cold front is expected to arrive over Kauai at some point Sunday, bringing lots of rainfall with it. This front will then spread down over the other islands Monday into early Tuesday morning. This precipitation regime will trigger heavy rainfall, with localized flooding a good possibility. The Kauai end of the island chain will likely see the largest rainfall totals, with the Big Island seeing less. Thereafter, we should see cooler and drier air moving into the state, in the wake of the cold front around mid-week. ~~~ I'll be back early Friday morning with more updates on this upcoming heavy rainfall producing cold front. I hope you have a great Thursday 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: Tropical cyclone 10P (Garry) remains active in the southwest Pacific, located approximately 515 NM west of Bora Bora. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) shows this cyclone with 85 knot sustained winds, with gusts to 105 knots. 10P will remain at this strength, then weaken slowly over the rest of his life cycle. Here's the graphical track map, along with a satellite image.
North and South Indian Oceans: There are no active tropical cyclones
Interesting: As more people move to urban areas in search of economic opportunities, the number of buildings that are needed to house them continues to rise. It is estimated that by 2030, an additional 1.4 billion people will live in cities, of which 1.3 billion will dwell in cities of developing countries. The increasing number of buildings has long-term impacts on both the environment and natural resources.
Fortunately, a variety of policy tools hold promise for promoting sustainability in buildings, according to Kaarin Taipale, contributing author of the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2012: Moving Toward Sustainable Prosperity. The buildings in which we live and work are a major consumer of energy, responsible for some 30—40 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions, a similar share of total solid waste, and 12 percent of all fresh water used.
With the rate of urbanization reaching record levels, there will be more construction and buildings than ever before. The introduction and enforcement of effective public policies can be the cheapest and most efficient method for promoting sustainability in the construction and use of buildings, Taipale says.
The goal is to radically reduce buildings’ environmental footprint and long-term negative social and financial effects. "Policies can control (via restrictive regulations), motivate (via incentives), or call for attention (via awareness-raising), and successful policy packages may combine all three characteristics," notes Taipale, an urban researcher from Finland.
"In the rush to market everything as green, builders superficially label their buildings as such. But although a solar panel on the roof may look good in a photo, it is certainly no proof of the sustainability of a building." Even modestly light-green buildings, as Taipale describes them, account for only a tiny fraction of total construction worldwide.
She notes that the best way to move construction beyond green washing is through strict enforcement of ambitious building regulations and fulfillment of measurable targets.
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