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

Lihue, Kauai –                        78  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –     82  
Molokai airport –                    77
Kahului airport, Maui –           77 
Kona airport     –                   80   
Hilo airport, Hawaii –              78

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

Honolulu, Oahu – 70
Hana airport, Maui – 63

Haleakala Summit –   39     (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 41      (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

http://lovingthebigisland.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/the-wild-surf-at-kolekole-beach-is-generally-too-rough-to-swim-in-hilo-hawaii-photo-by-donnie-macgowan.jpg

High Surf Warning for north and west shores of Kauai,
Niihau and the north shores of Oahu, Molokai and Maui

High surf Advisory for the west shore of the Big Island

Small Craft Advisory for strengthening trade
winds…and large northwest swell…all waters

Clear to partly cloudy with cloudy periods, showers
falling locally…especially Maui and the Big Island's
windward sides

~~~552am HST Friday morning: clear, light breezes…at my
upcountry Kula, Maui weather tower: 52.3F degrees~~~

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

20       Poipu, Kauai – NE 
36       Kuaokala, Oahu – NE    
25        Molokai – NNE        
18       Kahoolawe – ENE
22       Kapalua, Maui – NE  
18       Upolu airport, Big Island – NE

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of late Thursday evening:
 
0.02          Kilohana, Kauai
0.31          Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.08          Molokai
0.00          Lanai
0.00          Kahoolawe
2.45          Puu Kukui, Maui
0.27          Honaunau, 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 are trades statewide, which will remain light to moderately strong through Friday, then becoming lighter this weekend…before picking up a notch or two again early next week. Here's a weather chart showing a near 1032 millibar high pressure system, located far to the northeast of Hawaii. At the same time, we see a deep storm low pressure system far to our north. A near 1023 millibar high pressure system is also evident to our northwest…moving eastward. Finally, we have the tail-end of a weak cold front to our northwest.

Satellite imagery shows what's left of the old cold front, across parts of Maui County…and part of the Big Island this evening. This weather feature, which brought lots of clouds, and some showers to the eastern islands the last several days, will keep some showers falling along our windward sides tonight, and even into Friday. We can also see the next cold front to our northwest, as it slowly approaches the state. Here's the satellite image, that shows a closer view of the islands, with those clouds associated with the old cold front. The leeward sides should see fewer clouds, and with generally dry conditions prevailing for the most part Friday.

Looking ahead, the weather models continue showing the next cold front approaching the state this weekend, which will stall before arriving by Sunday or Monday. As this next front get closer, it will cause our trade winds to falter again, or at least slow down quite a bit. This will put us back into a modified convective weather pattern, with localized daytime sea breezes, and offshore land breezes at night…at least in our leeward areas. These onshore breezes during the days will prompt afternoon clouds over the leeward slopes of the mountains, with a few showers falling locally. The beaches on our south and west facing leeward sides should have decent weather, with perhaps just a few light showers on the smaller islands. As we get into next week, the front will lose its influence, making way for strengthening trade winds. These trades will be able to carry windward biased clouds and showers our way, with a few sneaking over into the leeward sides at times too. ~~~ I'll be back with more updates this evening, I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever you're reading from! 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 13S (Felleng) remains active in the South Indian Ocean, located approximately 275 NM west of La Reunion Island. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) shows this cyclone with 60 knot sustained winds, with gusts to 75 knots. 13S will remain active over the next 96 hours, moving by offshore to the east and southeast of Madagascar, and west and southwest of La Reunion Island…gradually weakening. Here's the graphical track map, along with a satellite image.

Interesting:  Few people would argue with the need for air bags on the inside of a car. But on the outside? The idea comes from TNO, a car company in the The Netherlands, where there are now 1.3 bicycles for every resident. Amsterdam alone is home to a half a million riders daily.

In tests, TNO researchers found that when a car hits a bicycle, the rider usually ends up landing on the windshield, with the head and shoulder leading. So they developed an air bag that inflates on the outside of the car, between the bottom edge of the front windshield and the hood.

The car has a forward facing camera under the rear view mirror. Software picks out objects and decides whether it is a pedestrian or cyclist. When either one enters a "time critical" zone — meaning one that they might not have time to get out of the way or the car to brake, the system switches to 'alert' mode.

Sensors in the car bumper detect the collision. Then the air bag deploys, covering the lower half of the windshield. Safety for cyclists is a particularly salient issue in the Netherlands, where the number of bicycles in the country has grown to more than 18 million.

And even though cycling in the Netherlands is relatively safe, there are still some 600 traffic deaths per year involving cyclists and pedestrians, and that number has remained relatively constant.