Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / February 7-8, 2013

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

Lihue, Kauai –                        77  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –     82  
Molokai airport –                    80
Kahului airport, Maui –           80 
Kona airport     –                   81   
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 Friday morning:

Lihue, Kauai – 72
Kahului, Maui – 65

Haleakala Summit –   39     (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 30      (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.

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

High Surf Advisory for north and west shores of Niihau,
Kauai, Oahu, Molokai…and north shores of Maui

Small Craft Advisory for rising swells northwest of Maui

Showers at times…windward sides generally

~~~530am HST Friday morning: clear and calm…at my
upcountry Kula, Maui weather tower: 50.7F degrees~~~

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

12       Poipu, Kauai – NE
18       Bellows, Oahu – NE
25        Molokai – ENE 
15       Kahoolawe – NE
13       Lipoa, Maui – NE
22       PTA West, Big Island – SE

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of late Thursday evening:
 
0.27     Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.89     Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.01     Molokai
0.01     Lanai
0.00     Kahoolawe
3.59     Puu Kukui, Maui
5.60     Laupahoehoe, 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 trade winds will remain active, although gradually slowing down through Saturday…then increase again later Sunday into next week. Here's a weather chart showing a large, near 1033 millibar high pressure system located to the northeast of Hawaii. At the same time, we see gale and developing storm low pressure systems far to our northwest. Our trade wind weather pattern will continue through the remainder of this week, ranging between light to moderate…then increasing again later this weekend into next week.

Satellite imagery shows just a few low clouds over and around the islands this evening. There will continue to be some showers overnight into Friday morning however, focusing most intently on the Big Island and perhaps Maui it appears.  A weakening cold front will approach the state this weekend, although looks like it will pass by to the north of the islands. This suggests that our weather will remain pretty good, especially along our leeward sides. As the trade winds will be blowing, there will be those common windward passing showers. As the front moves away to the northeast later Sunday into Monday, the trade winds speeds will increase into the new week. ~~~ I'll be back early Friday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Thursday night! 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:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Interesting:  On Wednesday, President Barack Obama nominated REI CEO Sally Jewell to be the next Secretary of the Interior. Jewell, who took over REI in 2005, has a record both as a successful businesswoman and a longtime conservation advocate. REI, which was founded in 1938, grew rapidly under Jewell's tenure, and the company today operates over 100 stores in around 30 states.

Jewell's resume, which includes a stint for the Mobil oil company as well as 20 years in the banking sector, belies simple categorization of her as a environmentalist. Still, Jewell's record at REI suggests that she will add another environmentally conscientious voice to the group of advisors on which the president will rely when crafting U.S. energy policy during his second term.

Jewell has received a slew of accolades for her environmental leadership, including the 2009 Rachel Carson Award for environmental conservation from the Audubon Society and the 2009 Green Globe — Environmental Catalyst Award from King County, Wash., among others. In 2010, Jewell was invited to speak on a panel at the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors.

At the time, the CEO applauded the Obama administration and the Department of the Interior “for taking a ‘listen and learn’ approach on how to remove barriers and identify solutions for enriching our public land legacy.”

Jewell likely faces harsh questioning during her confirmation hearings, especially from Congressional Republicans who have been openly hostile to efforts to mitigate climate change and have urged the administration to ease restrictions for oil and gas companies seeking to lease public lands.

But Jewell’s experience as a CEO and her time spent at Mobil may help allay Republican fears that Jewell will be hostile to business, significantly increasing her chances of passing muster at confirmation hearings.

Assuming she can get through confirmation, President Obama will have himself an Interior Secretary who has been warmly embraced by several prominent leaders in the environmental movement. Frances Beinecke, who as President of the Natural Resources Defense Council is one of the most important environmental voices in the United States, lauded Obama’s pick.

“Jewell’s unique experience and her love of America’s outdoors will be invaluable to the stewardship of the waters, lands and wildlife we’ve been entrusted to protect for our children,” she said. Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen echoed this sentiment, saying, “We are pleased with the administration’s pick and look forward to working with Sally Jewell.

Her professional and personal commitment to conservation will be invaluable to running DOI.” Jewell’s nomination is just the latest in a series of moves the President has made that signal his seriousness about tackling climate change.

In his second inaugural address, Obama directly challenged climate deniers, unequivocally stating, “We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.”

In subsequent weeks, Obama has promoted or appointed a series of climate champions to key advisory roles, including Denis McDonough as White House Chief of Staff, John Kerry as Secretary of State, and either Bob Perciasepe or Gina McCarthy, one of whom is expected to replace outgoing administrator Lisa Jackson as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

If confirmed, Jewell will have big shoes to fill in succeeding outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who announced on Jan. 16 that he would step down by the end of March. Salazar’s most significant contribution to long-term U.S. energy strategy was his plan to set aside hundreds of thousands of acres of Western land for the future development of solar and wind power.

At the time of Salazar’s announcement, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said: “We look forward to building on his achievements with his successor, working to designate new national monuments and keeping dirty energy developers off our public lands and out of the Arctic.”