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

Lihue, Kauai –                       77  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –     81
 
Molokai airport –                    76

Kahului airport, Maui –           80 

Kona airport, Hawaii     –    81   
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 Sunday morning:

Hana airport, Maui – 72
Hilo airport, Hawaii – 65

Haleakala Summit    41     (near 10,000 feet on Maui)

Mauna Kea Summit – 23      (13,000+ 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 working.

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://www.wallcoo.net/nature/Sz_216_Hawaii_Sky_and_Sea_Aquamarine_1920x1200/images/Beach_and_Sea_of_Hawaii_JY160_350A.jpg
 

Some windward showers…continued strong trade winds
,
Small Craft Advisory for all marine zones of Hawaii

High Surf Advisory
for east facing shores of Kauai,
Oahu, Molokai, Maui…Big Island

~~~633am HST Sunday morning: clear, calm…
at my upcountry Kula, Maui weather tower: the
air temperature was 47.7F
degrees~~~


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

32       Waimea Heights, Kauai – ENE
38       Kuaokala, Oahu – NE

29       Molokai – NE
43       Kahoolawe – NE

35       Kahului, Maui – NE

40       Upolu airport, Big Island – NE 

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

 
0.15     Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.07     Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu

0.01     Molokai

0.00     Lanai
0.00     Kahoolawe

0.04     Puu Kukui, Maui

0.43     Kawainui Stream, 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 Narrative ~~~
 


Our trade winds will remain strong Sunday…reaching 40+ mph in gusts over those windiest areas at times. Here's a weather chart showing large high pressure systems far to the northeast and northwest of Hawaii. At the same time, we see deep storm low pressure systems far to the north and northwest. Our trade wind weather pattern will prevail, with the winds continuing to be stronger than normal. It appears that this blustery trade wind flow will continue through the first half of the new week, with a slow down occurring around next Friday into the weekend. We may even see light and variable winds, veering around to the southeast, as a late winter cold front approaches from the northwest.

Satellite imagery shows low clouds across parts of our islands, although most of them are upstream to the northeast…taking aim on our windward coasts and slopes. The overlying atmosphere remains quite dry and stable however, which should limit our incoming showers to some degree. This larger satellite picture shows large areas of bright white, high level cloudiness, far to the southeast, southwest, and and now to the north and northwest of the state. If we put this last satellite image into motion, it looks as if the southern edge of this high cloud shield may drop down over the state tonight into Sunday. 

The gusty trade winds will continue to be the name of the game across our beautiful Hawaiian Islands.  Saturday was one of those incredibly special days, with very few clouds, and even fewer showers. We can't seem to shake these gusty trade winds however, although it's not the worst thing in the world for sure. It looks like Sunday will continue to be like it was today, with little change in fact, through most of the new week ahead. If you're here on vacation, and of course if you're lucky enough to live here in Hawaii, we can bask in these favorably inclined late winter conditions.

I know some of you, those that live in areas exposed to the winds, or those of you who are out on the ocean [other than the windsurf and kite boarding communities], are wondering when these blustery winds will finally go away. It looks like that won't happen anytime soon I'm afraid, and we might have to wait until around next Friday, or even next weekend. A cold front will finally arrive, or at least get close enough to interrupt the trade wind flow then. This front's approach is still quite a ways into the future, so there will be necessary updates on the particulars, stay tuned. ~~~ I'll be back again with a few more updates this evening, and then again Sunday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise, and I do mean Paradise!  I hope you have a great Saturday 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:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Interesting:  Planet Earth did not warm as much in response to increases in green house gas emissions as expected. There appear to be other factors that influence global temperatures than green house gasses. A team led by the University of Colorado Boulder looking for clues about why Earth did not warm as much as scientists expected between 2000 and 2010 now thinks the culprits are hiding in plain sight — dozens of volcanoes spewing sulfur dioxide.

The study results essentially exonerate Asia, including India and China, two countries that are estimated to have increased their industrial sulfur dioxide emissions by about 60 percent from 2000 to 2010 through coal burning, said lead study author Ryan Neely, who led the research as part of his CU-Boulder doctoral thesis.

Small amounts of sulfur dioxide emissions from Earth’s surface eventually rise 12 to 20 miles into the stratospheric aerosol layer of the atmosphere, where chemical reactions create sulfuric acid and water particles that reflect sunlight back to space, cooling the planet.

The study results essentially exonerate Asia, including India and China, two countries that are estimated to have increased their industrial sulfur dioxide emissions by about 60 percent from 2000 to 2010 through coal burning, said lead study author Ryan Neely, who led the research as part of his CU-Boulder doctoral thesis.

Small amounts of sulfur dioxide emissions from Earth’s surface eventually rise 12 to 20 miles into the stratospheric aerosol layer of the atmosphere, where chemical reactions create sulfuric acid and water particles that reflect sunlight back to space, cooling the planet.

Neely said previous observations suggest that increases in stratospheric aerosols since 2000 have counterbalanced as much as 25 percent of the warming scientists blame on human greenhouse gas emissions.

"This new study indicates it is emissions from small to moderate volcanoes that have been slowing the warming of the planet," said Neely, a researcher at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a joint venture of CU-Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.