Air Temperatures The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday:

89  Lihue, Kauai
86  Honolulu, Oahu
83  Molokai
85  Kahului, Maui
88  Kona, Hawaii
83  Hilo, Hawaii


Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops on Maui and the Big Island…as of 710pm Wednesday evening:


Port Allen, Kauai – 82
Hana airport, Maui – 75


Haleakala Summit –   46
(near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 39 (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.

 


Aloha Paragraphs



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IENctL2pP9A/Ttmb4Z2TQ4I/AAAAAAAAAu0/EsYpdm8A3uk/s1600/Hawaii.jpg


Our local winds…will be lighter than usual for a few more days

A few light windward showers…elsewhere at times




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

17  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
25  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
13  Molokai – NNE
22  Lanai – NE
23  Kahoolawe – NE
09  Lipoa, Maui – NE
31  Kohala Ranch, Big Island – NNE


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


0.01  Omao, Kauai
0.37  Wheeler Field, Oahu
0.14  Molokai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Lanai
0.17  Haiku, Maui
0.29  Puho CS, 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 Narrative ~~~



The trade winds will be lighter than usual into the first part of the weekend. Here’s a weather chart showing a large near 1026 millibar high pressure system located to the north-northwest of the islands. There will continue to be unusual softness in our trade wind flow through early Saturday. This will occur as an area of low pressure aloft edges towards our area, along with a surface cold front/trough to the northeast. These weather features will prompt a lighter wind pattern for a few days. The outlook suggests that moderately strong trade winds will rebound later Saturday for a few days. The models then show our winds easing back again starting Tuesday for several days.

Localized modest windward showers…a few afternoon upcountry leeward showers too. Satellite imagery shows just a few clouds upwind of the islands, being carried towards us on the north-northeast breezes. Here’s the looping radar image, showing a few light showers impacting parts of the state, focusing their efforts mostly towards the central islands…and to the southeast of the Big Island. As the clouds offshore to our north and northeast arrive at times, we’ll see shower activity picking up along our windward coasts and slopes. There are expected to be light shower bands arriving, in an off and on manner, over the windward sides through Saturday morning. Then, as the trades pick up again this weekend, those showers will diminish…followed by relatively dry weather for several days.


Reflections of Maui:
Here on Maui, and actually all of Maui County, Wednesday was mostly clear and dry.  This satellite image shows the clouds upstream of the islands, associated with an old cold front or trough, to be pretty minor at the time of this writing. The other islands in the chain had a little better luck receiving showers from this feature, although skipping Maui thus far. The winds are lighter now, and have a more northerly aspect, which is bringing our first little, and I mean very little, sign of autumn weather. It was a lovely day, with exceptionally good visibilities. I expect more or less similar weather conditions to prevail through the next day or two. The early morning low temperatures may be a degree or three below normal on Thursday. I’ll be back with your next new weather narrative early Thursday morning.  I hope you have a great Wednesday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean:
There are no active tropical cyclones

TROPICAL STORM FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

 

A TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED OVER WEST AFRICA IS EXPECTED TO MOVE
WESTWARD AT 10 TO 15 MPH...AND AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE COULD FORM
AFTER THE WAVE MOVES OFF OF THE COAST ON FRIDAY. SOME DEVELOPMENT
OF THIS LOW IS POSSIBLE LATE THIS WEEK OR EARLY THIS WEEKEND BEFORE
UPPER-LEVEL WINDS BECOME UNFAVORABLE BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS
SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE...10 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL
CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS...AND A MEDIUM CHANCE...30
PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 5 DAYS
WHILE IT MOVES NEAR THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS.

OTHER SYSTEMS WITH FORMATION POTENTIAL BEYOND 48 HOURS...

SHOWER ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH A TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED ABOUT 1300
MILES EAST OF THE LESSER ANTILLES REMAINS LIMITED. SLOW DEVELOPMENT
OF THIS DISTURBANCE IS POSSIBLE LATE THIS WEEK OR EARLY THIS
WEEKEND WHILE THE WAVE MOVES WESTWARD AT ABOUT 15 MPH AND
APPROACHES THE LESSER ANTILLES. AFTER THAT TIME...UPPER-LEVEL WINDS
COULD INHIBIT FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE...
NEAR 0 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48
HOURS...AND A LOW CHANCE...20 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL
CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 5 DAYS.


Caribbean Sea:
There are no active tropical cyclones


TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.


Gulf of Mexico:
There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)


Eastern Pacific:
Tropical storm 10E (Juliette) remains active offshore from the Mexican coast. Here’s a NHC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image.

A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE LOCATED ABOUT 850 MILES SOUTH-
SOUTHWEST OF THE SOUTHERN TIP OF THE BAJA CALIFORNIA PENINSULA IS
PRODUCING A LARGE AREA OF CLOUDINESS AND A FEW SHOWERS. ANY
DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED TO BE SLOW TO OCCUR DURING THE NEXT COUPLE
OF DAYS WHILE THIS SYSTEM MOVES NORTHEASTWARD OR NORTH-
NORTHEASTWARD AT ABOUT 10 MPH. THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE…10
PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS.

SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT IS NOT ANTICIPATED AFTER THAT TIME AS THE
LOW IS EXPECTED TO REACH COOLER WATERS IN TWO TO THREE DAYS. THIS
SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE…20 PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL
CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 5 DAYS.


SHOWER ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE LOCATED
ABOUT 1500 MILES WEST-SOUTHWEST OF THE SOUTHERN TIP OF THE BAJA
CALIFORNIA PENINSULA HAS CHANGED LITTLE OVER THE PAST FEW HOURS.
CONDITIONS ARE MARGINALLY FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM
DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS IT BEGINS TO MOVE SLOWLY NORTHWARD.
THIS DISTURBANCE HAS A LOW CHANCE…20 PERCENT…OF BECOMING A
TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS
…AND A MEDIUM CHANCE…
30 PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 5 DAYS.


Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.


Central Pacific Ocean:
There are no active tropical cyclones


Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)


Western Pacific Ocean:
Tropical storm 14W (Kong-rey) remains active in the Philippine Sea, here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image


South Pacific Ocean:
There are no active tropical cyclones

 

North and South Indian Oceans: There are no active tropical cyclones


Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)


Interesting: Magmatic Water Detected on Moon’s Surface – Lunar water, previously unknown to exist independently on the surface of the Moon, has recently been detected. This surface water, known as magmatic water, originated from deep within the Moon’s interior. This exciting discovery of internal water from orbit means that scientists can now begin to understand lunar water in a much broader context.


Published in Nature Geoscience, lead author Rachel Klima, planetary geologist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., of “Remote detection of magmatic water in Bullialdus Crater on the Moon,” states that these finding represent the first remote detection of magmatic water. According to Klima, “the discovery represents an exciting contribution to the rapidly changing understanding of lunar water.”


“For many years, researchers believed that the rocks from the Moon were ‘bone dry’ and that any water detected in the Apollo samples had to be contamination from Earth,” said Klima. “About five years ago, new laboratory techniques used to investigate lunar samples revealed that the interior of the Moon is not as dry as we previously thought. Around the same time, data from orbital spacecraft detected water on the lunar surface, which is thought to be a thin layer formed from solar wind hitting the lunar surface.”


“This surficial water unfortunately did not give us any information about the magmatic water that exists deeper within the lunar crust and mantle, but we were able to identify the rock types in and around Bullialdus crater,” said co-author Justin Hagerty, of the U.S. Geological Survey. “Such studies can help us understand how the surficial water originated and where it might exist in the lunar mantle.”


According to Klima, “The internal magmatic water provides information about the Moon’s volcanic processes and internal composition. Understanding this internal composition helps us address questions about how the Moon formed, and how magmatic processes changed as it cooled. There have been some measurements of internal water in lunar samples, but until now this form of native lunar water has not been detected from orbit.”


“Now we need to look elsewhere on the Moon and try to test our findings about the relationship between the incompatible trace elements (e.g., thorium and uranium) and the hydroxyl signature,” Klima said. “In some cases this will involve accounting for the surface water that is likely produced by interactions with the solar wind, so it will require integration of data from many orbital missions.”