Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday:
86 Lihue, Kauai
89 Honolulu, Oahu
86 Molokai
90 Kahului, Maui
87 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 843pm Friday evening:
Kailua Kona – 82
Hilo, Hawaii – 74
Haleakala Summit – 46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 39 (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 working.
Aloha Paragraphs
Our local trade winds will pick up later Saturday into Sunday
A few light windward showers…nothing too heavy
The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Friday evening:
20 Port Allen, Kauai – SE
28 Kuaokala, Oahu – ENE
23 Molokai – ENE
23 Lanai – NE
29 Kahoolawe – ESE
23 Kahului, Maui – NE
24 South Point, Big Island – NE
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Friday evening:
0.06 Puu Opae, Kauai
0.11 Moanalua RG, Oahu
0.02 Molokai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.00 Lanai
1.17 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.67 Waikii, 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 a bit lighter than usual into Saturday…then begin increasing in strength later in the day. Here’s a weather chart showing a near 1022 millibar high pressure system located to the north-northwest of the islands…along with a couple of high pressure cells to the northeast. At the same time, there’s a surface trough of low pressure over the ocean just to the north of the islands. There will continue to be a bit of a softness in our trade wind flow through Saturday morning. The forecast is for somewhat stronger trade winds rebounding later in the day into Sunday…for a few days. The models then show our winds easing back again starting around the middle of the new week for several days.
Localized windward showers…mostly during the night and early mornings. Satellite imagery scattered low level clouds out over the ocean, a few of which are covering parts of the islands too…especially the Big Island and parts of Maui at the time of this writing. Here’s the looping radar image, showing a few light to moderate showers offshore of the islands. As the clouds offshore to our north and northeast arrive at times, we’ll see some shower activity along our windward coasts and slopes. The afternoon upcountry showers will fade Saturday through Monday, replaced by a few windward showers.
Reflections from Maui: Here on Maui early this evening, skies were starting to clear up…after lots of showers over the slopes of the Crater during the afternoon. The air temperature here in Kula at 540pm was 71.4F degrees, while down at the airport in Kahului at about the same time, it was 85 degrees. We’ve seen somewhat lighter than usual trade winds the last several days. However, as we move into the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend, we should see the trade winds rebounding to some degree. It appears that somewhat drier air is beginning to nose back into our area from the east. This suggests that the afternoon showers we’ve seen the last few days, will give way to a few more windward biased showers arriving…mostly during the night and early morning hours. I’ll be back with your next new weather narrative early Saturday morning, I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Friday evening film: There continue to be lots available films to see, many of which look really good. I’m going to see one that I’m afraid will be leaving soon, even though it just got to Maui last weekend. It’s called Blue Jasmine by Woody Allen, starring Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale...among many others. Here’s the synopsis: Woody Allen trades New York City for San Francisco with his comedy-drama Blue Jasmine, starring Cate Blanchett as a troubled former Manhattanite who moves to the City by the Bay to live with her sister after her wealthy husband divorces her. Forced to put her life back together piece by piece while under the effect of powerful anti-depressants, she dates a series of men, attempts to build a career, and slowly learns how to count on herself to survive. This film is getting high grades, and looks good, plus I typically enjoy seeing Woody Allen films. So, I’ll head down to Kahului to see this film, and give you my thoughts on it in the morning. Here’s a trailer in case you are curious.
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 BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ASSOCIATED WITH A TROPICAL WAVE IS LOCATED NEAR THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS APPEAR CONDUCIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT WHEN THE LOW REACHES THE ATLANTIC OCEAN...AND THIS SYSTEM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME A TROPICAL DEPRESSION DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS IT MOVES TOWARD THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS. AFTER THAT TIME...CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE LESS CONDUCIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT AS THE DISTURBANCE MOVES TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST OVER THE EASTERN ATLANTIC. THIS SYSTEM HAS A MEDIUM CHANCE...50 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS...AND A MEDIUM CHANCE...50 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 5 DAYS. WHETHER OR NOT THIS DISTURBANCE BECOMES A TROPICAL CYCLONE...IT WILL LIKELY BRING CLOUDINESS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO PORTIONS OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. A TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED ABOUT 500 MILES EAST OF THE LESSER ANTILLES IS MOVING INTO AN AREA OF UNFAVORABLE UPPER-LEVEL WINDS AND DRY AIR ALOFT. DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AS IT MOVES WESTWARD AT AROUND 15 MPH...AND THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE...NEAR 0 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS. CONDITIONS MAY BECOME A LITTLE MORE CONDUCIVE FOR SOME DEVELOPMENT AFTER 48 HOURS AS THE WAVE MOVES INTO THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA...AND THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE...10 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 depression 11E is now active in the NE Pacific, here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image
OTHER SYSTEMS WITH FORMATION POTENTIAL BEYOND 48 HOURS…
AN AREA OF DISTURBED WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO FORM A COUPLE HUNDRED MILES SOUTH OF THE SOUTHERN COAST OF MEXICO IN A FEW DAYS. IT APPEARS THAT CONDITIONS WILL BE CONDUCIVE FOR SOME SLOW DEVELOPMENT OF THIS DISTURBANCE...WHICH IS FORECAST TO MOVE SLOWLY TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST. THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE...NEAR 0 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 depression 14W (Kong-rey) remains active in the NW Pacific, here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image – Final Warning
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: Hidden Mega-Canyon Discovered in Greenland – With Google’s street-view technology, one would think the entire Earth has been mapped. However, scientists from Bristol’s School of Geographical Sciences have recently discovered a mega-canyon hidden deep beneath Greenland’s ice sheet.
Using data collected by researchers from the UK and Germany and NASA over the last few decades, scientists analyzed thousands of kilometers of airborne radar data. They were finally able to piece together the landscape buried deep below the ice sheet covering Greenland. The final product revealed a previously unknown canyon, two kilometers under Greenland’s ice sheet. The canyon is comparable to that of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA with a depth of 800 meters and at least 750 kilometers long.
According to Professor David Vaughan, ice2sea coordinator based at the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, “A discovery of this nature shows that the Earth has not yet given up all its secrets. A 750km canyon preserved under the ice for millions of years is a breathtaking find in itself, but this research is also important in furthering our understanding of Greenland’s past. This area’s ice sheet contributes to sea level rise and this work can help us put current changes in context.”
The radar data consisted of radio waves, which have the capability to travel through ice until they hit the bedrock. The continual bouncing of radio waves off of bedrock allowed researchers to map a continuous bedrock canyon that extends from almost the center of Greenland to the northernmost extremity in a deep fjord connecting to the Arctic Ocean.
Michael Studinger, Operation IceBridge Project Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center said: “Two things helped lead to this discovery. It was the enormous amount of data collected by IceBridge and the work of combining it with other datasets into a Greenland-wide compilation of all existing data that makes this feature appear in front of our eyes. It is quite remarkable that a 750km-long channel the size of parts of the Grand Canyon is discovered in the 21st century below the Greenland Ice Sheet. It shows how little we still know about the bedrock below large continental ice sheets.”
Researchers believe that this mega-canyon plays a vital role in transporting sub-glacial meltwater from the interior to the edge of the ice sheet and into the ocean. Evidence suggests the canyon was part of a major fluvial system and provided a pathway for water from the interior to the coast.