Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / September 21-22, 2013

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

86  Lihue, Kauai
87  Honolulu, Oahu
85  Molokai
86  Kahului, Maui
85  Kona, Hawaii
84  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 543pm Saturday evening:

Honolulu, Oahu – 84
Hana airport, Maui – 77

Haleakala Summit –   55 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 63 (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 trade winds will remain active well
into the future…with passing windward
showers

Small Craft Wind Advisory… for the
windiest coasts and channels around
Maui County and the Big Island

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

24  Port Allen, Kauai – ENE
38  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
29  Molokai – ENE
39  Lanai – NE
36  Kahoolawe – NE
33  Kapalua, Maui – NE
29  Kamuela airport, Big Island – NE

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

0.63  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.17  Palisades, Oahu
0.30  Molokai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Lanai
1.06  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.40  Saddle Quarry, 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 continue, blowing generally in the moderately strong category…although stronger at times locally. Here’s a weather chart showing a large near 1025 millibar high pressure center to the north of the state, northwest. At the same time, we see a cold front extending out of a low pressure system over the west coast…to the northeast of Hawaii. The trade winds are forecast to last into the new week. There will be day to day variations, although 10-35 mph wind speeds should continue, with a few gusts over 40 mph at times too.

There will be a few windward showers tonight…mostly slated for the Big Island and perhaps Maui to Oahu. Satellite imagery shows much fewer lower level clouds, upstream of the islands to the northeast and east. There will continue to be windward biased showers, most notably during the night and early morning hours. Here’s the looping radar image, showing light showers moving by, mostly over the offshore waters…although coming into our windward sides in places too. The central islands from Oahu down through Maui are picking up the most frequent showers at the time of this writing.

This is the last full day of summer, with the Autumnal Equinox occurring tomorrow morning: The gusty, very late summer, trade winds will prevail into Sunday, providing generally fine weather. The trades today were gusting up over 40 mph this afternoon, although calmed down some around sunset. There are quite a few less clouds upstream of the islands tonight, at least compared to the bunches of showery clouds we saw this morning (Saturday). This doesn’t mean that we won’t have a few showers along our windward coasts and slopes tonight into Sunday morning.

~~~ My neighbor and visited the farmers market in Pukalani this morning, to pick up a few things for the upcoming week. I drove over to the windward side, in Haiku, to the Leilani Farm Sanctuary after breakfast, to take a tour of their farm. These folks take in abandoned animals, keeping them alive and well, which I very much respect. I happened to be the only one along for this tour, so I got the personalization provided by the owner of the property…which was very nice.  I hung around a while after the tour, and it began to rain…and was still lightly showering when I got to Paia, where I did my weekly shopping at the health food store.  I worked around this property with my neighbors later in the day. I just stood out and watched the last sunset of summer, as tomorrow it will be the first sunset of autumn. I’ll be back with more weather updates Sunday morning. I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday evening film: I’m going to take a chance on seeing what looks to be a good film on opening night. I typically don’t do this kind of thing, as I’m nervous that the theater will either be full, or I’ll have to sit too far forward. Actually, now that I think about it, if I got a bad seat I’d just get my money back and go next week. At any rate,this film is called Prisoners, starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Mellissa Leo, and Paul Dano, The synopsis: Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal in a story that poses the question: How far would you go to protect your child? Keller Dover (Jackman) is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces the only suspect’s release. Knowing his child’s life is at stake, the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?

~~~ This looked like an obviously very intense film, being called a mystery, suspenseful, and dramatic. The critics are giving this film high marks, and I like both the main actors, so I was looking forward to seeing it…although at the same time it looked pretty disturbing. I ended up liking this film very much, although it certainly wasn’t an uplifting few hours. This film was full of powerful performances, along with very rich story material. It was a penetrating piece of work, and I’m glad I didn’t end up having nightmares! I only had to close my eyes once, as I was too scared to watch this one particular scene. The fact that the story centered on two little girls being kidnapped, made it especially engrossing. The way this film begins, in a light-hearted manner was certainly not the way that it ended…no siree.  As for a grade, I’m going to have to give it an A-, as it was totally captivating, a real suspense thriller of the highest degree. Here’s the trailer to this film.

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

Interesting:  Misleading “Natural” Food Labels May Soon Be History – The only thing natural about the “natural” label is that such branding, naturally, often confuses consumers. But such misleading terms such as “natural” and “healthy” could soon become history, or at the very least score a makeover. Large food companies have hijacked such terms with dubious results—and never mind the fact “natural” is a loaded term. Is a food product only “natural” if it still has dirt on it after being yanked out of the ground? Is it still natural if ingredients, from whole wheat flour to goji berries to flax seeds, are pulverized, brominated, pasteurized and homogenized?

This labeling mayhem could change if The Food Labeling Modernization Act of 2013 becomes law. Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced the new legislation at a press conference on Capitol Hill yesterday. If passed, the law would revise the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 and force companies to become more transparent about their ingredients.

So what could change?

Well, watch for the term “natural” to disappear from packaging. If a food product contains any artificial ingredient, color or flavor, the use of “natural” on packaging would be prohibited. The same goes for any ingredient synthesized but has the same chemical structure as what occurs in nature. Chemical additives such as high fructose syrup, maltodextrin and cocoa processed with alkali would also force companies to nix the natural label. Manufacturers of smoked, pickled and fermented foods, however, would still be able to use “natural” on their packaging as long as the other new requirements were followed.

Watch for the “healthy” label to also decline in use if the law passes. In the case of wheat-based products, the food would not be considered “healthy” if less than half of its weight came from whole grains.