Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / September 26-27, 2013

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

83  Lihue, Kauai
85  Honolulu, Oahu
88  Molokai
91  Kahului, Maui – record highest temperature on this date (Thursday) – 95 in 1953
86  Kona, Hawaii
86  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 Thursday evening:

Kahului, Maui – 80
Hana airport, Maui – 77

Haleakala Summit –     M (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit –  46 (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…with off and on passing
windward showers, some elsewhere 

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

18  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
24  Kahuku Trng, Oahu – ESE
25  Molokai – NE
30  Lanai – NE
30  Kahoolawe – ESE
30  Kahului, Maui – NE
28  South Point, Big Island – NE

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

1.90  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.73  Palisades, Oahu
0.17  Molokai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Lanai
0.21  Puu Kukui, Maui
1.21  Kainaliu, 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 be moderately strong for the most part…lasting through the second half of the week at least. Here’s a weather chart showing two near 1029 millibar high pressure centers to the northeast of the state. At the same time, we see two troughs of low pressure, one the west of Kauai…and the other well to the south of Kauai. The forecast has our trades continuing, well into the future…certainly into early next week.

There will be windward showers at times…stretching over into the leeward sides locally. Satellite imagery shows low level clouds surrounding the islands, in most directions. These clouds will bring showers along our windward coasts and slopes, in an off and on manner. At the same time, we see high cirrus clouds moving over the entire state at the time of this writing Here’s the looping radar image, showing light to moderately heavy showers moving by, mostly over the offshore waters, although arriving over the windward coasts and slopes here and there too.

In sum: weather charts show what looks like a continuation of our well established…early autumn trade wind weather pattern. These trade winds will persist through the next week, with no interruptions seen by the models from here. Weather maps also show a low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska, with its associated cold front draping southward, whose tail-end is located to the northwest of Hawaii. This frontal boundary won’t drop down into our area, but rather remain well north of our tropics…north of 30 degrees north latitude. Meanwhile, we see clouds upstream and downstream of the islands, which will keep our windward sides off and on showery, as they carried our way on the trades. Conditions should dry out some Friday into the weekend, although the showers won’t stop altogether. The high clouds which we’ve seen lately, have increased during the day, and will stick around overnight into Friday.  ~~~ I’ll be back with your next new weather narrative early Friday morning, I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

A LARGE AREA OF CLOUDINESS AND SHOWERS LOCATED OVER THE TROPICAL
ATLANTIC ABOUT 1000 MILES EAST OF THE LESSER ANTILLES IS ASSOCIATED
WITH A TROPICAL WAVE INTERACTING WITH AN UPPER-LEVEL LOW.
SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT IS NOT EXPECTED DUE TO STRONG UPPER-LEVEL
WINDS…AND THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE…10 PERCENT…OF BECOMING
A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS WHILE IT MOVES
NORTHWESTWARD AND THEN NORTHWARD AT ABOUT 15 TO 20 MPH. AFTER THAT
TIME…CONDITIONS WILL BE ONLY MARGINALLY CONDUCIVE FOR
DEVELOPMENT…AND THIS SYSTEM ALSO HAS A LOW CHANCE…20
PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 5 DAYS.

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

A WEAK AREA OF LOW PRESSURE CONTINUES TO PRODUCE DISORGANIZED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NEAR THE SOUTHWESTERN COAST OF MEXICO. 
SOME SLOW DEVELOPMENT IS POSSIBLE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS
WHILE THE LOW MOVES WESTWARD AT 5 TO 10 MPH...BUT UPPER-LEVEL WINDS
ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME UNFAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT BY EARLY NEXT
WEEK.  THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE...20 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. 
REGARDLESS OF DEVELOPMENT...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS ARE STILL POSSIBLE
NEAR THE SOUTHWESTERN COAST OF MEXICO FOR ANOTHER DAY OR TWO.

Interesting: Key European Wildlife Populations Make a Comeback – Populations of some of Europe’s key animals have increased over the past 50 years, according to recent research.

Species recovery

Through studying a total of 18 mammal and 19 bird species found across Europe, researchers found that key species, including grey wolves, brown bears and eagles, have increased in number in recent decades. This is welcome news for conservationists, as European animals have not always fared so well over the course of the last few centuries, with habitat loss, pollution and hunting all contributing to the decline of some of the continent’s most charismatic species.

The report, commissioned by conservation group Rewilding Europe, found that all species studied, with the exception of the Iberian lynx, have increased in number since the 1960s. The European bison, Eurasian beaver and white-headed duck were among some of the species whose populations had increased by more than 3,000% in the last 50 years, while several top predators such as the brown bear have doubled in number. The iconic grey wolf has seen serious losses in the past, but this latest research has shown positive progress in its conservation, with numbers climbing by a promising 30%.

Conservation works

“People have this general picture of Europe that we’ve lost all our nature and our wildlife,” said Frans Schepers, Director of Rewilding Europe. “I think what the rest of the world can learn from this is that conservation actually works. If we have the resources, a proper strategy, if we use our efforts, it actually works.”

The comeback of European wildlife began in the 1950s and 1960s, and although numbers aren’t anywhere near those present in the 1600s and 1700s, conservationists are encouraged by the increasing populations. It is thought that various factors have contributed to the boost in animal numbers, including better legal protection and hunting limits. In addition, more and more people are moving away from the countryside in favour of cities, leaving more space for wildlife.

Successful areas

Analysis of the research, carried out by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), BirdLife and the European Bird Census Council, found that the south and west of Europe showed the largest comeback for mammals, with the ranges of these species increasing by an average of about 30%. For bird species, average ranges remained stable.