Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday:
84 Lihue, Kauai
87 Honolulu, Oahu
86 Molokai
89 Kahului, Maui
84 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 510pm Thursday evening:
Honolulu, Oahu – 84
Hilo, Hawaii – 78
Haleakala Summit – 54 (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 be light to moderately strong, with fairly
normal weather on tap… through the rest of the week
Small Craft Wind Advisory…windiest coasts and
channels around Maui County and the Big Island
Nice sunset colors this evening…locally
The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Thursday evening:
20 Port Allen, Kauai, Kauai – ENE
29 Kahuku Trng, Oahu – SE
27 Molokai – E
27 Lanai – NE
35 Kahoolawe – ENE
23 Lipoa, Maui – E
29 Upolu airport, Big Island – NE
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Thursday evening:
2.14 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.16 Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.05 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.17 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.58 Glenwood, 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 ~~~
Our local trade winds will be light to moderately strong, picking up a bit Friday through the weekend into Monday…then yet another notch up in strength next Tuesday-Wednesday for several days. Here’s a weather chart showing a near 1030 millibar high pressure center far to the northeast of our islands, with a ridge of high pressure extending southwest from its center…into the area just north and northwest of Kauai.
There will be localized showers, mostly along our windward sides during the night and early morning hours. Satellite imagery shows low clouds over some parts of the island chain, and offshore to the southwest, northeast and east of the islands. At the same time, we see a large area of brighter white, higher level clouds over and around the eastern end of the state as well. Here’s the looping radar image, showing light showers moving by, mostly over the offshore waters…although over the islands in a few places too.
We’re returning to a normal, early autumn trade wind weather pattern, at least through Saturday. Looking beyond that, the models are pointing out another low pressure system dropping down over, or near the western side of the state Sunday into the early part of the new week ahead. This new low pressure system aloft, like the one that was around the last several days, may prompt another period of unsettled weather…especially over both Kauai and Oahu. There’s even the chance that we’ll see another round of heavy showers, or even thunderstorms then. As I’ve been saying lately, these new weather developments are sure signs that we’re leaving summer behind, and taking a look at the more fluid conditions associated with the month of October. This certainly doesn’t mean that we have lots more summer-like weather conditions ahead, which as a matter of fact, we’ll see over the next several days. ~~~ I’ll be back again early Friday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise, 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
Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean
Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones
Gulf of Mexico: Tropical storm 12L (Karen) is active in the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image
Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico.
Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)
Eastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones
SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE LOCATED ABOUT 600 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MANZANILLO MEXICO IS LIMITED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...SOME SLOW DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS AS THE DISTURBANCE MOVES GENERALLY WESTWARD AT 5 TO 10 MPH. THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE...10 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.
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: Typhoon 22W (Fitow) is active over the northwest Pacific. Here’s a JTWC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image
Tropical depression 23W is now active in the western Pacific. Here’s a 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: Are Sierra Nevada forest fires getting more severe? – A new scientific study finds that fire severity is not increasing in the forests of California’s Sierra Nevada. The findings are contrary to claims by those who have tried to use recent fires in the region to justify more logging in the state’s forests.
The study, by Dr. Chad Hanson of the John Muir Project, and Dr. Dennis Odion of the Earth Research Institute at University of California, Santa Barbara, was published in the International Journal of Wildland Fire. It found no trend of increasing fire severity in the Sierra Nevada management region in California over the past three decades. In fact, the study found that between 1984 and 2010, the amount of high-severity fire in the Sierra was lower than its natural level, before modern fire suppression.
“The scientific data is telling us that we need not fear fire in our forests. Fire is doing important and beneficial ecological work, and we need more of it, including large, intense fires,” said Hanson.
The publication comes as the U.S. Forest Service begins rewriting management plans for the Inyo, Sequoia and Sierra national forests; it runs counter to the longstanding claim that Sierra fires are becoming too severe. The study is the first to include all of the available fire data for the Sierra Nevada, and recommends shifting Sierra fire management away from a focus on reducing extent or severity of fire in wildlands, and to instead focus on protecting human communities from fire.
“For years now, claims about excessive high-severity fire have been used to try to justify unnecessary logging in California,” said Justin Augustine with the Center for Biological Diversity. “This new study is part of a growing body of scientific literature showing that what we actually need, ecologically speaking, is more fire on the landscape as well as an increased emphasis on making homes and buildings more fire safe.”
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