Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday:
81 Lihue, Kauai
82 Honolulu, Oahu
85 Molokai
86 Kahului, Maui
83 Kona, Hawaii
77 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 910pm Friday evening:
Kailua Kona – 78
Hilo, Hawaii – 68
Haleakala Summit – 46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 34 (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 winds will gradually turn lighter from the east-southeast,
then southeast to south – becoming voggy this weekend
Partly cloudy, with cloudy periods, a few windward showers…
along with a few afternoon showers falling over the slopes
There’s a good chance of rains, or even a thunderstorm late
Saturday into early next week…first on Kauai and Oahu, then
Maui County and the Big Island later Sunday into Monday
High Surf Warning…Kauai
High Surf Advisory…building northwest swell from Oahu
down to Maui County
Small Craft Advisory…for rising surf along the north and west
shores of Kauai down through Maui County and the Big Island
Geminid Meteor Shower – early Saturday morning…
best times between moonset and dawn
Saturday moonset ~411am – sunrise ~701am
The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Friday evening:
08 Port Allen, Kauai – NE
17 Kii, Oahu – ESE
21 Molokai – SE
24 Lanai – NE
27 Kahoolawe – ENE
16 Lipoa, Maui – SE
22 Upolu airport, Big Island – NE
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Friday evening:
0.62 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
2.34 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.11 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.09 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.28 Mountain View, 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 winds will gradually give way to lighter south to southeast breezes from Kauai down through Oahu…although east-southeast to southeast breezes may stick around on the Big Island and Maui into the weekend. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the Pacific Ocean. We find a near 1030 millibar high pressure system far to the northeast of the state. At the same time we see a couple of deep storm low pressure systems far to our north and north-northeast, with an associated cold front stalled to our northwest. There are several other storms to the northwest, with an associated cold front, that’s approaching the state. As our winds come in from the southeast direction…there will be volcanic haze (vog) being carried up over the smaller islands locally.
We’ll find a few showers along our windward sides…although with a few over to the leeward slopes during the afternoons too…as the lighter wind flow arrives. Satellite imagery shows areas of low level clouds over and around the islands, although they’re difficult to see through high clouds. We also see an area of brighter white, high cirrus clouds moving over the island chain too. These cirrus will filter and dim our sunshine, and the moonlight tonight. Finally, we see a few thunderstorms well offshore to the west and northwest of Kauai. Here’s the looping radar image, showing just a few showers falling over the windward sides of islands, along with some heavier showers over the Koolau Mountains on Oahu…at least at the time of this writing.
Our weather will be generally pleasant into Saturday…leading to more noticeable weather changes Saturday night into Sunday and Monday. A frontal system is currently moving towards our area from the northwest, although will briefly stall tonight into Saturday morning. As this stalled front gets a push from an upper level trough of low pressure, moving down towards us from the northwest…it will progress down into the state Saturday evening into Sunday. This should bring moisture over the state, and with the upper trough’s cold air aloft, the chance of thunderstorms into Monday. The models are trying to bring the trade winds back over us by Tuesday or so, and likely a return of windward biased showers then too. This outlook will all need fine tuning as usual, which I’ll be doing on a daily basis going forward. I’ll be back again early Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Geminid Meteor Shower Observation: I got up this morning at 445am, and sat out on my weather deck in the dark for 45 minutes. The skies here on Maui were fairly clear, although there was a thin veil of high cirrus clouds. I meditate Monday through Friday mornings between 445 and 530, so I’m accustomed to being awake, which made it easier to take a semi-prone position on a reclining deck chair. Nonetheless, it’s not that easy to stay completely focused, with your eyes peeled on the slightly hazy sky. I was lucky enough to see 22 “shooting stars” however! The first 21 were small to very small, although definitely large enough to tick off in my counting. The 22nd however was large enough that it had a tail, and was exciting to see. I’m glad that I took advantage of this opportunity, and if everything goes according to plan, I’ll be outside again early Saturday morning…for another session.
Friday evening film: There are so many good films that come out during the holidays! The one I’m going to see this time is called Out of the Furnace, starring Christian Bale, Zoe Saldana, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard, and Forest Whitaker, and Willem Dafoe…among many others. The synopsis: From Scott Cooper, the critically-acclaimed writer and director of Crazy Heart, comes a gripping and gritty drama about family, fate, circumstance, and justice. Russell Baze (Christian Bale) has a rough life: he works a dead-end blue collar job at the local steel mill by day, and cares for his terminally ill father by night. When Russell’s brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) returns home from serving time in Iraq, he gets lured into one of the most ruthless crime rings in the Northeast and mysteriously disappears. The police fail to crack the case, so – with nothing left to lose – Russell takes matters into his own hands, putting his life on the line to seek justice for his brother. ~~~ To tell you the truth, I’m a bit nervous about seeing this film, as the trailer makes it look very rough. I typically would see these types of film with someone, or a few other friends, although this time…I’m on my own. As I may have told you before, I’m not above closing my eyes briefly, during those particularly intense sections. At any rate, I’ll let you know what I thought early Saturday morning. I’m afraid I’m not going to be providing the trailer for you to see!
World-wide tropical cyclone activity:
Atlantic Ocean: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th…and has now ended
Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean
Caribbean Sea:
Gulf of Mexico:
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: The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15th through November 30th…and has now ended. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary
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: The Central Pacific hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th…and has now ended. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary
Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)
Western Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones
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: Rodent Study Questions Common Understanding of Evolution – According to new research, studying the rodent family tree can shed some light on how species evolve after they move into a new area.
Conducted in part by researchers at Florida State University, the study of the evolutionary history of rodents calls into doubt a generally held understanding that when a species colonizes a new region, evolution leads to a dramatic increase in the number and variety of species.
“Biological diversification, or adaptive radiation, is generally thought to be the major explanation for diversification across all of life,” said Scott J. Steppan, a Florida State University professor of biological science. “One of the most fundamental questions in biology is why some groups of plants and animals have lots of species and others do not. To address this question, we developed the most comprehensive DNA-based family tree of the most evolutionally successful group of mammals — the muroid rodents.”
In the study, “Ecological Opportunity and Incumbency in the Diversification of Repeated Continental Colonizations by Muroid Rodents,” researchers used the phylogeny, or evolutionary family tree, of these rodents to test whether the adaptive radiation model of biological diversification actually is as common as presumed.
As part of the study, the researchers demonstrated that muroids have colonized continents at least 28 times. Muroids include most of the species used in biomedical research, such as mice, rats, hamsters and gerbils.
When a species first colonizes a new area with no close competitors, biologists would expect the rate at which new species are created to increase rapidly. Then, adaptation into new niches should make the descendent species very different from one another. Finally, as niches fill up, these first two processes should slow down.
“In this study, we discovered that contrary to expectations, colonizing even entire continents does not generally lead to a rapid adaptive radiation, thus calling into question this model as a general explanation about the diversity of life on Earth,” Steppan said.
The study is published in the journal Systematic Biology.
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