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

78  Lihue, Kauai
80  Honolulu, Oahu
76  Molokai
78  Kahului, Maui
82  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 743pm Monday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 77
Hilo, Hawaii – 73


Haleakala Summit –   39 (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.

 


Aloha Paragraphs

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b6/12/3b/b6123b01e67a6fe7ff4c96dc9a040607.jpg

December 30-31, 2013

Trade winds – becoming lighter into Tuesday…increasing
from the south and southwest later Wednesday into Friday

An active Pacific cold front will arrive Thursday night into
Friday…improving weather by the weekend

Showers locally around the Big island, some heavy with
flooding…a few elsewhere around the state

Flash Flood Watch…for the windward side of the
Big Island through 6pm Tuesday evening

Flash Flood Warning…Big Island windward side until
8am Tuesday morning





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

18  Port Allen, Kauai -NE
28  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
22  Molokai – NE
31  Lanai – NE
27  Kahoolawe – NE
27  Kapalua, Maui – NE
18  PTA West, Big Island – NW


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

0.40  Kilohana, Kauai
0.53  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
1.20  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.10  Kula Branch Station, Maui
10.27  Kawainui Stream, 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 ~~~



Trade winds becoming lighter Tuesday and Wednesday…then stronger and gusty from the south to southwest Thursday into Friday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the Pacific Ocean. ~~~ We find high pressure systems far to the northeast of the state, with a second closer high pressure cell north of Hawaii. At the same time, we see a low pressure system to our north-northeast, with the tail-end of its cold front over the ocean to the east of the Big Island. ~~~ The winds will come in from the trade wind direction, although won’t last much longer. These trades will ease up quite a bit during the day Tuesday into Wednesday. They will increase in strength, from the south to southwest Thursday into Friday. This will occur as our next cold front approaches the Aloha State then.

Improving weather for most of the state into mid-week…still some heavy passing showers, and thunderstorms over parts of the Big Island for the time being. Satellite imagery shows clouds over and around all the islands. The most prominent clouds however, are to the east of the Big Island, associated with a low pressure system to the northeast. This low and cold front continues to bring rainfall to parts of the Big Island…with thunderstorm activity as well. The other islands have low clouds, but aren’t seeing the heavy rains, with just a few light showers here and there. Here’s the looping radar image, showing showers offshore and over parts of the Big Island. These rain producing clouds will gradually ease up into the night, with drier weather expected over the next several days. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see how showers continue to be anchored over the Big Island…at least the windward side of that already soaked island! 

We had heavy flooding rains on the Big Island overnight, which have lasted through most of the day…at least locally. As noted above, an area of showery clouds brought lots of rainfall to the Big Island, and have hung in there along the windward sides during the day. All things considered though, we should see improving weather conditions Tuesday, even on the Big Island. ~~~ Looking ahead, it appears that New Year’s Eve and New Years Day will have lighter winds, which could prompt afternoon clouds around the slopes, with a few upcountry showers locally. The beaches should have nice weather, with generally dry conditions there. ~~~ As we move into the second half of this new week, the models are showing another cold front approaching the state. If the models are correct, it will bring locally gusty Kona winds (south to southwest) ahead of it, and rainfall to at least some parts of the state late Thursday into Friday. The latest model output now shows that conditions should improve by the weekend. I’ll be back early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Monday night here in the islands, or wherever you happen to be reading from! Aloha for now…Glenn.



World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


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. 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. 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: Tropical Cyclone 05S (Christine) remains active in the South Indian Ocean, here’s the JTWC graphical track map…and a satellite image – Final Warning

Tropical Cyclone 06S (Bejisa) is now active in the South Indian Ocean, here’s the JTWC graphical track map…and a satellite image.

Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)


Interesting: Water year round in the land of ice – In Greenland where three quarters of the land mass is covered by the earth’s only inhabited ice sheet, water is not so easy to obtain. University of Utah researchers however, have discovered a new reservoir/aquifer in Greenland’s ice sheet. The reservoir is known as a “perennial firn aquifer” and covers 27,000 square miles an area larger than the state of West Virginia. Called a firn because water persists within layers of snow and ice that doesn’t melt for at least one season, researchers believe the discovery will aid in the understanding of snowmelt and ice melt as it relates to rising sea levels.


“Of the current sea level rise, the Greenland Ice Sheet is the largest contributor — and it is melting at record levels,” says Rick Forster, lead author and professor of geography at the University of Utah. “So understanding the aquifer’s capacity to store water from year to year is important because it fills a major gap in the overall equation of meltwater runoff and sea levels.”


In southeast Greenland since 2010, Forster’s team is studying the variability of snowfall accumulation. The little studied area covers 14% of southeast Greenland but receives 32% of the entire ice sheet’s snowfall.


In 2010, the team drilled core samples in three locations and returned in 2011 to approximately the same area, but at lower elevation. Two of the four core samples taken in 2011 came to the surface with liquid water pouring off the drill amidst air temperatures of minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Water was found at 33 feet below surface at the first hole and at 82 feet in the second.


“This discovery was a surprise,” Forster says. “Although water discharge from streams in winter had been previously reported, and snow temperature data implied small amounts of water, no one had yet reported observing water in the firn that had persisted through the winter.”


The aquifer is similar in form to groundwater potable aquifers on land accept that water is stored in the airspace between ice particles, like the juice in a snow cone instead of between rocks. Forster adds. “The surprising fact is the juice in this snow cone never freezes, even during the dark Greenland winter. Large amounts of snow fall on the surface late in the summer and quickly insulates the water from the subfreezing air temperatures above, allowing the water to persist all year long.”