Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Tuesday:
80 Lihue, Kauai
79 Honolulu, Oahu
78 Molokai
M Kahului, Maui
83 Kona, Hawaii
81 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 Tuesday evening:
Kailua Kona – 79
Hana, Maui – 73
Haleakala Summit – 39 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 27 (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
blue and green equals light to moderate rain –
yellow/red – moderate to heavy
We’ll find humid southeast to southwest winds continuing…
generally on the light wide
Spotty showers falling locally at times, a few will be quite
generous into mid-week
A few windward showers will arrive as the trades return
briefly Friday and Saturday
A weak cold front will bring a few showers to Kauai and
Oahu Thursday and Friday, and then again Sunday…with
a more robust cold front around the middle of next week
A major high surf event will arrive along our north and
west shores Thursday through Friday
High Surf Advisory…north and west shores of Kauai,
Oahu and Molokai, and the north shores of Maui –
6am through 6pm Wednesday
The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Tuesday evening:
15 Puu Opae, Kauai – WNW
27 Waianae Valley, Oahu – SSW
18 Molokai – SW
18 Lanai – SW
21 Kahoolawe – SW
23 Kaupo Gap, Maui – SSE
27 Kaupulehu, Big Island – SW
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Tuesday evening (845pm totals):
1.39 Mana, Kauai
1.87 Palehua, Oahu
1.50 Molokai
1.18 Lanai
0.05 Kahoolawe
1.72 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.65 Waikii, 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 ~~~
Light southeast to southwest winds, although a brief period of trade winds may return Friday and Saturday…then back to light and variable breezes Sunday into early next week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. ~~~ We find a large, near 1038 millibar high pressure system over the ocean far to the northeast of the state…with an associated ridge of high pressure extending southwest over the Big Island. At the same time, we see a weak low pressure system just to our north moving north-northeast, with its associated front/trough near Kauai. These weather features will keep a light wind regime in places…although a bit stronger at times.
Satellite imagery shows areas of clouds over the state, dropping rain in places…mostly over the ocean at the time of this writing. There are several areas of clouds with embedded showers over the state, with thunderstorms over the ocean far to our northeast. Here’s the looping radar image, showing light to moderately heavy showers falling over the ocean locally…coming into our leeward sides locally. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can still see areas of deep clouds, and their associated rainfall, far to the east and north of Hawaii…along with those showery clouds being carried northeast across our area in places too.
We find a stubborn area of low pressure still near the state…keeping the threat of more showers in our forecast. We’ll continue to see showers falling, although they will be spotty…as they have been the last several days. There will be a couple of weak cold fronts that will be arriving over Kauai and possibly Oahu Thursday into Friday, and then again late this weekend…with little impact, although some modest increase in showers for those western islands. These weak fronts will usher in the trade winds each time. Then, the models have locked onto yet another cold front, which is expected to be quite a bit stronger, slated for the middle of next week. ~~~ I’ll be back early Wednesday morning with more information on all of the above, I hope you have a great Tuesday night wherever you happen to be spending it. 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 08S (Colin) remains active in the South Indian Ocean, here’s the JTWC graphical track map…and a NOAA satellite image
Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
Interesting: New Research Uses Popular Literature to Study Climate Change – Walden Pond isn’t just the site of Henry David Thoreau’s two-year stint in which he documented a more simple, natural life, it is now the subject of a climate change study that shows how leaf-out times of trees and shrubs have changed since the 1850s.
As a result of Thoreau’s observations, researchers at Boston University have revealed that the leaf-out times of trees and shrubs at Walden Pond are an average of 18 days earlier than observed by Thoreau in the mid 1800s.
“By comparing historical observations with current experiments, we see that climate change is creating a whole new risk for the native plants in Concord,” said Boston University Professor Richard Primack. “Weather in New England is unpredictable, and if plants leaf out early in warm years, they risk having their leaves damaged by a surprise frost. But if plants wait to leaf out until after all chance of frost is lost, they may lose their competitive advantage.”
However, not all plants respond in the same way, the result of which is that native species eventually may be threatened and lose competitive advantage to more resilient invasive shrubs such as Japanese barberry, according to a study published in the new edition of New Phytologist.
“We started to wonder if all trees and shrubs in Concord are equally responsive to warming temperatures in the spring,” says Caroline Polgar, a graduate student with Primack. What she found was surprising. “All species — no exceptions — are leafing out earlier now than they did in Thoreau’s time,” she said. “On average, woody plants in Concord leaf out 18 days earlier now.”
“Our current observations show that plants in Concord today are leafing out earlier than in Thoreau’s time in response to warm temperatures,” she said. “However, the experiments show that as spring weather continues to warm, it will be the invasive shrubs that will be best able to take advantage of the changing conditions.”
Matt Says:
Aloha Glen,
Perhaps you could comment on the consistently high winds over water on the Earth wind map you provided. Why are wind speeds consistently higher over water?
Thanks,
Matt~~~Hi Matt, good question, and the answer has a lot to do with the lack of friction over the water. There are all kinds of elevation changes, and mountains, and hills, and those kinds of gains over the land areas…which cause the winds to slow down. Aloha, Glenn
jeff mcconnel Says:
Aloha Glenn,
Reporting from Waikoloa Village at approximately 9pm on 1/14/14, we have had a large amount of heavy rain for the last 1 1/2 hours, estimating over an inch of the wet stuff. We love getting a burst like that in normally very arid Waikoloa…
Aloha~~~Hi Jeff, oh good, another cloudburst, and as you say, in an otherwise dry area of the state…good for you! We had some good evening rains here in normally quite dry Kula, Maui as well. Thanks for reporting in! Aloha, Glenn
Mary Says:
We had quite a cloudburst here in North Kihei at about 1:30 pm! Even saw a few flashes of lightning but no thunder. All is blue skies now, but there are clouds boiling up all around us. It sure did sweeten up the air after all that vog. Aloha, Glenn!~~~Hi Mary, good to hear of your heavy rains down that way, it made its way up here to Kula a bit later in the day too. Yes, the vog seems to have been ventilated, at least to some degree, as the winds picked up from the south and southwest today, which is good! Thanks for your report! Aloha, Glenn
Frank Parrino Says:
THOROUGH drenching last night Midnight to 4 a.m. TWO inches exactly in my rain gauge…West End Moloka’i. This follows .75 Inch on Sunday night. Great Winter so far this year.~~~Hey Frank, good to hear from you, been a while. Good to hear of your deluge, I know you appreciate it! We’ve missed most of it here in Kula, Maui, just a little here and there. Happy New Year my friend, Aloha, Glenn