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

74  Lihue, Kauai
76  Honolulu, Oahu
71  Molokai
73  Kahului, Maui
81  Kona, Hawaii
83  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 – 75
Lihue, Kauai – 64


Haleakala Summit –   39 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 28 (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://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg

We’re seeing showers with a cold front near Maui County and the
Big Island…and showers elsewhere too – there’s a chance of some
heavy showers or even a thunderstorm today…especially on the
the Big Island and Maui County

Small Craft Advisory...coastal and channel waters

High Surf Advisory…on the north and west shores
of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, and the north facing shores
of Maui 

Wind Wind Warning…Big Island summits

Flash Flood Watch…Big Island

Winter Weather Advisory…Big Island summits

Wind Advisory…island of Lanai




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

28  Lihue, Kauai – N
31  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
27  Molokai – NNE
31  Lanai – NE
35  Kahoolawe – NNE
20  Lipoa, Maui – N
18  Kaloko-Honokohau, Big Island – NW


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Monday evening (545pm totals):

1.08  Kilohana, Kauai
0.83  St. Stephens, Oahu
1.20  Molokai
0.79  Lanai
0.58  Kahoolawe
1.17  Hana airport, Maui
1.12  Honokaa, 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 winds will be cool, from the north to northeast for the time being…locally strong and gusty. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. Here’s a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…centered on the Hawaiian Islands. ~~~ We find a gale low pressure system far to the north of Hawaii, with an associated cold front stalled over the eastern islands. At the same time, there’s a ridge of high pressure located over the ocean just to the east of the Big Island…and over the ocean to the north of the islands too. Cool north to northeasterly winds are blowing in the wake of the cold front, which will become stronger from the northeast into Thursday. The next cold front, forecast to arrive this coming weekend, will prompt southeast through southwest winds…which could become quite strong and gusty by Friday into the weekend.

Satellite imagery shows a cold front stalled between Maui County and the Big Island. There is a considerable amount of higher level clouds moving over the state too, those bright white clouds. Here’s the looping radar image, showing precipitation moving over Maui County and the Big Island…along with some showers in the wake of the front…over Kauai and Oahu as well. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see the long frontal cloud band stalling over the eastern islands, with brighter white, high and middle level clouds moving over the islands now too from the southwest and west. It appears that there are some embedded heavier showers coming towards the islands behind these high cirrus as well. Meanwhile, the front continues to bring light showers along its leading edge…and to the west of the frontal boundary as well.

The forecast continues calling for an upper level trough of low pressure moving over the state tonight into Tuesday. This trough with its cold air, is expected to enhance whatever showers that are over the state. We may see some generous rainfall here and there, especially over the eastern islands, associated with what’s left of the stalled cold front…with even a few thunderstorms popping-up here and there across the state. Looking further ahead, we’ll see a brief return of breezy northeasterly winds Wednesday and Thursday, before the air flow shifts back to the southeast, south and southwest, ahead of the next cold front slated to arrive this coming weekend. ~~~ I’ll be back early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Monday night wherever you’re spending it. Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui early this morning, at the 3,100 foot elevation, at my upper Kula, Maui weather tower, the outdoor air temperature sensor was reading a relatively warm 60.1F degrees early this morning. It’s still too dark for me to see what’s going on out there, although glancing at the latest radar image, it appears that we have showers on the way. I just went outside for a second, and found that it’s misting lightly. It’s just now getting light enough to see that this area in Kula, Maui is blanketed in rather thick fog…with no wind at all.

~~~ At 715am, the rains along the cold front are arriving here in upcountry Maui, falling in a light to moderately heavy fashion at the moment. The air temperature is still hovering right around 60 degrees.

~~~ It’s almost 11am, and its still misting, after a period of light rain earlier, the temperature has risen to 64.8 degrees, compared to 79 reading at the same time in Kailua Kona…where the cold front hadn’t reached.


~~~ It’s now early afternoon, and the ongoing mist and drizzle continues falling here in Kula. It’s making for our first period of prolonged showers in some time, while the temperature has risen to 67.6 degrees at 1235pm.

~~~ It’s 255pm, and we’re having some of the heaviest rains of the day, having recently shifted from the misty drizzle stage, to moderately heavy showers. The temperature has slipped too, down down at 64.

~~~ It’s now 530pm, and the misty drizzle continues to fall, from mostly cloudy skies, which has prevailed the whole day! The breeze is coming in from the north now, which is adding some coolness to our area. The air temperature at the moment was 61.2 degrees, and I definitely have a fleece parka on to keep warm. Just so you don’t think its this chilly down at the coast, at the same time, the Kahului airport was a warmer 70 degrees…although that’s cool for down there too. Meanwhile, looking at that satellite image up the page from here, those clouds coming our way, to the west and northwest, definitely look unstable. These are associated with that trough heading our way, which may intensify our local showers through Tuesday. As we get into Wednesday and Thursday, wet trade winds will likely prevail along our windward sides.

~~~ This will be the last update of the day, and what else is new…its still raining! It’s dark now at 845pm of course, although I can hear that the wind is coming up now, becoming quite gusty. The air temperature is a coolish 58.8, 10 degrees warmer than down at the Kahului airport at the same time. My friends are starting to ask me, when will this end, and my answer is…we have a ways to go still. It’s been a classic winter day here in the islands, cloudy, showery, and cool.



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: There are no active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting: Winter Olympic Games May Face Threats of Climate Change – With the Winter Olympics set to be held in Sochi, Russia starting February 7th, new reports are questioning whether the games will survive climate change in the future.


A new study conducted by the University of Waterloo says that most of the cities that have already hosted the Winter Olympics may be too warm to host the events again.


According to the study, only six of the previous Winter Olympics host cities will be cold enough to reliably host the games by the end of this century if global warming projections prove to be accurate.


The average February daytime temperature of Winter Games locations has steadily increased — from 0.4°C at Games held in the 1920-50s, to 3.1°C in Games during the 1960-90s, and 7.8°C in Games held in the 21st century.


The study finds that internationally renowned Olympic sites like Vancouver, Squaw Valley, USA, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and Sochi, Russia will no longer have climates suitable to reliably host the Games by the middle of the 21st century. With additional warming projected for later decades of this century, as few as six former host locations would be suitable.


“This report clearly points out the challenges that lie ahead for the Olympics because of climate change,” said Chris Steinkamp, executive director of Protect Our Winters. “It’s particularly powerful to see how past Olympic host cities could be impacted under a higher emission scenario, so hopefully this will serve as a wake up call to the IOC and world leaders that major commitments to carbon reductions need to be made.”


“Today it would be difficult to imagine successfully delivering the diverse Games program exclusively on natural ice and snow, as it was in the early decades of the Olympic Winter Games,” said Dr. Robert Steiger of the Management Center Innsbruck.


The study also examines how technological advancements and strategies developed over several decades have been used to manage weather risk at the Winter Olympics. Technology like snowmaking, track/jump refrigeration and high-resolution weather forecasting are now critical components of staging a successful Winter Games.


“Despite technological advances, there are limits to what current weather risk management strategies can cope with,” said Scott. “By the middle of this century, these limits will be surpassed in some former Winter Olympic host regions.”