Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / January 5-6, 2014

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

76  Lihue, Kauai
78  Honolulu, Oahu
77  Molokai
79  Kahului, Maui
82  Kona, Hawaii
75  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 Sunday evening:

Kailua Kona – 73
Lihue, Kauai – 63

Haleakala Summit –   28 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 14 (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

>Look for showers, some heavy with thunderstorms locally into
Monday…possibly longer on the Big Island and Maui. This
rainfall will be of a hit and miss nature…not a statewide
rainfall event – still very chilly! 

>Looking further ahead, there’s a chance that we may see another
storm system over the state next weekend…bringing heavy
rains, strong winds, and more thunderstorms to our islands –
stay tuned for more information on this potential weekend
Kona Storm

Small Craft Wind Advisory…statewide through the windiest
channel waters – through 6am Tuesday

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

21  Mana, Kauai – NNW
31  Kii, Oahu – NW
28  Molokai – NE
28  Lanai – NE
31  Kahoolawe – NNE
25  Kapalua, Maui – NNE
33  Kona Intl AP, Big Island – NNW

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

0.08  Kilohana, Kauai
0.33  Punaluu Stream, Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.09  Hana airport, Maui
0.76  Kaloko-Honokohau – 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 gradually shifting from the current north to northeast…back towards our more normal trade wind direction. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the Pacific Ocean. ~~~ We find a rather weak, near 1020 millibar high pressure system over the ocean to the north of the state. At the same time, we see numerous low pressure systems far to our northwest, north, and northeast…with an associated cold front stalled over the ocean to the southeast of the Big Island…and another front/trough to the north of Hawaii. The chilly north and northeast winds will gradually veer over to the more normal trade wind direction…bringing somewhat warmer air our way going forward.

Satellite imagery shows the cold fronts leftover clouds near the Big Island…with increasing clouds over the other islands. There are considerable low clouds just to the east of the Big Island, while Maui County and Oahu to Kauai…are beginning to see deeper cumulus clouds forming nearby. These towering cumulus clouds will begin dropping rainfall tonight, with some growing into thunderstorms as well. Here’s the looping radar image, showing showers falling over the ocean, most are light to moderately heavy, although there are a few heavy showers beginning to fall locally as well. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see the cold fronts clouds, near the Big Island, taking on a more robust look now. At the same time, we see an increasing amount of deeper clouds forming to the north and northwest of the state…which are heading our way. 

An upper level low pressure system, with its very cold air aloft, will destabilize our atmosphere now…lasting for a day or two.  We will see thunderstorm activity tonight into Monday, bringing unusual lightning and rumbling thunder to our islands…at least in places. The cold air aloft would help bring snow to the summits on the Big Island as well…perhaps a tiny bit of white stuff on the Haleakala Crater on Maui too? Speaking of which, the temperature atop the Haleakala Crater here on Maui, just before 8pm was a very chilly 28 degrees. The temperature atop the Mauna Kea summit on the Big Island, was a very cold 14F degrees at the same time!

I will be monitoring this situation very closely…fine tuning the particulars as we go. The one tricky part of this situation, is how much moisture will be available for this wet weather event. At the moment, the atmosphere is still quite dry, which will limit the coverage of rainfall…which shouldn’t make it all that widespread. However, if you find yourself under one of these localized heavy showers, or a thunderstorm…you’ll know it no uncertain terms! ~~~ Looking even further ahead, towards next weekend, the computer weather models are suggesting that we may have another storm brewing in our area, which would bring windy and rainy weather our way again then. The models have latched onto this Kona storm for several days now, which gives additional credence to its prospects. I’ll be bringing you more information on next weekend’s possible storm on a daily basis going forward. ~~~ I’ll be back at times tonight, especially if things get wild with rain and thunderstorms that wake me up. I’ll be back early Monday morning one way or another, with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you happen to be spending it. One more thing, drive carefully if you find yourself out on our wet streets! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday evening Film: This time I went to see another rather edgy film, like what I saw the previous Friday, which was called American Hustle. I joined seven friends this last Friday evening, in seeing one called The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Jean Dujardin, Rob Reiner, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Margot Robbie, Christin Milioti, Christine Eber-sole, Shea Whigham, among many others. The synopsis: This is the true story of the outlandish rise and non-stop pleasure-hunting descent of Jordan Belfort, the New York stockbroker who, along with his merry band of brokers, makes a gargantuan fortune by defrauding investors out of millions. Belfort transforms from a righteous young Wall Street newcomer to a thoroughly corrupted stock-pumper and IPO cowboy. Having quickly amassed an absurd fortune, Jordan pumps it back into an endless array of aphrodisiacs: women, Quaaludes, coke, cars, his supermodel wife and a legendary life of aspiration and acquisition without limits. But even as Belfort’s company, Stratton Oakmont, soars sky-high into extremes of hedonistic gratification, the SEC and the FBI are zeroing in on his empire of excess. 

I must admit, this all sounded rather fun, although the critics have been a bit less enthused. I’ve learned to not pay all that much attention to the reviews however, with this film coming in around the 75-80 out of 100 mark…not too bad. I mean lets face it…when is the last time Martin Scorsese made a bad film!? This film runs a full 3 hours long…and was the main complaint I heard from my friends afterwards, it was too long to sit there for so long. The group consensus overall, was a pretty resounding B grade, offset by one B- rating, and an even lower C grade from one lady in our group. I liked it, mostly for its wild and outlandish nature, although I’m sure that it gave a distorted view of Wall Street activities in general. It was a funny movie, really funny at times, with the theater cracking-up uproariously together. It was full of totally outrageous drug scenes, and lots of nudity too. Here’s a trailer, in cause you’d like to take a peek.



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.

Interesting: Thinning out on Antarctica – Pine Island Glacier, located in West Antarctica, is showing signs of thinning making it more susceptible to climatic and ocean variability than at first thought. Scientists led by the British Antarctic Survey have discovered large fluctuations in the ocean heat manifesting itself in the melting of the ice shelf into which the glacier flows. Between 2010 and 2012 the ice shelf into which the ice stream flows has decreased by 50%, most likely due to La Ninã, suggesting a complex interplay between geological, oceanographic and climatic processes.

Driven by acceleration in its flow, Pine Island Glacier has thinned continuously. The acceleration is thought to be caused by thinning of the floating ice shelf created as the glacier slides into the sea. Understanding the cause and effect between ice shelf thinning and glacial response is essential in assessing the contributions to rising sea levels.

Much of the thinning is due to a deep oceanic inflow of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) on the continental shelf neighboring the glacier. This warmer water then makes its way into a cavity beneath the ice shelf melting it from below.

In 2009, a higher CDW volume and temperature in Pine Island Bay contributed to an increase in ice shelf melting compared to the last time measurements taken in 1994. But observations made in January 2012, and reported now in Science, show ocean melting of the glacier was the lowest ever recorded. The top of the thermocline (the layer separating cold surface water and warm deep waters) was found to be about 250 meters deeper compared with any other year for which measurements exist.

This lowered thermocline reduces the amount of heat flowing over the ridge. High resolution simulations of the ocean circulation in the ice shelf cavity demonstrate that the ridge blocks the deepest ocean waters from reaching the thickest ice enhancing the shelf’s sensitivity to climate variability.

The temperature fluctuations may be explained by particular climatic conditions. In January 2012 the dramatic cooling of the ocean around the glacier is believed to be due to an increase in easterly winds from the La Ninã event in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Normally the winds flow from the west.

The study stresses the importance of both local geology and climate variability in ocean melting in this region.