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

73  Lihue, Kauai
81  Honolulu, Oahu
83  Molokai
82  Kahului, Maui
85  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 810pm Thursday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 76
Lihue, Kauai – 67


Haleakala Summit –   43 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 36 (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-cd0.pinimg.com/736x/ea/8c/23/ea8c23188ffa1dd5d10f9c95604cdea7.jpg


February Full Moon…today


A cold front is bringing showers to Kauai…
Oahu

Sun and Moon dimming high cirrus clouds

Strengthening northeast winds over the
western islands…gradually spreading
down the island chain into Saturday

Wet trade winds today and Saturday over
Kauai and Oahu…generally dry elsewhere –
wet weather late Sunday through next
Tuesday statewide…potentially very wet

Small Craft Wind Advisory…Kauai down
through Maui County

High Surf Advisory…north facing shores








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

25  Poipu, Kauai – NNE
31  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
16  Molokai – ESE
15  Lanai – NE
18  Kahoolawe – E
12  Lipoa, Maui – NE
17  Upolu airport, Big Island – NE


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

4.38  Hanalei, Kauai
0.33  Moanalua RG, Oahu
0.03  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.03  Kahoolawe
0.06  Haiku, Maui
0.54  Pahoa, 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 ~~~



Winds quite light, although locally stronger over the western islands…strengthening trade winds statewide into Saturday. 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 low pressure system far to the northeast of the islands…with a trailing cold front near Kauai and Oahu. At the same time, we see high pressure systems well offshore to the northeast of Hawaii, and far northwest…with ridges extending into the area north and northeast of Hawaii. We’ll find trade winds filling into the state Friday and Saturday.  A Kona low pressure system to the west of the state will move into the area this weekend into early next week, bringing south and southwesterly winds.

Satellite imagery shows considerable clouds over and around the islands, although with some clear to partly cloudy areas in a few places too. Most of this cloudiness, or at least a large part, consists of high and middle level clouds…which will greatly dim our Hawaiian sunshine over the next few days. Here’s the looping radar image, showing showers mostly offshore around the western islands. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see an area of high clouds to our south, southwest, west, northwest through north. These clouds are showery in places, with a few possible downpours associated with the cold front, about to stall and dissipate near Kauai and Oahu.  Showers will gradually spread down across Oahu, especially along our windward sides…although not exclusively. Maui County and the Big Island will see less rainfall than our neighbors to the west.

The models continue to suggest that the trade winds will falter this weekend into early next week, with south and southwest winds taking their place. Those same models are locating a Kona low pressure system to the west of the state this weekend into early next week. Kona low pressure systems are infamous for bringing wet to very wet weather to our islands. Their counterclockwise circulation can bring copious rainfall to the islands at times, and are known for their flooding potential. They can kick up strong south and southwesterly winds in some cases. The brunt of this inclement weather will arrive Sunday into Tuesday, particularly on Kauai and Oahu. The trade winds should return, with improving weather during the second half of the new week ahead. This Kona low pressure system will require fine tuning over the next few days, in terms of discerning exactly what kind of weather it will bring…and where. I’ll be back early Friday morning with more news on all of the above, I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui, at the 3,100 foot elevation, at my upper Kula, Maui weather tower, the air temperature was 56.5F degrees at 610am on this early Thursday morning. At 745am, the middle level clouds, called altocumulus, lit up a beautiful pink color…as sunrise is occurring here on Maui! Glancing away from the eastern skies, towards the west, I can see clear to partly cloudy skies out that way. At the same time, I see moderately thick volcanic haze (vog) down in the Central Valley too. It’s a pretty good start to our day, different than what’s happening up towards Kauai, where there’s thunderstorms roaming the waters offshore from there. As I was mentioning above, we have wetter weather conditions that will be part of our circumstances over the next few days, again first on Kauai and then Oahu. As we get into Sunday and next Monday, the chances are increasing for an even wetter situation, with a good chance of flooding rainfall arriving from Kauai down to Maui County…and perhaps all the way down to the Big Island. At 700am there was a report, by a Hawaii pilot, of several waterspouts being reported over the waters near Kauai.

~~~ Ok, we’re into the afternoon hours now, with cloudy skies, and thick volcanic haze again at 130pm. It’s very cloudy, and every once in a while, it feels as if its going to start raining…although hasn’t yet. I doubt whether we’ll get much rainfall here on Maui, although the other islands are more likely to get some. The sun just poked out, as it continues to do every once in a while, although it doesn’t stay out long. I’m about ready to go down and juice some organic wheat grass, along with parsley, broccoli leaves, and kale too. I’ll get some organic cottage cheese out, with some carrot and beet pieces…and a few sea weed crackers.

~~~ As it is now, at 545pm, our Hawaiian sunshine is going to be in short supply over the next several days. It was mostly cloudy here in Kula, with an air temperature of 68.7 degrees. The volcanic haze is definitely back in a big way, it seems to be coming and going of late. As the trade winds return Friday into Saturday, they should give this voggy weather a boot…hopefully. Here at 840pm, with high clouds overhead, providing a halo around the near full moon, its a relatively warm 63.1 degrees. The rains around the state now aren’t here on Maui or the Big Island…but up on Kauai and Oahu. A flood advisory was in effect until 1045 pm, which may expire then, or get extended.

Fun Video…watch a cat riding a skateboard!



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 14S (Fobane) remains active in the South Indian Ocean. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a satellite image.

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


Interesting: Urban Bees Start Using Plastic Waste to Build Hives – Urban bees have started using bits of discarded plastic bags and plastic building materials to construct their nests, according to a new study of their behavior.


It’s an important discovery because it shows bees’ resourcefulness and flexibility in adapting to a human-dominated world, says lead author Scott MacIvor of the University of Guelph.


“Plastic waste pervades the global landscape,” said MacIvor. “Although researchers have shown adverse impacts of the material on species and the ecosystem, few scientists have observed insects adapting to a plastic-rich environment.


“We found two solitary bee species using plastic in place of natural nest building materials, which suggests innovative use of common urban materials.”


Figuring out that the bees were using plastics in place of natural materials took some detective work by U of G’s Andrew Moore, supervisor of analytical microscopy at Laboratory Services.


Moore analyzed a grey “goo” that MacIvor discovered in the nests of one kind of bee, Megachile campanulae, which uses plant resins to build its nests. “Scott thought it might be chewing gum originally,” Moore said. His team uses a scanning electron microscope to take highly detailed pictures of items, x-ray micro-analysis to determine the elements in the sample and infrared microscopy to identify polymers.


The results revealed that the bee species was occasionally replacing plant resins with polyurethane-based exterior building sealant, such as caulking, in its brood cells – created in a nest to rear larva.


The researchers also discovered another kind of bee, Megachile rotundata, an alfalfa leaf cutter, was using pieces of polyethylene-based plastic bags to construct its brood cells. The glossy plastic replaced almost one-quarter of the cut leaves normally used to build each cell.


Markings showed that the bees chewed the plastic differently than they did leaves, suggesting that the insects had not incidentally collected plastic. Nor were leaves hard to find for the bees in the study.


“The plastic materials had been gathered by the bees, and then worked — chewed up and spit out like gum — to form something new that they could use,” Moore said.


In both cases, larvae successfully developed from the plastic-lined nests. In fact, the bees emerged parasite-free, suggesting plastic nests may physically impede parasites, the study said.


The nests containing plastic were among more than 200 artificial nest boxes monitored by MacIvor as part of a large-scale investigation of the ecology of urban bees and wasps, a project involving numerous citizen scientists.