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

76  Lihue, Kauai
79  Honolulu, Oahu
75  Molokai
80  Kahului, Maui
82  Kailua Kona
78  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 Tuesday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 79
Hana airport, Maui
– 64


Haleakala Summit –   45
(near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 34 (13,000+ feet on the Big Island)


Hawaii’s MountainsHere’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://petitelefant.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/turtle-bay.jpg


Less windybecoming moderately strong for the most
part, with trade winds lasting through this week…into
next week


Just a few showers will fall…generally dry in most areas

High Surf Advisory…for east shores of Kauai, Oahu,
Molokai, Maui, and the the Big Island





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


18  Poipu, Kauai – NE
35  Kuaokala, Oahu – N  
27  Molokai – ENE
33  Lanai – NE
35  Kahoolawe – NNE
30  Kapalua,
Maui – NE
33  Upolu airport, Big Island – NW


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


0.81  Kilohana, Kauai
0.07  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.07  Hana airport, Maui
0.30  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 ~~~



Winds will continue to gradually become a bit lighter…lasting into next week. 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…focused on the Hawaiian Islands. ~~~ We see a strong, near 1040 millibar high pressure system far to our northeast. At the same time we see the tail-end of a cold front to our east and southeast, with its parent gale low pressure system a relatively short distance to the northeast. The pressure gradient between the high pressure to the northeast, and low pressure to our east and northeast, is weakening. Our winds will be from the northeast…which will remain locally gusty…although will ease up over the next few days.

Satellite imagery shows patchy clouds over and around the islands…especially along our windward coasts and slopes.
We see an area of brighter white clouds to the southeast of the islands…which is located well offshore of the Big Island. The majority of the clouds in our area are banked-up along our windward sides, leaving the leeward sides generally cloud free. Here’s a looping radar image, showing just a few light showers moving across the island chain…on the northeast trade wind flow. The bulk of these showers are concentrating their efforts best along the windward coasts and slopes. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we see the counterclockwise circulation of the low pressure system to our northeast. There’s some clouds around, although our atmosphere is becoming much less shower prone now. We also see this large swath of high clouds coming up from the deep tropics, shifting more eastward of the Big Island now.

Our weather will continue to become less windy and showery, replaced by a fairly typical trade wind pattern…over the next several days. The very strong winds this past weekend are a thing of the past now. The pressure gradient across the islands will allow more moderately strong trade winds to return, with little change through the rest of the week. The wet conditions that accompanied the blustery winds are easing up as well. As a matter of fact, we should remain on the dry side of the precipitation spectrum over the next several days. As we move into the second half of the week, windward showers will pick up, especially over the eastern islands.  The leeward sides will continue to be in good shape, with lots of warm sunshine during the days. I’ll be back again early Wednesday morning, I hope you have a good Tuesday 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 a chilly 48 degrees at 555am on this Tuesday morning. It’s now 650am, and light enough for me to see out, under clear skies, calm winds, and a cool 48.4 degree temperature. This morning has dawned beautifully over Maui County, with just a few clouds around the edges, and clear blue skies predominating. It will be a bit windy, with a few showers, although nothing like this past weekend…as we’ve definitely turned the corner back into a more normal, very late winter trade wind period. I’m sure that all the folks that are here on vacation will greatly appreciate this fact, not to mention all of us who live here as well.

~~~ It’s now early afternoon, at 1230pm, with clear to partly cloudy skies, light breezes, and an air temperature of 69.1 degrees.
I just got back from Makawao, where I got a haircut before leaving on vacation Thursday. It was cloudy, breezy, with light drizzle falling over that way. It’s such a different story along those windward sides, compared to up here in the lee of the Haleakala Crater. I’m hoping to get out there and play some ping pong with my neighbor, or at least play some catch…which are a couple of my favorite things these days. There was a hitch hiker with a skateboard on the road while I was driving up the mountain. Since I’m a skateboarder too, we had a good talk. He was much younger, one of those guys who likes to go straight down fast! I’m a person who likes to keep my speed way down, by making lots of carving turns.

~~~ We’re into the early evening now, at 535pm, under totally clear skies, and a very gentle breeze…with an air temperature of 69.9 degrees. The only clouds I see now are a very thin line of low clouds over the windward side, and over the West Maui Mountains. Otherwise, it is about as clear as it gets here in the islands. It looks to me like tomorrow (Wednesday) will be an exceptional day, especially for most outdoor activities, with minimal rainfall over most areas. The winds will still be active, although nothing like what they were this past weekend. If you have a chance, get out there and take advantage of the next few days…they will be near perfect.



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)


North 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 cyclonesInteresting:

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


Interesting:  The cold hard glacial truth – Lewis Owen has been scraping out icy fragments of history’s truth from one of the most glaciated regions on Earth for the past 25 years. His frequent excursions to Tibet and the Himalayas have led the University of Cincinnati professor of geology to some cold, hard facts. Owen knows climate change is immortal — fluctuating across millennia, patiently building toward moments when circumstances are ripe for apocalypse. It was true thousands of years ago, when rapid climate change had profound effects on landscapes and the creatures that lived on them. That scenario could be true again, if the past is ignored.


“We’re interested in how glaciers change over time as climate has changed, because we’re in a changing climate at the moment, dominantly because of increased human activity,” Owen says. “From understanding past glacial changes, we can understand how glaciers may change in the future.”


Owen, head of UC’s Department of Geology, is among a team of researchers at the university who have been gathering and studying years of data on Tibet and the Himalayas. Members of the group contributed to two research papers that will be published in the March 15 edition (Vol. 88) of Quaternary Science Reviews, an international, multidisciplinary research and review journal.


BIG DIFFERENCES IN HUGE GLACIERS


Glaciers are fickle beasts. They don’t all respond to climate change in the same way. Some recede while others surge, and these changes can have a profound effect on landscapes — at times to dangerous effect. Glacial lakes, which swell as glaciers melt, can drain in catastrophic fashion, known as glacial lake flood outburst. Owen says consequences of such outbursts can be severe, wiping out entire villages or ruining acres of farmland. Comparing glacial areas and anticipating melt is a complex problem but one that underscores the importance of his research, Owen says.


“Glaciers will vary from one side of the mountain range to the next very differently. As part of our research, we’re building up a standard scheme that people can use to compare their glaciated areas,” Owen says.


The environmental stakes are as high as the mountains themselves. Tibet and the Himalayas are nearly one-third the size of the contiguous 48 U.S. states, and nearly a billion people live in the mountains’ shadow. Waters from the glaciers flow into the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a fertile region including parts of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, and bordered to the north by China. The source water for some of the world’s largest rivers — the Indus, Ganges, Yangtze and Yellow — is derived from these glaciers.