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

76  Lihue, Kauai
83  Honolulu, Oahu
77  Molokai
81  Kahului, Maui
86  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 830pm Wednesday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 79
Hana airport, Maui – 68


Haleakala Summit –   43 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 34 (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


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Moderately strong trades for the most part…increasing a touch later
this weekend into early next week – then easing-up again

Just a few showers…generally dry in most areas tonight – modestly
increasing windward showers over the next few days, especially
on Maui and the Big Island into the weekend…then backing-off
early next week




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

16  Port Allen, Kauai – NW
29  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNW
22  Molokai -ENE
29  Lanai – NE
25  Kahoolawe – NNE
27  Kapalua, Maui – NW
27  Kealakomo, Big Island – NNW


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

1.14  Kilohana, Kauai
0.02  Niu Valley, Oahu
0.01  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Maui
0.15  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 ~~~



Trade winds will prevail this week…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. Our winds will be from the northeast…which will remain locally gusty…then pick up a notch later this weekend into early next week.

Satellite imagery shows patchy clouds over and around the islands…with more showery clouds offshore to the east of the Big Island. The majority of the clouds in our area are banked-up along our windward side of the Big Island and Kauai, with most other areas clear at the time of this writing. Here’s a looping radar image, showing very few light showers moving across the island chain, mostly in the upper Kona slopes…and the southeast slopes of east Maui…with a few others coming in towards the windward sides of Oahu and Kauai. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we see the higher clouds to our east continuing to diminish and move away. There’s some clouds around, although our atmosphere remains dry and stable...which is greatly limiting shower activity today. We could see an increase in showers around the Big Island Thursday.

Sparse rainfall in most areas, then increasing windward showers, especially on the Big Island over the next couple of days…into the weekend. As we move into the second half of this week, windward showers will pick up, especially over the eastern islands. At the same time, our trade winds will be increasing again later this weekend. This will bring somewhat wet weather to our windward sides into early next week. As is often the case however, the leeward sides will find considerably fewer showers, with better weather overall. As we get past this weekend and next Monday or so…the weather will snap back to a more normal, early spring trade wind weather pattern, lasting well into next week.  I’ll be back to sign off early tomorrow morning, before I head out on my Spring vacation, I hope you have a great Wednesday 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 49.8 degrees at 620am on this Wednesday morning. It’s just light enough to see that the skies over all of Maui are clear, and almost 100% cloud free. I anticipate a really nice day from a weather perspective, one that will draw us outside to enjoy our wonderful island. As I noted above, we’ll begin seeing more windward biased showers tomorrow into Friday, especially on Maui and the Big Island’s north and east facing coasts and slopes…continuing on into the weekend into the first day or two of next week. The winds too will begin to increase this weekend as well, although lets be perfectly clear here…they won’t get as strong and blustery as they did this past weekend!

~~~ It’s such a great day, that I just made some organic green tea, and am heading up the mountain now at 945am. I have things to do here, to get ready for leaving on my vacation tomorrow, but I just can’t help myself. The skateboard pull is just too strong for me this morning. So, I’ll be back in a couple of hours, and will catch up with you then. I trust everyone here on Maui is having a good day, with all this gorgeous weather and all…and the same goes to everyone else around the world…wherever you are at the moment!

~~~ We’re into the early afternoon now, at 1pm, under clear to partly cloudy skies…with cloudy skies over head at the moment. There’s hardly any wind up here in Kula, with an air temperature of 70.3 degrees. Looking downcountry, into the Central Valley, and all the coasts that I can see, including the north shore, its almost totally clear and sunny. The south and west shores are nearly flat, with hardly a wave breaking, which is making for a great day to swim in the ocean. As I was saying above, I went skateboarding this morning, and it was lovely up there. I had a T shirt on, and the sun was so warm, while the breeze was just the perfect degree of cool. The one problem was the traffic, my goodness, there was so much of it going up and down the mountain, it had me pulling over to the side of the road (the one I skate on)…way too often.

~~~ It’s now 550pm, in our early evening hours here on Maui, and as expected, it was a really nice last day of winter! Yes, we begin our Spring season on Thursday, the same day that I fly out to San Francisco. I’ll have more to say about that early Thursday morning. At any rate, it’s SO CLEAR this evening, with an air temperature of 67.5 here in Kula. As it will be clear again tonight, at least in many areas around the state, especially the central islands, it means that today’s heat will be able to readily radiate out into space. This suggests that Thursday morning will be on the cool side again, as it has been the last several mornings. 


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: Tropical Cyclone 20P (Mike) remains active in the South Pacific Ocean. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image. – Final Warning

North and South Indian Oceans: There are no active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting:  U.S. Public Transit Reports Record Ridership – Don’t tell the public transit naysayers who maintain that Americans will never get out of their beloved automobiles: Americans took a record 10.7 billion trips on public transportation last year — the highest annual ridership number in 57 years, according to the 2013 ridership report released by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). In fact, public transit rides rose by 1.1 percent in 2013, while miles driven only increased 0.3 percent.


Why the record public transit ridership in 2013? Last year actually marked the eighth consecutive year that more than 10 billion trips were taken on public transportation systems, and the APTA says the 2013 figures were part of the increasing public demand for transit that has been growing since 1995.


“There is a fundamental shift going on in the way we move about our communities,” APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy said in a statement. “People in record numbers are demanding more public transit services, and communities are benefiting with strong economic growth.”


Public transit ridership, which has risen 37.2 percent since 1995, has outpaced both population growth, which has increased 20.3 percent, and vehicle miles traveled, up 22.7 percent.