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

77  Lihue, Kauai
76  Honolulu, Oahu
75  Molokai
76  Kahului, Maui
76  Kailua Kona
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 Monday evening:

 

Kaneohe, Oahu – 75
Poipu, Kauai – 63


Haleakala Summit –   37 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 23 (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://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif

A cold front is near the Big Island…as it dissipates it will keep a few
showers falling locally – although definitely easing up statewide
Tuesday through most of Thursday

Winds from the northwest and north, with a chill in the wake
of the front for another couple of days…especially during the
early morning hours Tuesday and Wednesday – grab that
extra blanket tonight

Improved weather in general, continuing for several days – with the
next cold front arriving Friday into the night…followed by a cool
pool of air in the wake of the next front during the weekend

High surf Warning…north and west shores of the islands
from Kauai to Molokai – north shores of Maui

Wind Advisory…Big Island summits

Small Craft Wind Advisory…coastal and
channel waters locally

 




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

28  Port Allen, Kauai – NW
22  Kahuku Trng, Oahu – WSW
16  Molokai – W
18  Lanai – WNW
27  Kahoolawe – NW
12  Lipoa, Maui – SW
27  South Point, Big Island – W


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

0.11  Kokee, Kauai
0.03  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.79  Molokai
0.96  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
2.68  Kaupo Gap, Maui
1.70  Silversword, 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 ~~~



The cold front will stall just to the southeast and east of the Big Island…with cool north to northwesterly breezes in its wake over the next day or two. 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 many low pressure systems far north of the state, with several cold fronts trailing to the south and southwest. Meanwhile, we see high pressure systems offshore well to the northeast of the state and northwest, which have their associated high pressure ridges extend east and west towards the state. Winds will generally be light to moderately strong from the the north through northwest for the time being…although locally stronger. The summits of the Big Island will have high winds blowing, gusting up to near 80 mph at times! Our winds will gradually become more mild mannered trade winds as we move through the next few days. The trades will gradually shift back to the southeast and south after mid-week. as the next cold front approaches the state by Friday.

Satellite imagery shows a large area of clouds continuing to move across the eastern islands, with an embedded cold front near the Big Island…gradually clearing skies over Kauai and Oahu. These clouds associated with this front are dropping light to moderately heavy showers near the Big Island, with a second thin line of showers moving through the central islands at the time of this writing. Here’s the looping radar image, showing the back edge of these showers over the Big Island…close to the dissipating cold front. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see this still wide band of bright whiter clouds, carried along on this middle level, conveyor belt of winds from the southwest, bringing middle and higher level moisture over us…although with considerably fewer showers falling from lower level clouds in most areas. 

The recent wet weather conditions have backed off considerably, with generally fair conditions going into Tuesday…although with still some cool air riding over us. There may eventually be some leftover moisture bringing drizzle or light showers to the windward sides, although our leeward beaches should definitely find more sunshine and better outdoor conditions in general…once these clouds get out of the suns way tomorrow through Thursday. The latest forecast models continue to suggest that we’ll see yet another cold front approaching the state, with unsettled weather Friday into the night. The best weather days this week will be Tuesday through Thursday, after a wet weekend that we just had…we’re heading in the right direction now. I’ll be back early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative. Here’s wishing you a great Monday 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 57 degrees at 605am on this Monday morning. It was raining when I went to sleep last night, and was still lightly raining when I got up this morning at 445am. It’s now a little after six, and it’s still coming down, although much lighter than it was. Looking at the satellite and radar pictures up the page, it appears that Maui and the Big Island is still being influenced by this cold front, and the trough of low pressure moving by overhead too. Kauai and Oahu are starting to see improvement, little in the way of showers up there…which are now outside the front’s influence.

~~~ It’s now 7am HST, with cloudy and foggy conditions, along with a heavy drizzle, and a light breeze. The air temperature was 57.4 degrees. Looking around the state, we still find cloudy skies from Kauai all the way down through the Big Island…although it shouldn’t be too long before Kauai finally digs out from under this long lasting field of thick clouds. It will be a while longer before Oahu finds some blue skies showing up, which may occur a bit later today. Maui County may even see a few blue patches eventually…although the Big Island is still pretty heavily covered with thick clouds, lasting most of the day, if not all day there. By the way, the summits on the Big Island are all covered with ice and snow now.

~~~ It’s a bit later this morning, with the clock now reading 950am. It’s still cloudy, although the fog has lifted just a touch, while the very light mist continues to settle down over us. The air temperature has risen a little too, with my outdoor sensor showing 59.9 degrees. I know I probably shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself: I love these kinds of wintery days here in the islands! I thought I shouldn’t, because I know that there are all you sun worshippers out there, and especially down at the beach, who are missing and craving the typical warm Hawaiian sunshine!

~~~ We’re into the later morning time frame now, at 1110am, with the weather finally starting to break. There’s been no direct sunshine here yet, although a little while ago I did see a few rays down in the Central Valley. The skies haven’t lightened up quite a bit, and there isn’t any mist falling for a change. The air temperature has fallen risen up to 63 degrees, which is nice. I just noticed that Lihue, Kauai was reporting sunny skies at 1043am, while the rest of the state is still mostly cloudy, with a little sun trying to poke through here and there.

~~~ It’s now mid-afternoon or so, at 330pm, under cloudy skies, no rain, and an air temperature of 62.2 degrees. I thought maybe the sun might try and come out, but alas, I’m afraid here on Maui at least, it’s having a difficult time of it. Oh yeah, looking down into the Central Valley now, I can see what looks like rather thick volcanic haze again. Maybe it’s been there all along, and the clouds in my area have masked it the last few days?

~~~ It’s early evening now at 6pm, with the first blue skies that I’ve seen in many days…even though its very limited and restricted to a couple of thin stripes. The lower level clouds are mostly all gone now, with middle and higher level clouds now overhead. As I was previously mentioning, there’s a bit of haze down in the Central Valley. There’s also a couple of weak cloud bands that have formed in the wake of the recent cold front, which may bring a few leftover showers around the state tonight. Prepare for a couple of chilly mornings over the next couple of days. One more thing, did you notice that high temperatures everywhere in the state today…were once again restricted to the 70’s…that’s a tropical winter reality! Its going to be a really nice sunset this evening too! Here at 655pm, its already down to 56.3 degrees here in Kula, if it weren’t for the high clouds, we would definitely be dipping down into the 40’s…and we may yet.

~~~ As I was doing yesterday, as I like numbers, I was checking on how many times you folks clicked on this website. The total yesterday was 25,699, which was a very big day in my opinion! There were 124 clicks on the Google Ads, which was hefty as well. These Google Ads are at the top and bottom of every page. Thus far today there have been 20,511 page views to this website, as of this evening. As always, I want to thank you very much for utilizing Hawaii Weather Today as your information source! As you know, I put my heart and soul into keeping you up-to-date on what’s happening with the weather here in the Aloha State. I’ve been doing this since 1996, and by the way, it’s just me doing it everyday, unless I’m on vacation. While I’m away I use it as a travelogue for my various adventures – along with making sure that the daily forecasts remain available to you for everywhere here in the state.



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: Tropical Cyclone 03W (Faxai) remains active in the northwestern Pacific, to the southeast of Guam. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image.


South Pacific Ocean: Tropical Cyclone 16P (Kofi) remains active in the southwestern Pacific…near Fiji. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image.

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

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


Interesting: Doubling the flood loss projections in Europe – As development and climate change continue, losses from extreme floods throughout the world skyrocket. Researchers from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), in Austria have projected that the losses in Europe could more than double by 2050. In the new study which is published in the journal Nature Climate Change, they contend that understanding the risk posed by large-scale floods is of growing importance and will be key for managing climate adaptation.


Socioeconomic growth accounts for about two-thirds of the increased risk, as development leads to more buildings and infrastructure that could be damaged in a flood. The other third of the increase comes from climate change, which is projected to change rainfall patterns in Europe.


“In this study we brought together expertise from the fields of hydrology, economics, mathematics and climate change adaptation, allowing us for the first time to comprehensively assess continental flood risk and compare the different adaptation options,” says Brenden Jongman of the Institute for Environmental Studies in Amsterdam, who coordinated the study.


The study estimated that floods in the European Union averaged €4.9 billion a year from 2000 to 2012. These average losses could increase to €23.5 billion by 2050. In addition, large events such as the 2013 European floods are likely to increase in frequency from an average of once every 16 years to a probability of once every 10 years by 2050.


The analysis combined models of climate change and socioeconomic development to build a better estimate of flood risk for the region. IIASA researcher Stefan Hochrainer-Stigler led the modeling work on the study.


He says, “The new study for the first time accounts for the correlation between floods in different countries. Current risk-assessment models assume that each river basin is independent. But in actuality, river flows across Europe are closely correlated, rising and falling in response to large-scale atmospheric patterns that bring rains and dry spells to large regions.”


“If the rivers are flooding in Central Europe, they are likely to also be flooding Eastern European regions,” says Hochrainer-Stigler. “We need to be prepared for larger stress on risk financing mechanisms, such as the pan-European Solidarity Fund (EUSF), a financial tool for financing disaster recovery in the European Union.”


For example, the analysis suggests that the EUSF must pay out funds simultaneously across many regions. This can cause unacceptable stresses to such risk financing mechanisms.