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

76  Lihue, Kauai
80  Honolulu, Oahu
80  Molokai
84  Kahului, Maui
85  Kailua Kona
87  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 – 78
Hana airport, Maui
– 68


Haleakala Summit –   41
(near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 32 (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://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg


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

A new cold front is moving in our direction, and will bring
increasing clouds and showers into the weekend – some
locally heavy at times through Saturday


Winds
will become stronger from the southwest ahead of
this cold front into Friday

In the wake of the front, cool north to northeasterly breezes
will arrive, carrying windward showers…with a trade
wind weather pattern through most of next week


High Surf Warning…north and west facing shores of Kauai, Oahu,
Molokai, and the north shore of Maui – Friday and Saturday

Wind Advisory…Big Island Summits – through 2am Saturday

Small Craft Advisory…Kauai waters – through 6am Sunday

Flood Advisory
…island of Maui – through 730 am today





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


20  Poipu, Kauai – SW
29  Kahuku Trng, Oahu – SW
25  Molokai – SW
18  Lanai – SSW
18  Kahoolawe – SW
24  Kula 1,
Maui – SE
22  Hilo airport, Big Island – SE


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


0.26  Omao, Kauai
0.08  Nui Valley, Oahu
0.37  Molokai
0.05  Lanai
0.01  Kahoolawe
0.25  Hana airport, Maui
0.16  Kahua Ranch, 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 locally gusty from the southwest ahead of the approaching cold front. 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 continue to see several low pressure systems far north of the state. Meanwhile, we see a high pressure system offshore well offshore to the northeast of the state…with a ridge of high pressure just to the south of the Big Island. Our winds will come in from the south and southwest as the next cold front approaches the state into Friday. Our winds will veer to the north and northeast in the wake of the frontal passage, with trade winds remaining active through most of next week.

Satellite imagery shows a large area of clouds to the north of the islands, with embedded showers…some of which will be locally heavy when they move through the island chain.
Here’s the looping radar image, showing bands of light to moderately heavy showers, although a few will begin to be locally heavy tonight into Friday. There are no expectations of thunderstorms at this time, nor flooding problems. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see a large swath of clouds being carried along from west to east…in the latitudes just north of the state. These clouds will be dropping down into the state over the next 24-48 hours, bringing those showers discussed above.

This cold front, arriving over Kauai Friday, then Oahu Friday night, will stall over Maui County or the Big Island this weekend. We find this front approaching the state now, with an  increase in clouds and showers tonight into Friday. There’s a good chance that some of these showers, associated with the cold front, will turn out to be quite heavy at times. Looking ahead further, the models are showing another cold front moving by to the north of the state Monday and Tuesday, perhaps remaining too far away to bring showers down into our tropical latitudes. At the same time, the trade winds will be blowing, keeping some windward showers arriving, although nothing out of the ordinary is expected. The leeward sides will likely be very pleasant most of next week.  I’ll be early Friday morning with your next new weather narrative, 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 55.9 degrees at 605am on this Thursday morning.

~~~
It’s light enough for me to take a look around now at 730am, and I see fog has enveloped my areas…although I could see sunshine down in the Central Valley, before this fog swooped in on me. Looking at this looping radar image, we see showers over the ocean to the southwest of Maui and Kauai. The first showers are just now reaching the leeward side of Kauai, and will reach the south and west leeward sides of Maui a little later this morning. This will be the first showers to arrive, of what will turn out to be several days of off and on showers…some of which will be locally heavy by Friday.

~~~ Hi, it’s now 930am HST, and the sun is out again, with lots of clear blue skies. The area of low clouds and fog that passed through here earlier, have now departed. The air temperature is up to 66 degrees, with gradually strengthening Kona winds. I can see from the satellite and radar images up the page, that we have showers heading our way. These introductory showers, preceding more notable showers tomorrow into Saturday, will be generally light to moderately heavy. I’m about to drive over to Haiku, on the windward side of east Maui. My friend Linda, who I often visit in Marin County, California, is here. She owns property here on Maui and in Marin. I’ll be traveling over to her place in Marin to visit her again, later this month. I’ll be back early this early afternoon, around 1230pm or so…and will bring you the next update then.

~~~ We’re into the early afternoon hours, now at 120pm, with increasingly gusty Kona winds, and increasing clouds coming in over our south and west facing leeward sides. Looking down the mountain towards Lahaina and Kihei, I see what looks like showery clouds approaching. This looping radar image shows these clouds approaching all of Maui County at the time of this writing. It’s still dry here in Kula, although it definitely beginning to feel more moist. I had a nice time over in Haiku, visiting with my friend Linda, her Grandson Milo (a toddler), and Milo’s Mother Erin. I always forget how much warmer it is down near sea level, and must admit it feels good to get back upcountry, with our temperature a relatively cool 71.1 degrees. It felt more like 80 degrees over on that windward side.

~~~ Now we’ve pushed into the early evening hours, at 550pm, under increasingly cloudy skies, and gusty Kona winds, with an air temperature of 67.8 degrees. Looking out towards the west and southwest from here in Kula, I see nothing but dark gray clouds on the horizon, which look very threatening…in terms of rainfall. I’m hoping to get out there and play some ping pong with my neighbor before this rain arrives, it looks like it will be touch and go. I expect showers to increase tonight, leading to quite a wet Friday, at least locally, starting first on Kauai and Oahu…as the cold front arrives here in the state. The showers tonight will precede the fronts arrival, and may bring some generous rainfall in places. The temperatures are sure warmer, than even just yesterday, as the air flow is now coming up from the warmer deep tropics.



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 cyclones

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


Interesting: New kind of wristband could help monitor environmental health –
Launched in 2004, the “Livestrong” bracelet started a trend of popular wristbands that have come to represent and popularize different causes. From starting as a token to raise monies and awareness to combat cancer, the wristband has been used to promote hundreds of other avenues.


Besides donning these bands for your favorite charity, new research suggests that a version of these bracelets may have some other benefits. By wearing the popular fashion, scientists have come up with an idea that could help us identify potential disease risks of exposure to hazardous substances.


Kim Anderson and colleagues note that people breathe, touch and ingest a mix of many substances at low levels every day. But figuring out if natural and synthetic compounds can lead to disease is difficult. Thousands of these compounds are in common consumer products and industrial processes, but not all of them have been tested for toxicity. Research suggests that there’s a link between some of these substances and human health problems. However, establishing cause and effect definitively requires long-term measurements.


These issues lead Anderson and her team to look for a better way to more accurately assess an individual person’s exposure to possible toxins.


For a solution, they turned to commercially available wristbands because they’re made of silicone, which absorbs a wide range of compounds. After volunteers wore (modified) cleaned wristbands for various periods of time, the scientists could measure what the silicone had absorbed: 49 different substances, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), some of which have been linked to cancer, plus compounds from pesticides and consumer products.


“We can screen for over 1,000 chemicals that may accumulate in the wristbands,” says Anderson. “Currently, PAHs, pesticides, flame retardants, PCBs, industrial chemicals and consumer and pharmaceutical products have been quantified in wristbands.” They conclude that the bands could be a valuable tool for finally determining individual exposures and what compounds are safe and which ones come with risk.