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

79  Lihue, Kauai
83  Honolulu, Oahu
79  Molokai
82  Kahului, Maui
84  Kailua Kona
77  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 510pm Friday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 79
Hilo, Hawaii – 72


Haleakala Summit –   46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 41 (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.perfectdayshawaii.com/assets/MapofMolokaiBeaches_KaunakakaiBeach6.jpg

Locally strong and gusty trades prevailing into
Saturday – gusting to 40+ mph

 Showers falling along our windward sides at
times…a few elsewhere

Small Craft Wind Advisory…over all of Hawaii’s
coastal and channel waters




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

28  Lihue, Kauai – NE
39  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – NNE
32  Molokai – ENE
39  Lanai – NE
40  Kahoolawe – NE
36  Kahului, Maui – NE
40  Upolu airport, Big Island – ENE


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Friday afternoon (245pm totals):

1.34  Kilohana, Kauai
0.95  Tunnel RG, Oahu
0.07  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
2.73  Puu Kukui, Maui
1.85  Saddle Quarry, 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 current gusty trade winds will prevail across our Hawaiian Islands through Saturday, then softening later this weekend into early next week for a day or two. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…focused on the Hawaiian Islands. ~~~ We see a couple of moderately strong, near 1029 millibar high pressure systems, located some 900+ miles to our north and north-northeast of the islands. Our winds will be from the northeast for the most part, which will remain locally rather strong and gusty through Saturday. By later Sunday into early next week, this trade wind flow will ease up for a day or two, although continue through all of next week…rebounding by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Satellite imagery shows considerable high level clouds over and around the islands, much of which is dense. Here’s a looping radar image, showing light showers moving across the island chain…falling along our north and east facing windward coasts and slopes…especially from Oahu down to Maui County and the Big Island. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, to our southwest and south, we see copious amounts of thick high cirrus clouds, which are moving overhead here in the state. We may be treated to colorful sunset and sunrise colors while they’re around…in addition to having them dim and filter our sunshine during the days too.

Our winds, at least in those windiest areas, will continue to gust up into the 30+ mph range in those windiest areas…topping 40 mph at times. Early this evening we were seeing gusts to 40 mph in a few spots around the state, although generally in the 30+ mph range. These gusty trades will bring passing showers to our windward sides, and a couple over into our leeward sides on the smaller islands at times too. There are no dynamic cold fronts on our horizon, nor any rainfall enhancing upper level low pressure systems…thus no major rainfall events are expected through the next 7-10 days. We finally saw that increase in showers along our windward sides, although nothing too heavy is expected. The latest model guidance shows a shower producing frontal boundary arriving around the middle of next week, although it will be a minor affair as well. I’ll be back early Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise, I hope you have a great Friday 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 57.4 degrees at 605am on this Friday morning. It’s clear to partly cloudy with light breezes here at my place, with clear skies stretching down the mountain to Wailea and Kihei. In contrast, glancing over towards the windward sides, they are filled with low clouds, and according to radar images…are dropping showers. At the moment, I don’t see many of those high cirrus clouds, although I expect them to filter into our area more fully during the day.

Here in Kula it’s anything but windy at 1230pm, with just a few minor gusts getting my wind chimes going. Skies are mostly cloudy, although most of that consists of the rather dense higher level cirrus clouds. The air temperature is a warm 78.4 degrees, and probably won’t go much higher as the high clouds are shading our sunshine today. I anticipate that this high stuff will stick around through most of the upcoming weekend as well. All an all, it’s a pretty nice day, albeit quite gusty from the trade wind direction down near the coasts…and elsewhere locally.

It’s 520pm early this evening, under cloudy skies, light breezes, at least here in Kula, and an air temperature of 70.5 degrees. The layer of high cirrus clouds are completely taking out the sunshine, and has been since early this morning. I’m afraid our dyed in the wool sun worshippers…felt the big difference…compared to the last few! These high clouds will keep our overnight temperatures relatively warm, as they hold in the heat, from escaping out to space. These icy cirrus clouds will be around Saturday as well, so we should likely get used to their dimming effects. Looking over towards the windward sides, it looks like showers are falling. 

Friday evening film: I’ve only seen one film since I left on vacation over a month ago, so I’ll head down the mountain and see one. I’m not thrilled with any of the current movies playing in our local theaters, although I’ll give it a go anyway. This time I’ll go see one that’s called Divergent, starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ray Steveson, Ansel Elgort, and Miles Teller…among others. The synopsis: this is a thrilling action-adventure film set in a world where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) is warned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader (Kate Winslet) to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust in the mysterious Four (Theo James) and together they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it’s too late. Based on the best-selling book series by Veronica Roth. ~~~ I’m not expecting great things from this film, although with that said…I’m also open to being very entertained too. I’ll let you know what I thought Saturday morning, until then…here’s the trailer.


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:  After Widespread Deforestation, China Bans Commercial Logging in Northern Forests – Forestry authorities in China have stopped commercial logging in the nation’s largest forest area, marking an end to more than a half-century of intensive deforestation that removed an estimated 600 million cubic meters (21 billion cubic feet) of timber. The logging shutdown was enacted in large part to protect soil and water quality of greater China, which are significantly affected by forest loss in the mountainous region.


The area is in the extreme northeast portion of China, and comprises a huge swath of dense, temperate forest that stretches into Russia. The landscape is dominated by the Hinggan (Khingan) mountain range that spans more than 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) south towards China’s interior, and supports a diverse array of wildlife. The Hinggan Mountains also form an important climatic divide, taking precipitation from southeasterly winds and fueling watersheds that provide water to a tenth of China’s arable land.


Large-scale commercial logging of the area first began in the 1950s to meet growing economic demands. By the 1980s, the landscape of the region had changed dramatically due to the loss of forest cover, and large trees had all but disappeared. From 2000 to 2013 alone, more than half a million hectares of land were deforested in the region, according to data from Global Forest Watch. Logging activity was focused primarily in the northern periphery of the range, where around 20 percent of the land was deforested


Forests are vital to maintaining healthy watersheds. They help to catch water from the air, and they even provide it via their respiration processes. Additionally, their roots help to hold water in the soil. Without trees, droughts become more commonplace. When rain does fall on a deforested area, it isn’t released into streams gradually, but instead is discharged as a deluge, overwhelming streams and rivers. Without tree roots to bind them, riverbanks erode, sullying water and completely changing stream ecosystems. Downstream habitats that evolved to rely on a constant supply of water are often damaged by the feast-or-famine conditions brought about by deforestation.


The impacts of logging in the Hinggan range have been becoming increasingly evident, sparking major environmental problems.


“There are no longer any big trees. The winds in the Greater Hinggan Mountains are becoming stronger and the woods can no longer retain water,” Liu Zhanhun, a worker with the Qianshao Forestry Station, told Sina News.


“In the past, it rained for days before water levels in rivers could rise. Now the river water levels can rise substantially following just one rainstorm,” Liu said. In addition to droughts and floods, the total area of wetlands in the region has shrunk to half its original size, and forest fires have become more prevalent. In 1987, a fire of unprecedented size burned 10,000 square kilometers (3,900 square miles) of forest.


The rapid forest loss in Hinggan runs counter to the official narrative that China has eliminated deforestation through law enforcement measures and reforestation programs. According to Global Forest Watch, China lost some 6.1 million hectares of forest cover between 2000 and 2013, only 2.2 million hectares of which was offset by the establishment of new forests. Forest loss during this period was particularly concentrated in the southeastern part of the country, with a total loss of more than four million hectares.