Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Tuesday:
79 Lihue, Kauai
83 Honolulu, Oahu
78 Molokai
79 Kahului, Maui
87 Kailua Kona
79 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 – 68
Haleakala Summit – M (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
Locally gusty trade winds through Wednesday night…
diminishing again later Thursday into the weekend
from the southeast – with some vog locally – returning
trades next week
Showers falling along our windward sides…a few elsewhere
Small Craft Wind Advisory…windiest coasts and channels
statewide
The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions…as of Tuesday evening:
24 Poipu, Kauai – NE
27 Kuaokala, Oahu – NNW
22 Molokai – NE
32 Lanai – NE
30 Kahoolawe – NNW
25 Kapalua, Maui – NE
27 Waikoloa, Big Island – ENE
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Tuesday evening (545pm totals):
0.21 Kilohana, Kauai
0.39 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.28 Molokai
0.04 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
1.06 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.48 Honokaa, 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 trade winds will remain moderately strong for the most part…and then become lighter again Friday into the weekend from the southeast. 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 two moderately strong high pressure systems, one far northeast and the other northwest of our islands. The tail-end of a weak cold front has broken through the connecting ridge of high pressure between these two high pressure cells. As this weak frontal cloud band gets closer, our trade winds will increase into the moderately strong realms through Thursday morning. Looking further ahead, the winds will ease up again early Friday into the weekend…as another cold front approaches the state…followed by another increase in trade winds next week.
Satellite imagery shows that the high and middle level clouds…over and around the state. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we see these cirrus clouds moving northeast, and at the same time shifting southeast and east…along with those high and middle level clouds moving over the Aloha state. Meanwhile, we see a fragmenting cold front to our northwest, north and northeast, which continues to edge southward into our area. This frontal boundary will bring increasing clouds and light showers, first on Kauai and then reaching the Big Island Thursday morning…where it will stall. These showers aren’t going to be very vigorous however, although will bring welcome moisture our way locally. Here’s a looping radar image, showing showers falling over the islands locally…especially the central part of the state, and the Big Island at the time of this writing.
Our winds will be picking up some, accompanying the dissipating frontal boundary…moving into the state. The latest forecast continues to show this shower producing frontal boundary arriving tonight into Wednesday, first on Kauai…and then down the chain to the Big Island by early Thursday morning. Looking into the upcoming weekend, the models show another late season cold front approaching the state, although it’s expected to stall just before arriving. At the same time, it will cause our winds to slow down again then, before increasing again next week. I’ll be back early Wednesday morning with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great 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 60.1 degrees at 555am on this Tuesday morning. Skies are cloudy, with calm winds, and a very light mist. As I look up again, I can see blue skies beginning to appear, and the mist has already begun to fade. The clouds that were around last night helped to hold in the heat from yesterday, so that our low temperatures, at least in those areas where clouds held sway…are fairly warm. Update at 750am, the skies have cleared quite a bit overhead now…and in most other directions too.
We’ve pushed into the early afternoon hours now at 1245pm, under partly cloudy skies, breezy trades…and an air temperature of 72.3 degrees. I had to go down to Kahului this morning to get my iPhone 5s set up, and while going down the mountain, and coming back up in a few places too, it was lightly showering. The winds have definitely picked up here in Kula, compared to earlier this morning, with my wind chimes sounding off nicely.
It’s now 550pm in the early evening, under partly cloudy skies, light breezes, and an air temperature of 72.9 degrees. Glancing at satellite imagery, I’m expecting a nice sunset this evening, as the high and middle level clouds take on a glow. These clouds will also hold in the heat from day, overnight, with relatively warm temperatures tomorrow morning. If these higher clouds are still around Wednesday morning, they could start off our day brightly as well. Likely however, many windward areas around the state will be covered by lower level cumulus and stratocumulus clouds, and with light showers falling from them. This will occur if this incoming cloud band holds together, bringing us some welcome showers to our windward coasts and slopes for the most part.
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 06W (Tapah) is active in the northwestern Pacific. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map of this strengthening tropical storm…along with a NOAA satellite image.
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: Gardens in space – Catching floating raindrops, soil and seeds are making gardening just that much harder in the International Space Station. But this is how the astronauts function in their weightless environment. Even the plants don’t know which way to grow. Without gravity the soil and water simply float away unless contained; plant roots grow every which way. Without gravity the plant doesn’t know what is up or down. There is no rising or setting sun, just a 24 hour a day grow light.
But as Spacex-3 blasted off from Cape Canaveral on April 18th, there was a growing new hope. Gioia Massa of the Kennedy Space Center leading the new team says, “We call it ‘Veggie’, a plant growth chamber designed to make gardens thrive in weightlessness.”
Veggie’s heritage traces back decades to plant experiments on board the Russian space station Mir and NASA’s space shuttle. To date, NASA astronauts have never tasted home-grown space food. But that could soon change with something called ‘plant pillows’.
“Basically, these are bags of ‘space dirt’ and slow-release fertilizer,” explains Trent Smith, the project manager from KSC. “Wicks inserted into the bags draw water into the soil where it cannot float away.”
In addition to guiding water, the wicks act as a kind of gardening stake.
“The wicks are where we glue the seeds,” continues Massa. “We have to be very careful to orient the seeds so that roots grow ‘down’ into the soil and shoots pop out of the bag.”
When the shoots emerge, they find an array of overhead LEDs, providing light for photosynthesis and a sense of direction. The bellows-like chamber walls allow expansion for the growing crop.
Pictures of Veggie often show the chamber flooded with a mixture of red and blue light the color plants use most for photosynthesis. Under a purplish light, plants appear gray and unappetizing. But by adding green light the new light becomes white giving the garden a better effect.
The garden’s appearance is important for both psychologically and nutritionally. Spaceships provide a relatively lifeless environment: cold, metallic and sterile. “Plants allow astronauts to form a connection to living things,” she says. “There could be a huge psychological benefit.”
Massa says the first crop of Outredgeous should be ready for harvesting in late May, but astronauts won’t be allowed to taste-test.
“First, we have to bring the lettuce home for analysis,” she explains. Is it safe to eat? Are there bacteria growing on the leaves? “These are some of the questions we’ll be looking at. If everything checks out, future crops may be eaten.”
Salad anyone?
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