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

82  Lihue, Kauai
85  Honolulu, Oahu
81  Molokai
85  Kahului, Maui
85  Kailua Kona
84  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 – 79
Kapalua, Maui – 73


Haleakala Summit –   50 (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


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Our winds will become lighter from the southeast, which will
get even lighter into the weekend…with vog arriving
with time

Our weather will turn drier into the weekend…ahead of a cold
front that may bring showers to Kauai later Sunday or Monday

Rising surf on our south shores into the weekend

High Surf Advisory…south facing shores all islands –
starting this morning through Sunday evening




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

22  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
18  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
10  Molokai – NE
07  Lanai – SSW
22  Kahoolawe – ESE
16  Hana, Maui – ESE
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):

0.48  Kapahi, Kauai
0.60  Kahana, Oahu
1.75  Molokai
0.66  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
2.12  Kahakuloa, Maui
0.44  Waikii, 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 are shifting to the southeast…while becoming lighter into the weekend. 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 several low pressure systems, one to our northwest, another couple to the north, and finally a fourth to the northeast. One of these has an associated weak frontal boundary breaking through the ridging to our north…located over Oahu at the time of this writing. Our local winds will steadily become lighter as we move into the upcoming weekend, veering to the southeast, and even south towards Kauai. We’ll see another late season cold front approaching the state this weekend, and with the southeasterly breezes forecast, there may very well be another round of voggy weather into early next week.

Satellite imagery shows that area of remnant moisture, that has hung over Maui County and the Big Island…now moving away to the north. Looking at this larger satellite image, we see that this cloud band is finally in the process of diminishing, and moving towards the north, although leftover patches are still floating around locally. Meanwhile, we see an area of high cirrus clouds coming up from the southwest…and moving by just to the north of Kauai…with more to the west and southwest getting ready to move over us as well. Here’s a looping radar image, showing generally light showers falling, most of which are landing over the slopes of the mountains at the moment.

Showers have backed off quite a bit, although with the lighter winds now, afternoon clouds will continue to gather over and around the mountains…dropping showers locally. These afternoon clouds and a few showers will continue to form over the interior sections each day. The winds will give way to southeast breezes during the next several days. Kauai, being the further west, may see south winds later this weekend into early next week. As our winds veer to the southeast, they will likely carry volcanic haze (vog) back over our area. This will occur as yet another late season cold front approaches the islands from the northwest. It’s still a bit too early to know how close this front will get to Kauai, although it may bring showers to that western-most island later this weekend or early next week. The longest range model output suggests that we may not see the return of trade winds until the middle of next week…which is very unusual for this time of year. I’ll be back 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 a relatively warm 63.1 degrees at 6am on this Thursday morning. Skies are mostly cloudy, although I can finally see across the central valley…and see the West Maui Mountains for a change. As a matter of fact, I can even see the windward side of east Maui as the clouds continue to clear this morning. This is the first time that I’ve had this much of a view in several days, which is nice for a change! However, with that said, I still expect clouds to blossom over the slopes of the Haleakala Crater later today, bringing a few showers with them.

It’s now early afternoon at 1pm, under mostly cloudy skies, off and on light sprinkles, near calm winds…and an air temperature of 72.3 degrees. I saw quite a bit of blue skies this morning, although up here on the mountain, clouds have gathered once again. I just turned around in my seat, and now see that those clouds have lowered, giving us fog once again. Update at 250pm, still cloudy and foggy, with a light mist, and an air temperature of 70.2 degrees.

We’ve pushed into the early evening hours, now at 555pm, with very thick fog surrounding us, no wind, and an air temperature of 66.9 degrees. I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen fog this thick ever…here in Kula! This is in addition to some pretty heavy drizzle coming down at the same time. By the way, if you’re planning on going to the south or west shores of any island over the next few days, please be careful…as the waves will be larger than normal. This swell train of waves was generated in the southern hemisphere about a week ago, and have traveled all the way here to our islands. The NWS forecast office in Honolulu has issued a high surf advisory starting Friday morning, which will be effective through Sunday morning. Update at 825pm, it’s lightly raining, calm, with still pea soup fog blanketing this slope of the Haleakala Crater. I love going to bed when its lightly raining, tucking in under my warm down comforter…although the air temperature is a rather warm 64.8 degrees at the moment.

Here’s a weather product that I prepared for the Pacific Disaster Center this morning.


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 begins today, and runs through November 30th.  


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: Tropical cyclones shifting toward the poles – As tropical storms continue to move farther from the equator, new coastal cities may be at increasing risk of storm damages.


According to a new study, tropical cyclone intensity continues to shift closer and closer to Earth’s poles each year.


In analyzing tropical cyclone data collected over the last 30 years, NOAA researchers working at the University of Wisconsin-Madison showed that the latitude at which tropical cyclones climax has shifted poleward 33 to 39 miles per decade.


The research looks at tropical cyclones generally, meaning the findings are both derived from and applicable to the hurricanes of the Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans and the typhoons of the western Pacific.


The new study was published in the journal Nature this week. Jim Kossin, lead author and scientist at NOOA’s National Climatic Data Center, says the findings suggest new coastal cities may be at greater and greater risk of storm damages. The shift may also mean that tropical regions, often reliant on the heavy rains of cyclone season for farming, will see less and less precipitation.


But though Kossin says the evidence of the shift is rather definitive, the broader picture — the why and the how — isn’t exactly crystal clear.


“What we can’t be sure of yet is exactly what’s causing the trend,” Kossin told BBC News. “There is compelling evidence that the expansion of the tropics is attributable to a combination of human activities, but we don’t know which is the primary factor.”


“If ozone depletion is mainly to blame, then the situation is likely to stabilize by the middle of the century after ozone-depleting chemicals are phased out,” he added. “But if climate change is the main factor then there’s no end in sight to this phenomenon.”


Kossin theorizes that the cause is a little bit of everything: “greenhouse gases, stratospheric ozone depletion, and particulate pollution, all by-products of human activity.”