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

83  Lihue, Kauai
84  Honolulu, Oahu
83  Molokai
87  Kahului, Maui
85  Kailua Kona
83  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 830pm Saturday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 80
Hilo, Hawaii 
– 74


Haleakala Summit –   50
(near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 41 (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


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Our winds will be lighter from the southeast…
with muggy and voggy conditions into the
new week ahead

Our weather will be generally quite dry, except
for spotty afternoon showers over the interior
sections, and a few along the east and southeast
sides of the islands at times too.

High Surf Advisory…south facing shores all
islands – through noon today




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


15  Puu Opae, Kauai – S
18  Kaneohe MCBH, Oahu – SE
22  Molokai – E
09  Lanai – SW
32 
Kahoolawe – NE
22  Kaupo Gap,
Maui – SE
30  South Point, Big Island – E


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


0.51  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.69  Kahana, Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.03  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.07  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 are shifting to the southeast…while becoming lighter now into the new week ahead. 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 low pressure system to our northwest, whose late season cold front is approaching the state…along with a trough of low pressure to our north. We have a moderately strong high pressure system to our northeast…with its ridge extending southwest over the ocean near Kauai. As a result of these weather features, our local winds will steadily become lighter as we move through the rest of this weekend, veering to the southeast, and even south towards Kauai. The southeasterly breezes will bring voggy and humid weather our way, which will stick around through the first couple of days of the new week. We may see a return of the trades by the middle of the new week, although they will likely stay lighter than normal into the Memorial Day weekend.

Satellite imagery shows patchy low clouds over and around our island chain…being carried our way on the southeasterly wind flow.
Looking at this larger satellite image, we see these low clouds being drawn up over the islands in places. Meanwhile, we see a a fairly minor area of high cirrus clouds moving up from the southwest, which is passing over Maui County at the time of this writing. There’s also a much larger area of high cirrus, coming off the tops of thunderstorms far to our south as well. Finally, there’s the cold front to our northwest, which is approaching the state, although won’t make it all the way here. Here’s a looping radar image, showing generally light showers falling, most of which are landing over the surrounding ocean…although with some falling over the islands locally too.

Our winds remain much lighter than normal, at least compared to climatology for the middle of May. The primary culprit for this pattern is yet another late season cold front pushing down towards us from the northwest. This front won’t make it to our islands, although will push a high pressure ridge down over the central part of the state soon. This will keep our trade winds at bay, and veer our local winds around to the southeast. These will usher in muggy and volcanically hazy skies over our state, keeping a stagnant atmosphere over us through the first couple of days of the new week. This will lead to clear to partly cloudy mornings, giving way to late morning through early evening clouds developing over and around the interior sections. The air mass will remain quite dry and stable however, so that only spotty showers are expected in most of those upcountry areas.

The models continue to suggest that we’ll have to wait until the middle of the upcoming week for the return of our trade winds. This return should be rather unimpressive though, and will keep either light trades around thereafter, or we might see more of our light southeasterly flow returning. Either way, lights winds should remain in place through most of next weekend’s Memorial Day holiday…with those afternoon showers becoming somewhat heavier then. All things considered, the details in the paragraphs above are not normal, as more typically we would have moderately strong trade winds blowing statewide this time of year, with a few passing showers falling along our windward coasts and slopes. I’ll be back again Sunday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Saturday 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 56.8 degrees at 610am on this Saturday morning. Skies were mostly clear overhead, although with low clouds over the ocean in several directions. Looking down into the central valley from up here on the slopes of the Haleakala Crater, I see generally clear skies, with just a light haze at the time of this writing. The sugar cane business burned the fields earlier this morning, which has also added a bit of smoke to the mix as well.

It’s now early Saturday afternoon at 1240pm here in Kula, under cloudy skies, light breezes, and an air temperature of 74.8 degrees. I just got back from doing some putting at the Spreckelsville golf course, right down by the beach, before doing my weekly shopping in Paia. While I was down that way, and especially while I was tapping the golf ball around, the sun felt really very warm. I spend so much time up in the cooler areas on the slope of the Haleakala Crater, that the tropical heat gets to me quickly. Looking down in the central valley again, I can light see volcanic haze now, although its still not too bad. The cumulus clouds overhead seem to be getting darker all the sudden, and it wouldn’t greatly surprise me to see a few light showers falling later.

We’ve pushed into the early evening hours now at 525pm, under cloudy but dry skies, with very light winds, and an air temperature of 70.7 degrees. Glancing down into the central valley, I expected to see it to be more hazy…although its not at the time of this writing. Now at 615pm, looking across the valley at the West Maui Mountains, I see light rays coming down through the clouds, just a little before sunset. The clouds thickened over head, although didn’t loose with any showers, at least in my area. I expect the clouds to clear overnight, leading to a clear sunrise Sunday morning. Now at 7pm, with droplets of a light shower on my glasses, after playing ping pong with my neighbor at sunset, the light showers finally arrived. We got a little wet, although it didn’t stop us from having a good end to the day!

Friday evening film: Despite all the films that are playing now, none of them, at least the ones I haven’t seen yet, were calling out to me. I took a second and even a third look…and finally found one. This one is called Million Dollar Arm, starring Jon Hamm, Bill Paxton, Suraj Sharma, Aasif Mandvi, Lake Bell, Alan Arkin…among many more. The synopsis: Based on a true story, Disney’s “Million Dollar Arm” follows JB Bernstein, a once-successful sports agent who now finds himself edged out by bigger, slicker competitors. He and his partner Aash (Aasif Mandvi) will have to close their business down for good if JB doesn’t come up with something fast. Late one night, while watching cricket being played in India on TV, JB comes up with an idea so radical it just might work. Why not go there and find the next baseball pitching sensation?


Setting off for Mumbai with nothing but a gifted but cantankerous scout (Alan Arkin) in tow, JB stages a televised, nationwide competition called “Million Dollar Arm” where 40,000 hopefuls compete before two 18-year-old finalists, Rinku and Dinesh (Suraj Sharma, Madhur Mittal), emerge as winners. JB brings them back to the United States to train with legendary pitching coach Tom House (Bill Paxton). The goal: get the boys signed to a major league team. Not only is the game itself difficult to master, but life in the U.S. with a committed bachelor makes things even more complicated-for all of them. While Rinku and Dinesh learn the finer points of baseball and American culture, they in turn teach JB the true meaning of teamwork and commitment. Ultimately, what began as a purely commercial venture becomes something more and leads JB to find the one thing he was never looking for at all-a family.I’ll be sure to let you know what I thought of this film Saturday. I’m pretty sure it will be good enough, as I’ve always enjoyed throwing and catching baseballs all my life.

I enjoyed this film, I felt it was quite predictable, although that didn’t bother me. I enjoyed the love affair, not only between the leading lady, and the leading man…but between all members of the cast as it turned out. There were touching parts of this film, that took me by surprise a couple of times. It was fitting to see this film, as it turns out, everyday I find myself playing throw and catch with my neighbor, which brings me a really nice feeling. As a child I was really into baseball, and played little league, and took every chance I could get playing down at the local park too. I love playing ball, and these days that means just throwing and catching with friends, or even throwing and catching with soft balls against the walls of my house. As for a grade on this film, I’m coming in somewhere between a strong B and a light B+. Here’s a trailer in case you’re interesting in seeing a snippet of this film.


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: Go out and play! New research confirms the health benefits associated with outdoor play for children. New research from the University of Bristol shows that while most children spend the largest amount of their after-school time indoors either alone or with their parents, hours spent outdoors with friends has the greatest positive affect on a child’s level of physical activity. The correlation works out like this: children get an extra 17 minutes of physical activity for every hour of time spent outdoors.


Bristol University’s Dr. Angela Page said, “We found that children spend most of their after-school time indoors and little time outdoors playing with other children, which makes the biggest contribution to the amount of physical activity they get. Building stronger neighborhood community links between parents and children could restore the social norm of children playing outdoors and relieve some concerns parents may have about safety.”


“Being active is also beneficial in other areas of physical and mental well-being. This research demonstrates how children are most active when they’re playing outside with friends, so we should be looking at ways we can encourage this in a safe environment.”


Dr. Rachel Thompson, Head of Research Interpretation at World Cancer Research Fund, added: “There is evidence that physical activity protects against cancer, particularly bowel cancer, one of the most common forms of the disease in the UK. Getting into healthy habits during childhood is a big advantage when it comes to reducing the risk of getting cancer in later life, as active children are more likely to become active adults.”


The study sampled 427 children aged 10 to 11 from the United Kingdom. The intensity of their physical activity was measured with accelerometers while GPS determined whether they were indoors or outdoors. The children used diaries to record with whom they spent their time. The research was part of the Personal and Environmental Associations with Children’s Health (PEACH) project and published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.


There is a stronger link between being outdoors and physical activity for both boys and girls than there is for being indoors and physical activity. Time spent indoors with friends was positively linked with physical activity but not as strongly as when outdoors (a child’s physical activity with friends per hour indoors was recorded at only six minutes).