Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday:
M Lihue, Kauai
83 Honolulu, Oahu
84 Molokai
86 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 743pm Sunday evening:
Kailua Kona – 79
Hilo airport, Maui – 74
Haleakala Summit – 45 (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
Light winds through the next week…although somewhat stronger
trade winds may hang on over the Big Island at times locally
A few showers will occur during the afternoon hours over the
interior sections, with a few windward showers falling where
the trade winds exist…with volcanically hazy skies in many areas
The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions…as of Sunday evening:
10 Waimea Heights, Kauai – SW
16 Kahuku Trng, Oahu – ESE
16 Molokai – ESE
18 Lanai – NE
23 Kahoolawe – NE
13 Hana, Maui – SE
23 South Point, Big Island – NE
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Sunday evening (545pm totals):
0.14 Mohihi Crossing, Kauai
0.23 Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.00 Maui
0.11 Pahoa, 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 ~~~
Light breezes lasting well 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 moderately strong, near 1026 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of our islands, moving slowly northeastward. A trailing ridge of high pressure is located over or near Kauai. At the same time, we see a low pressure system to our north-northwest, with its associated cold front…stalled to the northwest of the state. Our local winds will remain quite light, from the southeast in most areas for the time being. The long range outlook calls for the return of our normal trade winds by next weekend, or certainly by early the following week.
Satellite imagery shows high and middle level clouds over much of the state…which are blocking our view of whatever low clouds that are around. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we see high cirrus clouds being carried up from the deeper tropics to our southwest…over the state and north. These icy clouds helped to dim and filter our sunshine yesterday, and have done so again today. Here’s a looping radar image, showing a rather insignificant rainfall pattern...with just a few showers here and there. The most noticeable showers are located over the ocean to the south of Kauai…along with those persistent showers over the southeast slopes of the Big Island as well.
We remain in a well established light wind condition, which will keep our local atmosphere rather stagnant…and hazy at times too. It appears that this light wind episode will last well into the new week ahead…if not all week! The latest model output also shows another late season cold front approaching the islands later in the new week, which will help keep our light breezes in place even longer. When there isn’t high level clouds around, as there are today, days will begin quite clearly and slightly cooler than normal, and then cloud-up…leading to a few afternoon showers over the interior sections locally. The overlying atmosphere remains quite dry and stable however, which is limiting shower activity. At those times, and in those places where the trade winds nose in from the east, we’ll see a few windward biased showers arriving as well. I’ll be back again early Monday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Sunday 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 55.8 degrees at 550am on this Sunday morning. Skies were partly cloudy, most of which were the thin high cirrus variety…and volcanically hazy too. Looking down at the central valley, I can see light vog prevailing, which is cutting our normal good visibilities down somewhat. I’m thinking that we should get used to seeing this hazy reality, at least until the trade winds return to ventilate it away…which may take until next weekend. Hopefully we’ll see some sort of breeze that will carry it away before then.
We’ve pushed into the early afternoon hours now at 1235pm, under cloudy skies, light breezes…and light to moderately thick volcanic haze. The clouds overhead are taking on a darker tone now, and it wouldn’t be too surprising to see a few drops falling before too long. The breeze just came up a bit, and its got a slight coolness to it, although glancing down at my outdoor temperature sensor…its only 75.6 degrees.
We’re now into the early evening hours at 555pm, under partly cloudy skies, light winds…and still hazy air too. Today was very similar to yesterday, in that the clouds gathered over the mountain slopes, and they tried their best to become showery, but just couldn’t pull it off. There were a few light sprinkles, but if I was trying to measure it, I’d have to call it a trace at best. The high clouds have done their share of muting our sunshine today, as did the volcanic haze that’s been around as well. I anticipate another day like today on Monday, although the high cirrus may migrate away, which could provide somewhat sunnier skies to start off our new work week.
Friday evening film: This week’s film is called Captain America: The Winter Soldier, starring Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Samuel Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Gary Shandling, Branka Katic, Robert Redford, and Hayley Atwell…among many others. The synopsis: Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and teams up with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, to battle a powerful yet shadowy enemy in present-day Washington, D.C. ~~~ My neighbors Jeff and Svetlana and I went to see this film, with one of their friends, whose an astronomer from Switzerland…and also a belly dance instructor. We had dinner out beforehand, and then sank into this long 2+ hour film. It turned out to be a good film, full of all kinds of strong action…a real shoot-em-up extravaganza! It was one of those classic Marvel blockbuster films, very edgy and complex, and full of high grade entertainment from beginning to end. As for grades from our group, two B’s, a B+, and Svetlana didn’t like it very much. I was glad to have seen this film, it wasn’t my favorite, although was certainly worth seeing…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: Bicycles Can Change the World – Saying that bicycles can change the world might sound like an oversimplification of things, but when you start to break it down, it’s easy to see that the bicycle has an effect on a lot more than just how we get from point A to point B.
Need proof for why bicycles are a good way to change the world? Here are some good ones.
1. They provide alternative transportation
It doesn’t take a scientist to work out that switching from four wheels to two wheels is a good thing. First there’s the environmental reason. For example, if 5 percent of people in New York commuting by car (either private or taxi) were to bike to work, they could save 150 million pounds of CO2 emissions per year. That’s the equivalent to the amount of CO2 reduced by planting a forest 1.3 times the size of Manhattan. And that’s only with a 5 percent change.
Then there’s the societal benefit of switching to two wheels. We would save billions of hours wasted sitting in traffic congestion. In fact, the average American spends an hour a day sitting in their car. Imagine if that hour was spent pedaling. A recent study even showed that if a bicycle was involved in a commute, people felt a whole lot happier about their commute in general.
2. They are a form of empowerment
Susan B. Anthony once said, “Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel”?the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”
The bicycle continues to play a significant role in women’s empowerment. World Bicycle Relief, for example, provides 50,000 bikes to students in Africa, 70 percent of them to girls. If a girl can ride to school, she can get an education. In Afghanistan, a country often cited for its poor state of women’s rights, there’s a national women’s cycling team, proving that women can stand up and push gender barriers no matter where they are in the world.
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