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

83  Lihue, Kauai
90  Honolulu, Oahu – the record high temperature for Sunday was 92 degrees…back in 1992
86  Molokai
88  Kahului, Maui
87  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 710pm Sunday evening (HST):

 

Kailua Kona – 82
Hana airport, Maui
75


Haleakala Summit –   52 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 37 (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

 

http://www.redorbit.com/media/uploads/2013/04/hawaii-rain-shutterstock_131890058-617x416.jpg

Our local winds will be locally a bit lighter through Tuesday – this
will have us feeling hot and muggy…the strengthening trades
will bring refreshing relief from the heat by mid-week onwards


Off and on showers along the windward sides over the next day or
two, most generous on the Big Island…a few of which have become
locally heavy with flooding / with a few thunderstorms here and there

This looping satellite image shows lower level clouds, and some high
clouds in our general area too…along with this image, showing the
area of tropical moisture moving into the state








The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph), along with directions…as of Sunday evening


14  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
32  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – NNE
25  Molokai – NE
25  Lanai – NE
35
  Kahoolawe – NE
23  Hana, Maui, Maui – NE

23  Upolu airport, Big Island – NE


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


1.29  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.44  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.02  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.29  Puu Kukui, Maui
5.47  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 winds will be decreasing slightly into Tuesday, at least locally…and then rebound by the middle of the week. 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 have moderately strong high pressure systems located to the northeast and northwest. Meanwhile, there’s a low pressure system, with its cold front reaching southward…breaking through the connecting ridge between these high pressure cells. The forecast calls for the trade winds to remain active, although will be lighter for a couple of days.

Satellite imagery shows high cirrus clouds…stretching over the state from the west and southwest.
Looking at this larger looping satellite image, it shows low level clouds riding along in the trade wind flow from east to west. The high clouds will dim and filter our sunshine at times…plus provide some nice color in the early mornings and early evenings. Here’s the looping radar, showing a few passing showers moving across our area. There will be a couple of days of unusual off and on showers locally, most active on the Big Island…and mostly along our windward sides. As we get into the middle of this new week, our weather will bounce back into a fairly typical summer trade wind weather pattern, with the usual windward biased showers…mostly at night.

We’ll see an increase in tropical showers today into Tuesday. These showers will arrive thanks to a trough of low pressure moving by in the deeper tropics to our south, and are associated with retired tropical cyclone Fausto…which was active in the northeast Pacific Ocean earlier this week. This will bring some beneficial showers, at least in some areas, which is rather rare during our relatively dry month of July. This tropical moisture will be able to increase shower activity across the state, although it will take some time to work its way westward. I’ll be back with your next new weather narrative early Monday morning, 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 59.2 degrees at 545am on this Sunday morning. Skies are clear to partly cloudy, with still some thin cirrus clouds in a few places…which lit up a nice pink at sunrise. This is a beautiful scene, especially with the big full moon still up in our western horizon!

We’re into the early afternoon now at 1225pm, under partly cloudy skies, light breezes…and an air temperature of 82.6 degrees.
The clouds are increasing, both the high and lower level clouds. I can see what looks like some showers falling over along the windward sides of the north shore at the moment. I know that heavy showers are falling in Hilo, down on the Big Island, with lighter stuff falling around Kamuela. Here on Maui, it was lightly raining in Hana, and in Kapalua on the upper west side too. This stuff is the leading edge of the tropical moisture pushing into the state now, which will gradually work westward towards Oahu and Kauai later today into the night. Here’s a looping radar image showing this moisture arriving over the eastern end of the state.

It’s now 525pm on this Sunday early evening, under rather threatening looking lower level clouds…and an air temperature of 75.6 degrees. 
The cloud bases are moisture laden, no doubt about it. I haven’t seen a drop of water falling out the sky over my place, at least not yet. I know that it’s been raining heavily, at least in places down on the Big Island today, although with some lighter rains here on Maui at both Hana and Kapalua.  The Big Island saw some interior thunderstorms flare up today, which may continue tonight…with the outside chance they could extend over to Maui tonight or on Monday. The Saddle Quarry rain gauge, in the interior part of the Big Island, ended up with 5.27″ of heavy rain during the 24 hours! Meanwhile, I find this rather interesting…the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island was having rain, with an air temperature of 36 degrees!

Friday evening film: there’s an abundance of good looking films that I’d like to see, however I decided on one called Third Person. It stars so many great actors, which is probably the thing that pulled me in the most, including: Liam Neeson, Kim Basinger, Adrien Brody, Mila Kunis, James Franco, Olivia Wilde, Riccardo Scamarcio, Maria Bello, and Moran Atlas...among others. The synopsis: Third Person tells three stories of love, passion, trust and betrayal, in a multi-level story line reminiscent of Paul Haggis’s earlier Oscar-winning film Crash. The tales play out in New York, Paris and Rome: three couples who appear to have nothing related but share deep commonalities: lovers and estranged spouses, children lost and found.


This film isn’t getting good ratings from the critics for the most part, although the viewers are seeing it in a better light. As is often the case, I ended up liking the film way more than I expected. I really liked most of the actors, so that was enough in the end, to make this film one that I enjoyed. It was a deep film, and I didn’t always understand what was happening, although to say the least, it was intriguing. There were very few bright spots, and I mean…very few! Nonetheless, I walked away feeling that I’d seen a film that was full of good acting, very good at times. The drama however was a bit overwhelming, or should I say down right melodramatic. Was I glad I saw it, absolutely, it took me on a journey that I wouldn’t have otherwise had…and I enjoyed the ride very much. As for a grade, I’m going with a broad shouldered B, leaning in the direction of a soft B+. Here’s the trailer for the film, and you can get a feeling for it yourself – full screen gives the best experience.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean:
There are no active tropical cyclones expected through the next 5 days


Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea:
There are no active tropical cyclones expected through the next 5 days

Gulf of Mexico:
There are no active tropical cyclones expected through the next 5 days

Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico.

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

North Eastern Pacific:
There are no active tropical cyclones

A large area of disturbed weather centered about 1600 miles
west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula
is associated with a tropical wave. Some slow development of this
system is possible over the next few days while it moves to the
west or west-northwest at 10 to 15 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent.


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:
No tropical cyclones are expected through the next two days


Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)


Northwest Pacific Ocean: Tropical storm 09W (Rammasun) remains active, and will be gradually increasing in strength. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a satellite image
animated images


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:  This is a extra special year for “Super Moons” Super Moons are full moons that are extra, well, super! They are super because they appear larger in the evening sky than your run of the mill full moon.


In June of last year, a full Moon made headlines. The news media called it a “supermoon” because it was 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full Moons of 2013. Around the world, people went outside to marvel at its luminosity.


If you thought one supermoon was bright, how about three? The full Moons of summer 2014-July 12th, August 10th, and Sept. 9th-will all be supermoons.


The scientific term for the phenomenon is “perigee moon.” Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon’s orbit. The Moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side (“perigee”) about 50,000 km closer than the other (“apogee”). Full Moons that occur on the perigee side of the Moon’s orbit seem extra big and bright.


This coincidence happens three times in 2014. On July 12th and Sept 9th the Moon becomes full on the same day as perigee. On August 10th it becomes full during the same hour as perigee—arguably making it an extra-super Moon.”


It might seem that such a sequence must be rare. Not so, says Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory.


“Generally speaking, full Moons occur near perigee every 13 months and 18 days, so it’s not all that unusual,” he says. “In fact, just last year there were three perigee Moons in a row, but only one was widely reported.”


In practice, it’s not always easy to tell the difference between a supermoon and an ordinary full Moon. A 30% difference in brightness can easily be masked by clouds and haze. Also, there are no rulers floating in the sky to measure lunar diameters. Hanging high overhead with no reference points to provide a sense of scale, one full Moon looks about the same size as any other.


Chester expects most reports of giant Moons this summer to be … illusory.


“The ”Moon Illusion’ is probably what will make people remember this coming set of Full Moons, more than the actual view of the Moon itself,” he says.


The illusion occurs when the Moon is near the horizon. For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging Moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects. When the Moon illusion amplifies a perigee Moon, the swollen orb rising in the east at sunset can seem super indeed.