Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday:
83 Lihue, Kauai
86 Honolulu, Oahu
82 Molokai
90 Kahului, Maui – record high temperature for Saturday…93 degrees back in 1968
87 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 610pm Saturday evening (HST):
Kailua Kona – 82
Hana airport, Maui – 75
Haleakala Summit – 52 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 45 (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
Lighter trade winds…picking up after this weekend again
There will be some passing showers along the windward sides,
mostly at night…just a few elsewhere around the state
Looping satellite image…showing high cirrus clouds being
carried over the state from the southwest
Small Craft Wind Advisory…windiest areas around Maui
County and the Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph), along with directions…as of Saturday evening
24 Port Allen, Kauai – ENE
29 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – NNE
22 Molokai – ENE
30 Lanai – NE
28 Kahoolawe – NE
24 Kahului, Maui – NE
28 Kealakomo, Big Island – ESE
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Saturday evening (545pm totals):
0.48 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.51 Tunnel RG, Oahu
0.08 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.10 Hana airport, Maui
0.42 Kawainui Stream, 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 local trade winds will be a bit lighter into Monday…increasing again thereafter. 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, north and northwest of the state. At the same time we see the tail-end of a cold front breaking through the ridges of high pressure…connecting these high pressure cells. The models suggest that the trade winds will remain active, with no end in sight.
Satellite imagery shows high cirrus clouds coming up from the southwest…moving over the island chain. Looking at this larger looping satellite image, it shows some low level clouds riding along in the trade wind flow from east to west. There’s a rather large area of high cirrus clouds to our southwest…coming up over the islands, which will be around again tomorrow. These high clouds will dim and filter our Hawaiian sunshine, and give us some good sunset and sunrise colors too. Here’s the looping radar, showing some passing showers arriving over our islands, especially over Oahu…at the time of this writing.
Favorably inclined weather conditions, with little change on the long term horizon. The trade winds have decreased now, and pick up again around Tuesday onwards. As is often the case, most showers that grace our shores and slopes will occur during the night and early morning hours. The overlying atmosphere remains relatively dry and stable, which will limit showers, especially through Tuesday or so. There are those common patches of showery clouds upstream, which will bring some moisture our way periodically…although they won’t be overbearing by any means. I’ll be back 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 a 56.1 degrees at 555am on this Saturday morning. Skies are clear to partly cloudy for the most part, while the high cirrus clouds, which are considerable in many areas…lit up a beautiful orange and pink this morning!
We’re into the very early afternoon now at 1220pm, under lots of rather thick high cirrus clouds dimming our sunshine, near calm winds…and an air temperature of 81.3 degrees. I just got back from Paia, having taken care of my once a week shopping. I enjoy going to the health food store, as it gives me a chance to socialize a bit, and be out in a public setting. Speaking of being social, I had a good time at a friend’s 4th of July party last night too. I’m a little slow today as a result though, as I slept about three hours less than I usually do. Fortunately, I didn’t have much to drink, so at least I don’t have a hangover.
It’s early evening now at 620pm, under cloudy skies, light breezes…and an air temperature of 71.1 degrees. Kula has lots of low clouds blanketing the slopes of the Haleakala Crater, which will likely keep me from seeing whether there’s a colorful sunset or not. I hope that there is, and that you get to see it!
World-wide tropical cyclone activity:
Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones expected through the next 2 days
Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean
Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones expected through the next 2 days
Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones expected through the next 2 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 weak area of low pressure is located several hundred miles south-
southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula.
Showers and thunderstorms associated with this low remain minimal,
and any development should be slow to occur during the next few days
while it moves westward or west-northwestward 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: Typhoon 08W (Neoguri) remains active, and will be strengthening over the next several days, becoming a full fledged Super typhoon…moving over Okinawa and then Japan. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a 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: Ocean health depends more on whales than we thought – Baleen and sperm whales, known collectively as the great whales, include the largest animals in the history of life on Earth. Though large in size, whales have long been considered too rare to make much of a difference in the ocean, and the focus of much marine ecological research has been on smaller organisms, such as algae and planktonic animals. While these small organisms are essential to life in the sea, they are not the whole story. As great whales recover from centuries of over hunting, scientists are beginning to appreciate their roles as ecosystem engineers of the ocean.
A recent synthesis, published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, evaluates decades of research on the ecological role of great whales. The authors, led by Joe Roman at the University of Vermont, suggest that the influence of these animals has been substantially undervalued because, until now, scientists have underestimated the degree to which the decline in whale population has altered marine ecosystems.
Commercial whaling dramatically reduced the abundance of great whales — by at least 66% and perhaps as high as 90%, according to some estimates — but recovery is possible, and potentially critical for ocean resiliency.
Among their many ecological functions, whales recycle nutrients and enhance primary productivity, locally and on a regional scale. Whales mix the water column, and after feeding at depth, release surface plumes of fecal material. This “whale pump” supplies iron and nitrogen – essentially fertilizers – to primary producers in the surface ocean. Further, the migrations of baleen whales between highly productive, high-latitude feeding and low-latitude calving grounds are among the longest annual movements of mammals. By fasting in these winter calving grounds near the equator, humpback whales, for example, release nitrogen in the form of urea into comparatively nutrient-poor areas — transporting nutrients nearly 10,000 kilometers on the “great whale conveyor belt.”
Sometimes, commercial fishermen have seen whales as competition. But this new paper summarizes a strong body of evidence that indicates the opposite can be true: whale recovery “could lead to higher rates of productivity in locations where whales aggregate to feed and give birth,” supporting more robust fisheries.
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