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

84  Lihue, Kauai
90  Honolulu, Oahu – record highest temperature for Wednesday was 92 back in…1951, 1979, and 1997
87  Molokai
86  Kahului, Maui
87  Kailua Kona
86  Hilo, Hawaii

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands, as of Wednesday evening:


0.61  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.32  Kahana, Oahu
0.06  Makapulapai, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.45  Puu Kukui, Maui
1.05  Kainaliu, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Wednesday evening:

23  Port Allen, Kauai

20  Honouliuli FWS, Oahu
27  Molokai
25  Lanai
31  Kahoolawe
24  Kahului, Maui

29  Kealakomo, 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.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/tpac/vis-l.jpg


Satellite image showing
tropical storm Karina to the east-southeast,  and
much larger tropical storm Lowell further east…along with tropical
disturbances to the
south-southwest and southeast of our islands


Here’s a real time wind profiler showing tropical storm Karina to the
east-southeast, along with tropical storm Lowell further east
…the areas
to the south-southwest, and southeast of the islands…both have a low
chance of developing

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg

Trade winds,moderately strong, carrying tropical showers our way
tonight into Thursday…mostly along the windward sides

High Surf Advisory…south facing shores



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative
~~~




Ongoing trade winds continuing through the rest of this week….into next 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. We have a moderately strong,  near 1027 milliar high pressure system located far to the northeast of the state.  At the same time, there are a couple of low pressure systems to the south-southwest and east-southeast of Hawaii. Our trade winds will remain moderately strong…with some higher gusts. These long lasting trades will continue through the rest of this week into next week.

Satellite imagery shows patchy clouds over and around the islands...being carried our way on the trade winds. Looking at this larger looping satellite image, it shows partly cloudy skies over most of the state, although with cloudy skies locally too…while there active thunderstorms far to the south, and southeast. There’s low clouds being carried our way, which will drop showers locally…mostly along our windward side.  Here’s the looping radar, showing showers moving across our island chain, the larger part of which remain over the offshore waters, although they will impact the islands locally…some of which may become moderately heavy. 

A slug of tropical moisture over the windward side of the Big Island is moving towards Maui, and then on to the other islands on Thursday, which will bring an increase in showers…some of which will be locally quite generous.  Meanwhile, the tropical ocean to our southeast and east-southeast remains quite active, in relation to tropical disturbances. At the moment, we have two areas of disturbed weather, both with a low chance of developing into tropical depressions, located to the south-southwest and southeast of our islands. That being said, the models are keeping tropical systems well away from the Hawaiian Islands, which of course is a good thing…stay tuned.  I’ll return with more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Wednesday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.



World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


1.)  Showers and thunderstorms associated with an elongated area of low pressure located a few hundred miles east of the Windward Islands have changed little in organization during the past several hours. Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for development during the next couple of days, and a tropical depression could form while the system moves west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph across the Lesser Antilles and over the eastern Caribbean Sea. The mountainous terrain of Hispaniola and eastern Cuba could limit development during the first part of the weekend, but conditions are expected to be conducive for development early next week when the system is forecast to move near or over the Bahamas.


Regardless of tropical cyclone formation, gusty winds and heavy rainfall are possible across portions of the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands tonight and Friday, and over Hispaniola late Friday and Saturday. Interests in those islands should closely monitor the progress of this disturbance. An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft is scheduled to investigate the low this afternoon, if necessary.


Here’s what the computer models are showing, with a satellite image of this area.


* Formation chance through 48 hours...medium...50 percent * Formation chance through 5 day...high...70 percent


Here’s a
satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea:
There are no active tropical cyclones

Gulf of Mexico:
There are no active tropical cyclones

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:
Tropical storm 11E (Karina) remains active in the northeast Pacific, located about 1255 miles east of Hilo, Hawaii – wind speeds 60 mph. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a satellite imagehere’s what the computer models are showing about this storm.


Tropical storm 12E (Lowell)
remains active in the northeast Pacific, located about 785 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California – wind speeds 65 mph. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a satellite image
Here’s an animation taken yesterday of this storm…pretty amazing – Full Screen


1.)
Showers and thunderstorms associated with a broad area of low pressure located several hundred miles south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec have not become any better organized during the past few hours. However, environmental conditions are conducive for development, and a tropical depression is likely to form by Friday or Saturday while the system moves west-northwestward at about 10 mph.


* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…70 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days...high…90 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
: There are no active tropical cyclones


1.)  Low pressure about 785 miles southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, is nearly stationary. Isolated thunderstorms are located near the low, but are showing little sign of organization. Conditions are conducive for only limited development over the next two days.


* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…20 percent


2.)  Low pressure about 970 miles south-southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, is moving west slowly. Isolated thunderstorms occasionally develop near the low, but are showing little sign of organization. Conditions are not conducive for development over the next two days.


* Formation chance through 48 hours, low…near 0 percent


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


Northwest 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:  New Satellite To Help Farmers Facing Drought Satellites are put into orbit for a variety of tasks. From sending television signals to our homes to enabling GPS devices, to helping us see weather on a global scale, satellites collect information and provide us with modern conveniences. One new use for a proposed satellite scheduled to launch this winter is soil moisture monitoring at a local level.


Regions across the globe face drought from time to time. Right now, about 60 percent of California is experiencing “exceptional drought,” the U.S. Drought Monitor’s most dire classification. California’s last two winters have been among the driest since records began in 1879. Without enough water in the soil, seeds can’t sprout roots, leaves can’t perform photosynthesis, and agriculture can’t be sustained.


In order to monitor drought, farmers, scientists and resource managers can place sensors in the ground, but these only provide spot measurements and are rare across some critical agricultural areas in Africa, Asia and Latin America. For this reason, NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite was created. The mission will collect the kind of local data agricultural and water managers need.


SMAP uses two microwave instruments to monitor the top 2 inches of soil on Earth’s surface. Together, the instruments create soil moisture estimates with a resolution of about 6 miles, mapping the entire globe every two or three days.


“Agricultural drought occurs when the demand for water for crop production exceeds available water supplies from precipitation, surface water and sustainable withdrawals from groundwater,” said Forrest Melton, a research scientist in the Ecological Forecasting Lab at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.


“Based on snowpack and precipitation data in California, by March we had a pretty good idea that by summer we’d be in a severe agricultural drought,” Melton added. “But irrigation in parts of India, the Middle East and other regions relies heavily on the pumping of groundwater during some or all of the year.” Underground water resources are hard to estimate, so farmers who rely on groundwater have fewer indicators of approaching shortfalls than those whose irrigation comes partially from rain or snowmelt. For these parts of the world where farmers have little data available to help them understand current conditions, SMAP’s measurements could fill a significant void.