Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday…along with the minimum temperatures Thursday:

74 – 59  Lihue, Kauai
76 – 63  Honolulu, Oahu
74 – 57  Molokai AP
78 – 58  Kahului, Maui
80 – 66  Kailua Kona
77 – 62  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.28  Kokee, Kauai
0.23  Makaha Stream, Oahu
0.02  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.02  Ulupalakua, Maui
0.21  Saddle Quarry, Big Island


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


20  Port Allen, Kauai
15  Waiawa FWS, Oahu
16  Molokai
18  Lanai
18  Kahoolawe
18  Kaupo Gap, Maui
40  Ahumoa, 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

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
Multi-layered clouds over and around the islands

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Partly to mostly cloudy skies…thunderstorms to the east


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
A few light showers…although nothing serious for the time being –
with a dramatic change on tap for later Friday into Saturday

Cool northwest winds on this first day of 2015…increasing showers,
some heavy with thunderstorms and gusty southwesterly winds
Friday into Saturday…as a strong cold front brings chilly and
drier weather in its wake through Sunday

Small Craft Advisory…for locally strong winds and rough seas

Wind Advisory…starting 6pm Friday – for southwesterly winds 20-40
mph with gusts to 50+ in the lowlands

High Wind Warning…Big Island summits – 45-75 mph with gusts
to over 90 mph through Saturday morning

 


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Cool west to northwesterly breezes on this New Years Day…then veering to stronger southwest Kona winds later Friday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profiler of the central Pacific. We find high pressure systems to the west and northeast of the state. At the same time, we have a low pressure system to the north of the state…with an associated, comma shaped cold front over the ocean to the east through southeast of the Big Island. Cool westerly breezes will prevail, until increasingly strong winds arrive later Friday, from the southwesterly Kona direction. This will occur as a new strong cold front arrives later Friday into Saturday morning. Winds over the summits on the Big Island will remain strong and gusty, and then becoming very strong…gusting potentially over 100 mph Friday into Saturday! The lower elevations around the state will see strong winds too, with a wind advisory in effect. Light trade winds will arrive by next Monday. lasting for a few days.

Stable weather conditions…becoming markedly unsettled later Friday into Saturday. Here’s the looping radar image showing just a few light showers, most of which are over the ocean. Generally fine weather has returned on the heels of the recent cold front, albeit on the cloudy side. This New Year’s Day will have chilly westerly winds with low clouds and a few minor showers. A more significant cold front is forecast for the later Friday-Saturday time frame, which will bring a more notable precipitation event…some of which will be heavy with a chance of severe thunderstorms. In addition, chilly northwest to northerly winds will sweep in behind this next cold front, keeping a wintery edge in place through the weekend time frame. The models are showing more normal trade wind weather conditions returning to the islands as we push into early next week, with a possible weak cold front briefly passing through next Wednesday. I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


>>> Atlantic Ocean: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.


Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.


>>> Gulf of Mexico: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.


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

>>> Eastern Pacific: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 North Pacific hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on May 15, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.


Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.


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


>>> Central Pacific: The central north Pacific hurricane season has officially ended. Routine issuance of the tropical weather outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, special tropical weather outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.


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: Flavor and quality of wine impacted by Climate Change – It has been a challenge at times to get well-heeled and sometimes highly influential people to care about climate change. After all, having a great deal of money can serve to insulate someone from problems that afflict those less fortunate. Food prices going up, for example, not that big a deal. Coastal areas flooding out, go somewhere else for vacation. Many of those at the top of the heap are finding that business-as-usual is working very well for them, thank you very much. Besides, they might have significant investments in industries that could be threatened by changing to a more sustainable model.


Perhaps, what is needed to get their attention is something that hits closer to home. Here is an item in England’s The Telegraph that might fit the bill: Apparently, rising temperatures in areas like France, Italy and Spain are affecting the flavor of certain wines. The grapes that are used in the production of certain wines, like pinot noir, are growing more quickly than before.


What that means, according to Kimberly Nicholas, a wine industry consultant, is that “as the atmosphere warms, the desired ratio of acid to sugar occurs earlier in the season.” That challenges the vineyards to deduce the ideal time to pick the grapes. Ms. Nicholas, an associate professor of sustainability science at Lund University in Sweden, warned that vineyards are finding it difficult to know the perfect moment to pick the grapes in order to retain a wine’s signature taste. The grapes may no longer produce the unique flavors that wine fanciers have come to associate with their favorite reds and whites.


One university study of the impact of a changing climate on the wine industry, performed in Pennsylvania, found that: “The sugar levels mature too quickly, while the flavors lag behind. As the vintner waits to harvest the grapes until the flavor is fully developed, they sacrifice the acidity, resulting in a ‘flabby’ wine (high alcohol content as a result of high sugar levels with very little returned acidity).”


A number of vineyards in California and southern Europe are dropping pinot noir for other varieties of grape that are more tolerant to higher temperatures. While that might not seem like a tragedy for many who are ambivalent about which wines they drink, this is a development that is bound to get the attention of wine lovers around the world.


The value of the global wine business is estimated at close to $200 billion. This is not to say that people are going to suddenly stop drinking wine, but if their favorite varieties are no longer available, some people might look elsewhere for their enjoyment.


Many aspects of our modern lifestyle will require these kinds of adjustments, particularly food and drink. But few things have come to epitomize the good life as much as a glass of fine wine.


Another study, in Australia, found that wine grape quality could be expected to reduce by anywhere between 7 percent and 39 percent by 2030 and by as much as 76 percent by 2050. Of course, new varieties will likely be developed that can hopefully provide better quality in these new conditions. But this will take some time, and in the meantime some people might turn away from wine as their drink of choice, especially if prices go up.


Will this represent a wake up call, a message delivered into the inner sanctum of those benefiting the most from our status quo and least inclined to want to change? Only time will tell. But as time goes on, more and more of these changes will continue to exert pressure on every aspect of life.