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

80 – 64  Lihue, Kauai
81 – 66  Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 58  Molokai
85 – 59  Kahului AP, Maui
82 – 71  Kona Int’l AP
85 – 63  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.01  Waiakoali, Kauai
0.27  Punaluu Stream, Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.04  Wailuku, Maui
0.11  Keaumo, Big Island

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

12  Mana, Kauai – SE
15  KKuaokala, Oahu – SW
06  Molokai – SE
10  Lanai – SW
21  Kahoolawe – NE
17  Kaupo Gap, Maui – SE
17  South Point, Big Island – NNE

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://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
The winter storm track remains north of Hawaii…
with a parade of cold fronts moving by to our north

Here’s a wind profile…of the offshore waters
around the islands – with a closer view

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Hurricane 01C (Pali) not a threat to Hawaii…far southwest

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Clear to partly cloudy


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Just a few showers in our area – looping radar image


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Light and variable breezes…extensive volcanic haze locally. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system not far to our north, with others far west and east-northeast…with an associated ridge of high pressure stretched across the state. Meanwhile, we see storm and gale low pressure systems far to our northeast through northwest. The tail-end of a cold front is located offshore to the north of the islands, with a couple more fronts well to our northwest. Our winds will remain light and variable in direction, continuing all week, as a high pressure ridge remains over the state. This light wind situation will keep volcanic haze (vog) over the islands…at least at times locally. There is no clear end point to this long standing light wind regime.

We see patches of clouds over the islands locally…along with lots of clear areas too. The overlying atmosphere remains dry and stable, as it has been for an extended period of time. Thus, the few clouds that are around now, aren’t dropping any significant rainfall by any means. Looking ahead, periodic cold fronts are expected to continue moving by just to our north, with the continued chance of occasionally sliding down into the state with a few showers…as is common during an El Nino winter. One such weak cold front may slip into the state Thursday night, reaching as far as Maui County by Friday night…although only a modest increase in showers is expected.

Here in Maui County…We have a mix of clouds and clear skies early Tuesday morning before sunrise…along with thick volcanic haze in the air. Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 49.9 F degrees at 540am. The temperature was 60 degrees down near sea level in Kahului, with 64 out in Hana, 61 at Maalaea Bay…and 45 atop the Haleakala Crater at the same time. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe’s highest elevation was reporting 64 degrees, with 62 degrees at Lanai City, and 61 at the Molokai airport./ It’s now 1050am, after becoming totally cloud free, the clouds are beginning to form over the mountains. The winds remain light, which is keeping the volcanic haze over us again today.

– It’s now early evening at 540pm, with clear to partly cloudy skies, and yes what else…Vog! This volcanic haze is thick as ah brick, and once again today, at least just before sunset, I can barely see the West Maui Mountains from here in Kula! You may be asking yourself the question: when will we see less haze, or even no haze? Well, I’m sorry to say, I don’t see a break over the next week, with just a few brief exceptions…maybe. / Now at 820pm, it’s clear across most of Maui, although still voggy, and the air temperature up here in Kula, at my weather tower, was sinking quickly to 52.9 degrees – once again plummeting into the 40’s into Wednesday morning.

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Tuesday 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 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

>>> Gulf of Mexico: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

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 last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 North Pacific hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on May 15, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 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.

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, 2016. During the off-season, special tropical weather outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

Out of season Hurricane 01C (Pali) remains active, located about 1505 miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. Here’s the CPHC graphical track map, along with a satellite image...and finally what the computer models are showing.

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> South Pacific Ocean:


>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)


Interesting: As gas prices fall, consumers going back to less fuel efficient vehicles – There were high-fives this week from Detroit to Washington, D.C., as car makers celebrated record auto sales.

Americans bought 17.5 million cars and trucks in 2015. That’s a huge turnaround from 2009, and the Obama administration cheered the rebound as vindication of the president’s decision to rescue General Motors and Chrysler from bankruptcy.

“Because of the policy decisions that were made by this administration to place a bet on those workers, America has won, and our economy has been better for it,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday.

There’s another element of the president’s auto agenda, though, that’s not looking so good: the drive for better fuel economy. In 2011, Obama struck a deal with automakers to sharply increase their vehicles’ efficiency. The move was designed to save money for consumers. It was also a key ingredient in the president’s recipe for reducing heat-trapping carbon pollution linked to climate change.

“By the middle of the next decade, the cars and trucks we buy will go twice as far on a gallon of gas,” Obama promised in 2013. “That means you’ll have to fill up half as often; we’ll all reduce carbon pollution.”

For a while, it worked. Automakers invested in fuel-saving technology, and consumers — burned by high gasoline prices — paid greater attention to miles per gallon. The average fuel economy of new vehicles rose from 22.6 miles per gallon in late 2011 to 25.8 mpg in mid-2014. But those improvements have now stalled.

Analysts at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute say the average fuel economy of a new car sold in 2015 was lower than the year before. Last month, the average dipped below 25 miles per gallon.

What’s behind the decrease? Cheap gas.

“When gasoline is cheap, the motivation just isn’t there for consumers to pay a whole lot of attention to fuel economy,” says Brandon Schoettle, who compiles the University of Michigan figures with his colleague Michael Sivak.

As gas prices tumbled through 2015, car buyers increasingly turned to less fuel efficient trucks and SUVs. And while those models go farther on a gallon of gas than they used to, they’re no match for gas-sipping compacts.

“There’s kind of two competing forces here,” Schoettle says. “The automakers are doing what they can to improve the technology and the vehicles and make the fuel economy for these better and better each year. But on the other hand, you’ve also got the consumer behavior and what drivers want to purchase and drive around.”

Automakers aren’t likely to discourage consumers from switching, since trucks and SUVs are typically more profitable than cars. And if the trend continues, the U.S. will have a tough time meeting its climate goal of doubling fuel economy by 2025.