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

78 – 67  Lihue, Kauai
81 – 68  Honolulu, Oahu
79 – 61  Molokai
81 – 59  Kahului AP, Maui
85 – 61  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.65  Wainiha, Kauai
1.13  Kahuku Training Area, Oahu
0.94  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Maui
0.15  Kapapala RAWS, Big Island

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

09  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
10  Kuaokala, Oahu – SE
12  Molokai – NE
14  Lanai – NE
07  Kahoolawe – N
08  Kaupo Gap, Maui – NW
13  Pali 2, Big Island – N

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
We see a major storm far north of the islands…with its associated
cold front having pushed into the state of Hawaii

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
A frontal cloud band has recently fallen apart

 

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

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Barely a shower anywhere – looping radar image


High Surf Warning…north and west shores Kauai, Oahu and
Molokai, and the north shore to Maui

High Surf Advisory…west shore of the Big Island

Small Craft Advisory…all coastal and channel waters

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Slightly cooler north to northeast breezes into Saturday…then light and variable again. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find high pressure systems to our west-northwest and far east-northeast. Meanwhile, we see a powerful storm low pressure system to our north, in the Gulf of Alaska. This storm has an associated cold front moving through the state today. A brief period of somewhat cooler north to northeasterly breezes hopefully arrives…as it would ventilate away at least some of the long lasting volcanic haze (vog). Lighter winds will return Sunday into early next week, which may bring back more volcanic haze. The models then show a short period of trade winds arriving later next week, in the wake of another weak cold front, which should help to sweep the haze away again temporarily.

A cold front brought clouds from Kauai to parts of Maui County, with a few showers…the Big Island and Maui miss out. A cold front moved into the state over Kauai and Oahu to Molokai…where it has fallen apart. This front wasn’t a big rainfall producer, although it brought some welcome showers our way in places. Looking ahead, yet another weak cold front will approach our area by next Tuesday or so. As light to moderate trade winds return during the middle of next week, there should be some modest increase in windward showers for a day or two. If things continue as they have, we’ll see yet another cold front approaching next Friday into the weekend. There are no signs of a stronger cold front, which would finally bring a hefty slug of moisture our way.

Here in Maui County…We have clear skies early Friday morning before sunrise…with still lots of volcanic haze in the air! Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 49.8 F degrees at 555am. The temperature was a cool 59 degrees down near sea level in Kahului, with 64 out in Hana…and 46 atop the Haleakala Crater at the same time. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe’s highest elevation was reporting 64 degrees, with 61 degrees at Lanai City, and 65 at the Molokai airport. / It’s 11am, still voggy…with the leading edge of cold front’s clouds now visible from here in Kula.

– 1230pm under moderate to thick volcanic haze, what else is new! I can still faintly see the cloud band well to the northwest from here in upcountry east Maui. However, I’m beginning to worry that it may be stalling somewhere between Molokai and Oahu. At least Kauai and Oahu got some localized showers from this quickly weakening frontal cloud band. Although, it should be pointed out that neither of those western islands received much above an inch of the wet stuff. / Now at 3pm, it’s in some areas, while the sun is still shining in others. I was hoping that this front would make it down to Maui, as we need the rain, and it might help to get rid of some of our haze.

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn

Friday Evening Film: There are so many good films out, several of which I want to see, like Carol, Room, Joy, 13 hours, The Revenant. These all look like winners to me, and I look forward to gradually seeing all of them…I hope they stick around. Tonight I’m going to see one called The Hateful 8, by Quentin Tarantino, which looks pretty heavy, although it’s being called a comedy. This western stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tim Roth, Demian Bichir, Walton Goggins, Channing Tatum, and Zoe Bell…among many others. The synopsis:  set after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth and his fugitive Daisy Domergue, race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice.

Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren, a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix, a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead in the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob, who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray, the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage, and Confederate General Sanford Smithers. As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…

I ended up going to see this with my friends Jeff and Svetlana. It was a long almost three hour film, although I never once felt it was slow, or that it was too long. Jeff and I both very much liked this film, while Svetlana was a bit less enthusiastic. As is often the case with Tarantino films, it was full of violence and bloody scenes…to say the least! Profanity was fast and furious, with people falling to the floor left and right. Thus, it isn’t a film for everyone, although for those of who can handle the brutality, it’s a winner. The film takes place in the snowy mountains of the west, the perfect setting for this highly entertaining film with a classic music score. The characters were great, giving what I thought were outstanding performances…stunning at times. As for grades, Jeff and I came down somewhere between an A and A-, while Svetlana withheld her score, even with our mild coaxing. Here’s the trailer in case you want to get a sneak peek.


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

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

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

>>> South Pacific Ocean:

Tropical Cyclone 07P (Victor) remains active, located about 266 miles east of Pago Pago, American Samoa. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image...and finally what the computer models are showing.


>>> 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: Denmark breaks its own world record in wind energy – Danish wind turbines set a new world record in 2015. Wind power is now counted for 42.1% of the total electricity consumption in Denmark, according to data published on Friday (15 January).

The percentage of wind power in Denmark’s overall electricity mix is the highest in the world. Last year, the share was 39.1%, which was a record, according to Energinet, which runs the power grids. 

Out of the 8760 hours of 2015, the western part of the country produced wind power during 1460 of them, said Energinet’s Carsten Vittrup.

“It’s not unusual that we have hours where the wind production is greater than the actual consumption. But in the western part of the country, it has sometimes been 16% more, and that illustrates that with a volatile electricity production, we are able to import and export across our borders,” Vittrup said in a statement.

The new Danish wind power was exported to Norway, Sweden and Germany, while Denmark bought hydro-power from Norway and solar power from Germany.

Power plants that run on coal and bio mass still play an important role as “buffer” in the power supply, Vittrup pointed out, when there’s no production of wind power or solar energy.

The Danish parliament wants the Scandinavian country to get at least half of its electric power from wind by 2020. According to the forecast, this target looks to be met. By 2030, the country hopes that 90% of the electricity and heating supply will come from renewable energy.

In 2005, wind energy counted for 18.7% of the total electricity consumption. In 2010, the share had increased to 22%, and in 2012, the share was 30%.

In the UK, wind power likewise had a record-breaking year. According to figures from the National Grid, 11% of the UK’s electricity was sourced from wind power in 2015 – up from 9.5% the previous year.

Overall, wind provided enough electricity to meet the demands of more than 8.25 million homes – almost a third of UK households – compared to 6.7 million homes in 2014.