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

82 – 66  Lihue, Kauai
84 – 70  Honolulu, Oahu
87 – 68  Molokai AP
90 – 69  Kahului AP, Maui – Broke the old record for the date…which was 88 in 1952
86 – 67  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

0.01  Waialae, Kauai
1.53  Kahana, Oahu
0.11  Molokai
0.04  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.37  Haiku, Maui
0.11  Hilo AP, Big Island

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

20  Waimea Heights, Kauai – SE
28  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – SSW
27  Molokai – ENE
27  Lanai – NE
42  Kahaloowe – ENE
20  Kaupo Gap, Maui – NNE
29  Upolu AP, Big Island – NE

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 Pacific storm track is is located well north of the Hawaiian Islands

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Scattered low clouds in our area…with the next
cold front approaching to the northwest

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Clear to partly cloudy…with some cloudy areas along the windward sides

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Just a few showers…very limited – looping radar image


Small Craft Advisory…coasts and channels from Maui
County down through the Big Island

High Surf Advisory…for north and west shores of Kauai,
Oahu, Molokai, north shores of Maui and the
west shore of the Big Island

Gale Watch…for Monday evening through Tuesday afternoon

 

 http://www.intermission.nu/wp-content/uploads/bubble-hearts.jpg
Celebrating Valentines Day!

Love is just a word until someone
comes along and gives it meaning

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Trade winds lighter over the Kauai end of the state…then increasingly strong again by the holiday on Monday for several days statewide. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system far to our northeast, towards California, with a trailing ridge nearing Kauai. In addition, there are a couple of low pressure systems far to the north of Hawaii. One of these low pressure systems has an associated long cold front stretching southwest into the tropics. While still quite a distance to our northwest…it will be approaching the state over the next few days. The forecast shows trade winds continuing, although faltering a bit over Kauai and Oahu into Sunday. Thereafter, as this cold front arrives Monday into Tuesday, northeasterly winds will move over the state for several days…becoming locally rather strong and gusty. These winds should taper off during the second half of next week.

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

Here’s the Hawaiian Islands Sulfate Aerosol…animated graphic – showing vog forecast

Generally fine weather will prevail this weekend…with an increase in windward showers during the first half of the upcoming work week. Meanwhile, the leeward sides, and especially the beaches, should have nice weather with mostly dry conditions, and plenty of warm winter sunshine beaming down during the days. As we push into the President’s Day holiday on Monday, and then on into Tuesday, a cold front is expected to move into the state, which should bring showers and stronger winds our way into the middle of next week. These trade winds will carry considerable showers into our windward sides, with the models now pointing towards drier than normal conditions returning to the state as we get into the second part of next week…at least through the work week.

Here in Maui County…It’s mostly clear early this Saturday morning. Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 50.3F degrees well before sunrise. The temperature at near the same time was 66 degrees down in Kahului, 72 out in Hana, 66 at Maalaea Bay…and 43 atop the Haleakala Crater. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe was 66 degrees, 66 at Lanai City, with 72 at the Molokai airport. / Now at 750am, it see that there are some clouds along the windward side of east Maui

– Early afternoon, and it looks and feels more like summer than winter…or at least spring!

– Early evening, and it’s clear to partly cloudy, with some cloudy areas around the edges locally…and I see the return of thickening volcanic haze

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Saturday 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

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 11P (Winston) remains active in the Southwest Pacific Ocean, located 416 NM south of Suva, Fiji, with sustained winds of 75 mph. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and what the computer models are showing

>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea:

Tropical Cyclone 13S (Uriah) is now active in the South Indian Ocean, located 410 NM west-southwest of Cocos Island, Australia, with sustained winds of 63 mph. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and what the computer models are showing

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


Interesting:  Bad air quality is deadly – New research shows that more than 5.5 million people die prematurely every year due to household and outdoor air pollution. More than half of deaths occur in two of the world’s fastest growing economies, China and India.

Power plants, industrial manufacturing, vehicle exhaust and burning coal and wood all release small particles into the air that are dangerous to a person’s health. New research, presented today at the 2016 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), found that despite efforts to limit future emissions, the number of premature deaths linked to air pollution will climb over the next two decades unless more aggressive targets are set.

“Air pollution is the fourth highest risk factor for death globally and by far the leading environmental risk factor for disease,” said Michael Brauer, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health in Vancouver, Canada. “Reducing air pollution is an incredibly efficient way to improve the health of a population.”

For the AAAS meeting, researchers from Canada, the United States, China and India assembled estimates of air pollution levels in China and India and calculated the impact on health.

Their analysis shows that the two countries account for 55 per cent of the deaths caused by air pollution worldwide. About 1.6 million people died of air pollution in China and 1.4 million died in India in 2013.

In China, burning coal is the biggest contributor to poor air quality. Qiao Ma, a PhD student at the School of Environment, Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, found that outdoor air pollution from coal alone caused an estimated 366,000 deaths in China in 2013.

Ma also calculated the expected number of premature deaths in China in the future if the country meets its current targets to restrict coal combustion and emissions through a combination of energy policies and pollution controls. She found that air pollution will cause anywhere from 990,000 to 1.3 million premature deaths in 2030 unless even more ambitious targets are introduced.

“Our study highlights the urgent need for even more aggressive strategies to reduce emissions from coal and from other sectors,” said Ma.

In India, a major contributor to poor air quality is the practice of burning wood, dung and similar sources of biomass for cooking and heating. Millions of families, among the poorest in India, are regularly exposed to high levels of particulate matter in their own homes.

“India needs a three-pronged mitigation approach to address industrial coal burning, open burning for agriculture, and household air pollution sources,” said Chandra Venkataraman, professor of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, in Mumbai, India.

In the last 50 years, North America, Western Europe and Japan have made massive strides to combat pollution by using cleaner fuels, more efficient vehicles, limiting coal burning and putting restrictions on electric power plants and factories.

“Having been in charge of designing and implementing strategies to improve air in the United States, I know how difficult it is. Developing countries have a tremendous task in front of them,” said Dan Greenbaum, president of Health Effects Institute, a non-profit organization based in Boston that sponsors targeted efforts to analyze the health burden from different air pollution sources. “This research helps guide the way by identifying the actions which can best improve public health.”