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

81 – 65  Lihue, Kauai
82 – 69  Honolulu, Oahu
78 – 67  Molokai AP
83 – 68  Kahului AP, Maui
85 – 63  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

0.66  Kilohana, Kauai
0.32  Ahuimanu Loop, Oahu
0.32  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.05  Lanai
0.03  Kahoolawe
0.23  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.21  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

31  Port Allen, Kauai – NW
33  Kuaokala, Oahu – NW
28  Molokai – WSW
21  Lanai – SW
29  Kahaloowe – SW
50  Kaupo Gap, Maui – SE
35  South Point, Big Island – SW

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
Pacific storm track remains well north of Hawaii…with
cold fronts draping southward – high clouds south of
the islands

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Large area of thunderstorms to the south of Hawaii…with the
next cold front moving through the state now

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Northeast to southwest pre-frontal and post-frontal cloud bands moving
into the state…the actual cold front has reached Oahu, and will be moving
down through the rest of the state tonight into Monday

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers locally…mostly Oahu to Maui County – looping radar image


High Surf Warning…along north and west shores of Kauai, Oahu
and Molokai, and north shores of Maui and the Big Island

Gale Warning…Hawaiian offshore waters beyond 40 nautical
miles – out to 240 nautical miles

Small Craft Advisory…coasts and channels statewide

Wind Advisory…Big Island summits – 30-45 with 55 mph gusts  

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Locally gusty southwest to westerly kona winds…as a cold front moves down through the state. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find high pressure systems far east-northeast and far west-northwest of Hawaii. In addition, there’s a major storm low pressure system to the north. There’s an associated cold front that is now moving into the state. As this cold front moves through, it’s prompted a period of locally blustery southwest to westerly kona winds, at least over those exposed windiest locations around the state. Our winds will then turn cooler and lighter from the north, in the wake of the front’s passage…followed by light breezes into the middle of the week. The latest models are showing moderately strong trade winds during the second half of the upcoming 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

There are cloud bands moving into the state from the northwest…bringing localized showers. Showers will increase as the current cold front moves through the islands into Monday. The latest forecast shows this cold front passing down through the state through the night into Monday, bringing some rainfall, although excessive precipitation isn’t expected. Most of this precipitation will fall along the windward coasts and slopes, although not exclusively. Cooler and generally drier weather, although with still a few passing showers will arrive early in the new week…followed by another cold front later Wednesday into Thursday. The returning trade winds in the wake of that cold front will bring a few windward showers…although not many are expected into next weekend.

Special Surf Statement: A very large high surf warning level northwest swell will arrive late today, peak on Monday, then lower gradually Tuesday into Wednesday. The upcoming full moon will cause high astronomical tides especially during the early morning tide cycles Monday and Tuesday. Swell heights are expected to reach near 22-28 feet (45 to 55 foot wave faces), so coastal run up will be a very real concern especially during times of high tide.

Another very large warning level northwest swell is expected to arrive Wednesday night, peak on Thursday, then lower gradually Friday into Saturday. Wave heights are expected to be similar to the current northwest swell, and will again make for very dangerous conditions along our north and west facing beaches. Please use extreme caution when going near our exposed beaches over the next few days, and then again Thursday into early next weekend!

Here in Maui County…It’s mostly clear early this Sunday morning, and windy at times…with still some volcanic haze evident. Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 55.4F degrees well before sunrise. The temperature at near the same time was 72 degrees down in Kahului, 59 out in Hana, and 45 degrees up at the summit of the Haleakala Crater. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe was 70 degrees, 66 at Lanai City, with 72 at the Molokai airport. / At 720am, it’s still mostly clear, although we can see the first cloud band now moving over us from the northwest…which should bring a few showers our way.

– Sunday afternoon, and here at my place in upper Kula, it’s raining, windy, and very foggy. I know that some of you may think that I’m nuts, although these are some of my favorite weather conditions! At 350pm, the air temperature is 63,8 degrees, while down at sea level in Kahului, it was 77 degrees at about the same time, under partly sunny conditions. I almost forgot to tell you, when I went down early this morning, well before dawn, to get my water…on the way back up the stairs to my weather tower, I saw an amazing sight! It was a very long “shooting star” that left a streak in the darkness…as it slowly faded away. I stood there with my mouth open, and could hardly believe my eyes!

– 530pm, cloudy and raining here in Kula, although I just talked to a friend in Haiku, on the windward side of east Maui, and she said it hadn’t rained yet…oops, she just texted me and said that the showers had just arrived there too. The earlier windy weather has backed off here for the most part, although it sure was blustery last night into this morning! / I can see that almost full February moon coming up out of the east as night falls.

Friday Evening Film: It appears that a whole new crop of films are now showing, which will be fun to work my way through over the next many weeks. Tonight, my film viewing friend Jeff and I will be seeing one called Hail, Caesar! starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Frances McDormand, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Tiffany Lonsdale, Alden Ehrenreich…among many others. The synopsis: four-time Oscar winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men, True Grit, Fargo) write and direct Hail, Caesar!, an all-star comedy set during the latter years of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Hail, Caesar! follows a single day in the life of a studio fixer who is presented with plenty of problems to fix.

We’ll, I suppose it was bound to happen one of these times, in that one of these films had to fall flat, and I’m afraid this was the one. Neither Jeff nor I liked it, and as we walked out of the nearly full theater, we heard several disparaging remarks from others too. I know, I know, how could a film with so many good actors fail, I wonder that too, however even they couldn’t prop it up. Jeff had just flown in from Europe, so he could blame jet lag as the reason he fell asleep several times. However, I had no good reason to fall asleep briefly a couple of times too, other than it was a boring film. To be honest, I did find myself laughing several times, although those little fun moments faded fast by the time the film ended, and I was relieved that it did in fact. I suppose there were those who loved this film, probably lots of folks in fact, although I wasn’t one of them. If you have any interest…here’s the trailer.

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Sunday 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 348 NM west of Suva, Fiji, with sustained winds of 104 mph…with gusts to 127 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: There are no active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting: Warming climate isn’t good news for western US aquifers – By 2050 climate change will increase the groundwater deficit even more for four economically important aquifers in the western U.S., reports a University of Arizona-led team of scientists.

The new report is the first to integrate scientists’ knowledge about groundwater in the U.S. West with scientific models that show how climate change will affect the region.

“We wanted to know, ‘What are the expectations for increases and decreases in groundwater as we go forward in this century?'” said lead author Thomas Meixner, a UA professor and associate department head of hydrology and water resources. “In the West, 40 percent of the water comes directly from groundwater.”

Climate models predict that in general, wet regions will become wetter and dry regions will become drier. The Southwest is expected to become drier and hotter.

“Aquifers in the southern tier of the West are all expected to see slight-to-significant decreases in recharge as the climate warms,” Meixner said.

Groundwater is already being withdrawn from the aquifers of California’s Central Valley, the central and southern portions of the High Plains and Arizona’s San Pedro faster than the groundwater is being recharged.