Air Temperatures – The following high temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday…along with the low temperatures Thursday:
72 – 61 Lihue, Kauai – the old low max record for the date was 73 degrees
81 – 67 Honolulu, Oahu
74 – 65 Molokai
76 – 66 Kahului AP, Maui
80 – 67 Kailua Kona
78 – 63 Hilo AP, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Thursday evening:
0.31 Kilohana, Kauai
2.04 Moanalua RG, Oahu
5.15 Molokai
1.77 Lanai
0.21 Kahoolawe
4.22 Puu Kukui, Maui
3.50 Hilo AP, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) as of Thursday evening:
22 Mana, Kauai
32 Kuaokala, Oahu
21 Molokai
31 Lanai
35 Kahoolawe
29 Maalaea Bay, Maui
32 PTA Keamuku, Big Island
Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of our tallest mountain Mauna Kea (nearly 13,800 feet high) on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here’s the webcam for the Haleakala Crater on Maui. These webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands, and at night whenever there’s a big moon shining down. Also, at night you will be able to see the stars — and the sunrise and sunset too — depending upon weather conditions.
Aloha Paragraphs
High pressure northwest, a storm well north…with its cold front east of the Big Island
Deep clouds east and north of the Big Island
Deep moisture is shifting eastward
Showers locally…especially around the eastern islands
Looping image
Small Craft Advisory…Maui County leeward waters, Maalaea Bay, Alenuihaha Channel and the Big Island leeward waters
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
The winter season officially began Thursday: the Winter Solstice
Christmas Day forecast: Trades with off and on windward showers
Broad Brush Overview: Cooler and drier air over Kauai and Oahu will work down through the rest of the island chain tonight, with light showers limited mainly to windward areas through Friday night. High pressure will remain north of the islands over the Christmas holiday weekend, keeping light to moderate trades in place and showers primarily over windward and mountain areas. The next weather system may bring an increase in showers to the state during the middle of next week.
Details: The drier airmass over Kauai and Oahu will continue to spread southeastward down the island chain overnight, although some lingering deeper moisture over Maui County and the Big Island will keep some showers moving into windward areas through much of the night. Across Oahu and Kauai, shower coverage should not be as great, although a few widely scattered showers may continue to affect north facing slopes and coasts.
Looking Further Ahead: A ridge of high pressure will remain north of the state, keeping light to moderate trades in place across the island chain into the weekend. The atmosphere is expected to slowly moisten up, as a result of the trades along with some old frontal remnants getting caught up within the trade wind flow. As a result, we should see an increase in trade wind showers particularly late Sunday through Christmas Day, primarily for windward and mountain areas. The airmass will remain fairly dry however, so that rainfall amounts should be kept in check…with no heavy rainfall anticipated.
Model solutions diverge significantly early next week, the GFS shows a front approaching from the northwest Monday night, then sweeping down the island chain Tuesday and Tuesday night, with high pressure then building north of the islands during the middle and latter part of next week. The ECMWF on the other hand, shows a surface trough approaching from the east, with high pressure holding north of the islands Monday night. The trough is then forecast to move over the island chain Tuesday through Wednesday…with increased shower activity.
Here’s a wind profile of the Pacific Ocean – Closer view of the islands / Here’s the vog forecast animation / Here’s the latest weather map
Marine environment details: A weak cold front is east of the Big Island with post-frontal north to northeast winds across the coastal and offshore waters. Winds are forecast to slowly veer to a more typical trade wind direction from the east-northeast by late Sunday. However, wind speeds are expected to remain strong and gusty over portions of the leeward Maui and Big Island waters and in Maalaea Bay and the Alenuihaha Channel. Early next week, another cold front may approach island waters and veer the winds to a southerly or southwesterly direction.
A north swell that moved into the local waters has peaked, based on near shore buoy data and surf observations. Wave heights have been slowly declining and this trend should continue through Friday night.
On Saturday a northwest swell is forecast to arrive and produce advisory level surf along north facing shores. This swell is expected to peak Saturday night then decline Sunday. Another similar sized northwest swell may arrive next week Tuesday or Wednesday.
World-wide Tropical Cyclone activity
>>> Here’s the latest PDC Weather Wall Presentation, covering Tropical Depression 32W (Kai-Tak) moving through the South China Sea…and Tropical Depression 33W (Tembin) about to move through the Philippines
>>> Atlantic Ocean:
>>> Caribbean Sea:
>>> Gulf of Mexico:
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:
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:
Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)
>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:
Tropical Depression 32W (Kai-Tak) is dissipating, here’s a graphical track map…and a satellite image – Final Warning
Tropical Storm 33W (Tembin) remains active, here’s a graphical track map…and a satellite image
>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: No active tropical cyclones
Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
Interesting: Winter Solstice: The Science of the Shortest Day of 2017 – The winter solstice was in full stride Thursday, which boasts the fewest hours of daylight for 2017 in the Northern Hemisphere.
Although the solstice gets an entire day of recognition, it happened in an instant: at 6:28 a.m. HST, when the North Pole was at its farthest tilt of 23.5 degrees away from the sun. This position leaves the North Pole beyond the sun’s reach, and plunges it into total darkness.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the sun was directly overhead at Noon at exactly 23.5 degrees south of the equator, along the imaginary latitude line known as the Tropic of Capricorn, which runs through Australia, Chile, southern Brazil and northern South Africa. This is when when the sun appears to be at its southernmost point in the sky; as such, the Southern Hemisphere has its longest day of the year, and the Northern Hemisphere has its shortest day of the year, on the December solstice.
At the moment of the solstice, the sun reached its southernmost point in the sky in the Northern Hemisphere. After that moment, the sun stopped moving southward and began its trek northward in the sky — hence the name “solstice,” which means “sun stands still” in Latin.
After the winter solstice, the days will begin to get longer in the Northern Hemisphere. But that doesn’t mean temperatures will increase immediately. Rather, northern mid-latitudes will experience the winter chill partly because they’ll get about 9 hours of daylight in the weeks following the solstice, compared with the roughly 15 hours of daily sunlight they get around the summer solstice. In addition, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, making it colder.
In addition, even as the days get longer, the oceans, which moderate temperatures on land, need a vast amount of energy from the sun to heat up.
There are countless cultures that have recognized the winter solstice. The most famous is in Stonehenge in England. When the sun sets on the shortest day of the year, the sun’s rays align with Stonehenge’s central Altar stone and Slaughter stone, which may have had spiritual significance to the people who built the monument.
Across the world in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, the ancient stonewalled Mayan city of Tulum also has a structure honoring the solstices. When the sun rises on the winter and summer solstices, its rays shine through a small hole at the top of one of the stone buildings, which creates a starburst effect.
Email Glenn James: 
Goofcat Says:
Another fun fact: Reindeer are just tamed Caribou. So if Rudolph and gang decide to make a break for it from their oppressive masters, they would be caribou again. In other words Reindeer is a “slave” name.
~~~ Hi Goofcat, thanks for the added information…interesting!
Aloha, Glenn