Hawaiian Islands Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs / June 19-20, 2018

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

83 – 70  Lihue, Kauai
86 – 73  Honolulu, Oahu
88 – 71  Molokai AP
86 – 64  Kahului AP, Maui
87 – 76  Kailua Kona
83 – 68  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

0.18  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.00  Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Maui
0.05  Kahuku Ranch, Big Island

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

10  Port Allen, Kauai
14  Kalaeloa, Oahu
15  Molokai
10  Lanai
23  Kahoolawe
17  Maalaea Bay, Maui
29  Puu Mali, 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 10,000+ feet high 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

Unusual late season cold front dissipating to our north (click to enlarge)

Thunderstorms well south…a tropical disturbance

Clear to partly cloudy…localized cloudy areas

A few showers locally…and offshore – Looping image

 

Here’s the latest Vog Forecast Animation

Here’s the Vog Information website

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Broad Brush Overview: A weak ridge of high pressure north of the islands, will keep the islands in a light trade wind pattern, with daytime sea breezes along leeward slopes through Wednesday. Wind directions will shift to a more east to southeast direction now, spreading vog westward from the Big Island…over the smaller islands tonight into Thursday. A new high pressure system will prompt stronger trades Thursday afternoon, clearing out the lingering vog from the smaller islands Friday morning. The trade winds will become stronger Friday through the weekend, with increasing clouds and showers favoring windward and mountain locations.

Details: This ridge will remain north of the islands through Wednesday, as a weak cold frontal boundary drifts south towards the state. Satellite imagery shows clouds associated with this weakening frontal band drifting into Kauai at the moment. These low clouds should reach the north side of Oahu with time. Any more significant showers with this weakening frontal band…will likely remain north of the islands.

Look for light trade winds with mostly dry weather conditions, with only isolated shower chances through Wednesday. Wind speeds will be light enough for daytime sea breezes along leeward slopes of all islands. A stable atmosphere, with low trade wind inversions around 5,000 feet…will cap vertical cloud development. Wind directions will shift to a more east to southeast direction, allowing the northern edge of the vog plume to shift westward from the Big Island, across the smaller islands through Thursday.

Increasing trade winds return Thursday, as a stronger high pressure system builds in across the Central Pacific. Stronger to locally windy trade winds will settle in over the islands, with increasing clouds and showers favoring the usual windward and mountain sections of each island Friday through the first half of next week. The vog will then be confined to the southern and leeward slopes of the Big Island. This trade wind weather pattern will continue for the foreseeable future.

Looking Ahead: The models continue to show a weak upper level low drifting into the Hawaii region this weekend. Upper level lift from this system will likely raise the cap on the trade wind inversion, helping to increase cloud cover and spread periods of showers over leeward upcountry sections of each island. There remains some differences in the track and intensity of this upper level feature, so that precipitation impacts for each island will be dependent on the track of this upper level system.

Here’s a near real-time Wind Profile of the Pacific Ocean – along with a Closer View of the islands / Here’s the latest Weather Map

Marine Environmental Conditions: Winds will remain light through mid-week as a weak frontal boundary drops south into the local area and dissipates. Near the coasts, mainly the leeward nearshore waters, land and sea breeze conditions will remain possible through Wednesday. Seas will remain small through mid-week, with no significant reinforcing swells anticipated. Moderate to strong trades are forecast to return through the second half of the week locally and upstream across the eastern Pacific, as high pressure strengthens. Seas will respond and build, likely nearing the small craft advisory level over the upcoming weekend across the Alenuihaha Channel and waters south of the Big Island. Small craft advisory winds (25 knots) will be possible over the typical windier waters between Molokai and the Big Island as early as Thursday.

Surf along all shores will remain small through mid-week, with no significant swells anticipated. Surf will begin to increase along east facing shores as the trades increase locally and upstream later in the week…through the upcoming weekend.

For the extended, overlapping south swells will be possible early next week, due to ongoing activity across the southern Pacific southeast of New Zealand.

World-wide Tropical Cyclone Activity

Here’s the Tuesday Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) Weather Wall Presentation covering the Pacific and Indian Oceans

Here’s the Tuesday Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) Weather Wall Presentation covering the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico

 

>>> Atlantic Ocean: No active tropical cyclone

>>> Caribbean Sea: No active tropical cyclones

>>> Gulf of Mexico: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.

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: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.

Here’s a looping satellite image of the eastern Pacific and south of Mexico

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: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: No active tropical cyclones

>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: No active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting: Dangerous, Golden ‘Hair’ Sprouts from Hawaii Volcano – Golden, sharp strands of so-called goddess hair are covering parts of Hawaii’s Big Island. But what are these potentially dangerous threads — called Pele’s hair — and where did they come from?

The mats of Pele’s hair — a product of the ongoing eruption from Kilauea volcano — consist of thin glass fibers that form when gas bubbles within lava burst at the lava’s surface, said Don Swanson, a research geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

“The skin of the bursting bubbles flies out, and some of the skin becomes stretched into these very long threads, sometime[s] as long as a couple of feet or so.”

These gossamer strands are thin, just a micron (one-thousandth of a millimeter) or two in diameter, although some of them are coarser. “Often, they are really like human hair, so the name is very apt,” Swanson said.

These strands of lava-turned-glass usually have a small sphere at the end, but this usually gets broken off, Swanson added. Pele’s hair — named after Pele (peh-leh), the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes — is so lightweight that it usually gets blown downwind from where it formed. Because these glass fibers have sharp ends, they can be dangerous to pick up, Swanson noted.

In previous volcanic eruptions, Pele’s hair has caused trouble for the many Hawaiians who collect rainwater for drinking water. These glass strands land in rainwater that falls on people’s roofs and is then funneled into a catchment system. “If the filters aren’t fine enough to filter out the hair, then you can get hair in the water,” which can harm anyone who drinks it, Swanson said.

“Imagine inhaling tiny slivers of glass. That’s what the Pele’s hair is,” he said. “It can inflame and irritate anything that comes in contact with it.”

Moreover, there are cattle ranches downwind of Kilauea volcano. In the past, Pele’s hair floated downwind and fell into the cattle’s water troughs, where thirsty bovids slurped it up. This likely injured the cattle’s esophagi and stomachs, Swanson said.

However, he hasn’t heard any reports of people or cattle hurt by drinking water contaminated with Pele’s hair from the current eruption, Swanson said.

Rather, Pele’s hair has been more of a nuisance this time around, albeit a rather beautiful one, he said.

“You can get drifts of Pele’s hair that may be a foot or two thick interwoven with one another,” Swanson said. “It can be quite striking.”