Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday:
Lihue, Kauai – 83
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 87 (record high for the date – 92 in 1995)
Kaneohe, Oahu – 82
Molokai airport – 82
Kahului airport, Maui – 85
Kona airport 85
Hilo airport, Hawaii – 80
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 7pm Sunday evening:
Barking Sands, Kauai – 80
Hilo, Hawaii – 72
Haleakala Crater – 48 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 39 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)
Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Sunday evening:
0.82 Mount Wailaleale, Kauai
0.10 Kahuku, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.63 West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.64 Glenwood, Big Island
Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with this Infrared Satellite Image of the islands to see all the clouds around during the day and night. This next image is one that gives close images of the islands during the daytime hours, and is referred to as a Close-up visible image. Finally, here's a Looping IR satellite image, making viewable the clouds around the islands 24 hours a day. To help you keep track of where any showers may be around the islands, here’s the latest animated radar image.
Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,500 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. The Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui just came back online, after being on the blink for several weeks.
Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest weather information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here. Here's a tropical cyclone tracking map for the eastern and central Pacific.
Aloha Paragraphs
Nice weather, gradually less windy…rising
surf south, north and east shores Monday
Our trade winds will be gradually be easing up soon…gradually taking on a more southeasterly orientation into the first half of the new work week. Glancing at this weather map, it shows a near 1025 millibar high pressure system to our north-northeast. There’s a dissipating cold front to the south of the state. The trade winds will gradually mellow out over the next several days. Lighter and warmer east to southeast winds will continue into the new week. As a second cold front approaches from the northwest Tuesday into Wednesday…these winds will slow down ahead it, then increase again around Thursday or Friday.
Lighter winds will be present over the next 3-4 days…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts (mph), along with directions Sunday evening:
15 Lihue, Kauai – ENE
17 Bellows, Oahu – NE
16 Molokai – NE
23 Kahoolawe – ESE
23 Kapalua, Maui – NE
15 Lanai – WNW
23 South Point, Big Island – ENE
We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Sunday evening. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we find stable looking low clouds surrounding the islands offshore…some of which will arrive along our windward sides during the night locally. We can use this looping satellite image to see that old frontal cloud band dissipating to the south of our islands. We have a rather large counterclockwise rotating low pressure system well to our west…and the parent low pressure system to the old cold front…far to the NE of the islands. There are also lots of thunderstorms far south of Hawaii, in the deeper tropics. Checking out this looping radar image we see a few showers over the ocean, with a few expected to impact our windward sides at times.
Sunset Commentary: The old cold front that passed through the islands Friday night and Saturday, is now well south of the island chain. Satellite imagery shows generally clear to partly cloudy skies, with the windward sides showing more cloudiness than the leeward sides…as is usual with the trade winds blowing.
Drier air in the wake of the cold front is now present over the state. The weather in generally will be quite nice, especially along our beaches. Our recent gusty trade winds will ease up quite a bit as we move into Monday. Looking a bit further ahead, We'll have the next cold front approaching the state later Monday into Tuesday and Wednesday.
As this front gets closer, our winds will become lighter, and will veer around to the southeast for a few days. The computer models are now more solidly keeping the front from reaching our islands, as it stalls to the northwest of Kauai. It now looks like the trade winds will surge again around Thursday or Friday, lasting into the weekend. As these trade winds increase, so will the shower activity along our windward sides.
This past Friday evening I went to see a new film, called Real Steel, starring Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, and Evangeline Lilly among many others. I must admit that I wasn't looking forward to seeing this film, although nothing else was pulling me into a theater either, so I gave it a chance. The film was about boxing between robots, and the relationship between a man and his son. It was tough at times, and touching at times too. It wasn't the kind of film that I'm naturally drawn to see, so about all I can give it is a soft B, although it did have its unique merits. The critics are giving this film a B-, while the viewers are taking it all the way to the top, giving it an A grade, wow. Here's a trailer for this action film, which is a long one lasting 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Here in Kula, Maui at around 5pm HST Sunday evening, skies were mostly clear to partly cloudy, with an air temperature of 70.3F degrees. As noted above, our weather will be quite nice through the next several days, with lots of sunshine along our beaches, and gradually lowering wind speeds. As the winds become lighter, we may see an increase in afternoon clouds around the mountains, with a few showers along our leeward slopes locally. The surf will be coming up along our east, north and south facing beaches, where high surf advisory conditions will prevail along those eastern shores. Otherwise, no problems on the horizon, although if the southeast breezes prevail for very long, around Tuesday into Wednesday, we may begin to see a little volcanic haze being carried over to Maui County from the Big Island, although that wouldn't last long, as stronger trade winds would blow it away starting Thursday or so. ~~~ As I've been mentioning here lately, tomorrow is my last work day, before I head out on my autumn vacation. I'll be flying to northern California on Tuesday, and be gone through November 10th. The forecasts for all areas in the state will continue to be available, by clicking on the upper left hand margin on any page of this website. I'll provide more detail on this vacation period before I leave, and as usual, I'll stay in touch at times during my vacation too. I'll meet you back here early Monday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Sunday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: An international team of scientists has proposed a five-point plan for feeding the world while protecting the planet. The research concludes that "feeding the nine billion people anticipated to live on Earth in 2050 without exhausting the Earth's natural resources is possible, provided that we adopt a more sustainable food production approach."
The findings concludes that we can feed the increasing amount of people on this planet without exhausting the world's resources if we successfully pursue sustainable food production on five key fronts: halt farmland expansion, improve crop production, more strategic use of water and nutrients, reduce food waste and dedicate croplands to direct human food production.
"Agriculture is the largest single cause behind global warming and loss of ecosystem services, and at the same time the key to human well being in all societies. We now have the opportunity to not only cool the planet, but also to build resilient societies, and improve human wealth", says co-author Johan Rockström, Executive Director at Stockholm Resilience Center at Stockholm University and Stockholm Environment Institute.
Together with scientists from the University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, McGill University, UC Santa Barbara, Arizona State University and the University of Bonn, Rockström has for two years tried to find an answer to what could be the most compelling question facing humanity today.
Based on data gathered about crop production and environmental impacts using satellite maps and on-the-grounds records, the scientists propose a five-point plan for doubling the world's food production while reducing environmental impacts. "Our research has shown that it is possible to both feed a hungry world and protect a threatened planet," says lead author Jonathan Foley, head of the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment.
Interesting2: Mention prime geography for generation of solar energy, and people tend to think of hot deserts. But a new study concludes that some of the world's coldest landscapes — including the Himalaya Mountains, the Andes, and even Antarctica — could become Saudi Arabias of solar. The research appears in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology. Kotaro Kawajiri and colleagues explain that the potential for generating electricity with renewable solar energy depends heavily on geographic location.
Arid and semi-arid areas with plenty of sunshine long have been recognized as good solar sites. However, the scientists point out that, as a result of the limited data available for critical weather-related conditions on a global scale, gaps still exist in knowledge about the best geographical locations for producing solar energy.
To expand that knowledge, they used one established technique to estimate global solar energy potential using the data that are available. The technique takes into account the effects of temperature on the output of solar cells. Future work will consider other variables, such as transmission losses and snow fall.
As expected, they found that many hot regions such as the U.S. desert southwest are ideal locations for solar arrays. However, they also found that many cold regions at high elevations receive a lot of sunlight — so much so that their potential for producing power from the sun is even higher than in some desert areas.
Kawajiri and colleagues found, for instance, that the Himalayas, which include Mt. Everest, could be an ideal locale for solar fields that generate electricity for the fast-expanding economy of the People's Republic of China.
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