Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / January 17-18, 2012

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Tuesday:   

Lihue, Kauai –                    76  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –      77
Kaneohe, Oahu –                80
Molokai airport –                 81
Kahului airport, Maui –         83 
Kona airport –                    83 
Hilo airport, Hawaii –           85    (Record high temperature on this date – 89F 1959)   

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 6pm Tuesday evening:

Kailua-kona – 78
Molokai airport – 74

Haleakala Crater –  43 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea –         32 (near 13,800 feet on the Big Island)

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. Here's the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui…which is working only sometimes lately.

 Aloha Paragraphs

 
  South to southwest winds decreasing in strength –
   heavy showers at times near Kauai and Oahu –
variable high clouds – volcanic haze locally

As this weather map shows a low pressure system far to the north, along with its associated cold front just to the northwest of Kauai.  The location of this low pressure system, and a weak ridge of high pressure near the Big Island is resulting in localized gusty south and southwest Kona winds. The trade winds will return during the day Thursday.

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph), along with directions Tuesday evening:

10                 Barking Sands, Kauai – SE
24                 Wheeler AFB, Oahu – SW
14                 Molokai – SE
20                 Kahoolawe – SW 
14                 Lipoa, Maui – SW
09                 Lanai – S  
18                 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 Tuesday evening.  Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see variable clouds, especially of the high and middle level varieties over and around the state, especially to the northeast through west…with embedded heavy showers. We can use this looping satellite image to see lots of clouds heading our way from the northwest and west, including a cold front that has some thunderstorms embedded in it. Checking out this looping radar image we see locally moderate to heavy showers coming up from the southwest, some of which are impacting the islands at the time of this writing.

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

10.32               Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.71               Wheeler AFB, Oahu
0.00               Molokai
0.00               Lanai
0.00               Kahoolawe
0.02               Puu Kukui, Maui
1.23               Pahala, Big Island

Sunset Commentary:   The latest weather map shows a large low pressure system located to the north of Hawaii Tuesday evening. At the same time, a cold front associated with this low pressure cell remains stalled not far to the northwest of Kauai.  Our local winds, prompted by the relatively close proximity of this front, and a high pressure ridge near the Big Island…will continue to be locally gusty, coming in generally from the south through southwest through mid-week. The trade winds will finally return around Thursday into the upcoming weekend. The latest computer forecast models are now suggesting that the trade winds will be short lived however, as southeast to south winds begin on Sunday…as the next cold front approaches into early next week.

The current cold front to our northwest will remain in place to our northwest for another day or so. This frontal boundary will inch a few more miles closer to Kauai during the next 12 hours. It will remain close enough, that our kona winds will pick up tropical moisture at times locally, and move it over the state, which will provide shower activity here and there…most notably along our south and west facing leeward coasts and slopes. There will be off and on passing showers into Wednesday, which will be beneficial to our currently dry leeward sides, some of which may become quite generous…as has been the case near Kauai and Oahu today. As we move into the second half of this week, the trade winds will return with just a few showers into the weekend.

Here in Kula, Maui at around 345pm HST, it was dry with high and middle level clouds, and an air temperature of 67.6F degrees.  As mentioned above, the cold front to our northwest still isn't expected to come into the state, although it's getting quite close to Kauai. There are some heavy duty showers, and thunderstorms over the western islands in the chain at the time of this writing. It's proximity will continue to cause our local winds to come up from the deeper tropics, which will tap into moisture at times, and bring showers…especially to our leeward sides of the island chain. We will see more of that volcanic haze (vog) coming up over the islands too, at least in places. We'll have to wait for the trade winds to return around Thursday, which will ventilate our locally hazy skies then. As another cold front approaches later this weekend into early next week, we may see more of this vog being carried our way then. The models are hinting that this next cold front may stall before arriving as well, we'll have to fine tune this prospect as we move through the rest of this week.

~~~ This looping radar image shows where our localized showers are falling, with those heavy showers and even thunderstorms near or even over Oahu and Kauai. Rainfall over the state in this kind of weather pattern will be hit and miss, leaving some areas of the state, especially the north and east windward coasts and slopes, completely dry. Precipitation sure hasn't missed the island of Kauai recently, with a very impressive 10.45" of the wet stuff falling during the last 24 hours atop Mount Waialeale! It looks as if we'll continue with the threat of showers tonight. The NWS office in Honolulu has been issuing flood notices over Kauai and Oahu during the day, which may continue into early Wednesday. Thus far, all of the islands have had periods of rainfall, some of it heavy, with the exception of Maui County.  I'll be back with another new weather narrative early Wednesday morning, I hope you have a great Tuesday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting: Global action against climate change is often difficult and excruciatingly slow. For the United States, policies to combat a warming Earth are at a virtual standstill. That is why it comes down to local and regional alliances to work together to make a difference. In the US, there are few areas more vulnerable to climate change than southern Florida.

It is an area that will be easily inundated with flooding should seas continue to rise and hurricanes continue to batter them. Now, four south Florida counties have teamed together to prepare their communities for the menace that is to come. The four south Florida counties include Monroe, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach. They cover an area stretching from Key West north to Palm Beach.

Last month, representatives from each met to discuss the bipartisan Climate Action Plan. Their goal is audacious, working together across ideological lines to shore up the region's water supplies, transportation networks, buildings, and infrastructure. It is the necessity of it that makes it possible. These complex systems must be strengthened to stand up to the coming climate change.

The four counties are very different from each other, with much different demographics and terrain. For example, Monroe is largely rural, encompassing much of the Everglades. Miami-Dade on the other hand is metropolitan and densely urban. The two rural counties are conservative Republican.

The two urban counties are liberal Democrat. Together, they have formed the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact. According to Michael D. Lemonick, senior writer with the nonpartisan, Climate Central, the apparent cooperation is shocking. It is when the looming effects of climate change are fully realized, that political posturing starts to look silly.

Some of the ways, the region will be able to adapt to climate change include raising coastal railbeds. This can be accomplished in the name of highway improvement rather than climate adaptation. Pumps can be installed in the region's canals to handle overflow during high tide or torrential rains.

Without the canals, the entire area would revert back to swamps, which is what it was originally. Another largely important project may be the eventual construction of a ten-foot sea wall along the entire coast to protect from storm surges, rising sea levels, and erosion.

The south Florida alliance has received the blessing from Washington and Tallahassee. It shows that while larger governments fail to act, it does not mean people should not work together at a local level. In the end, that is what it always comes down to.