Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / August 25-26, 2012

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

Lihue, Kauai –                      85  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –   89  
Kaneohe, Oahu –                  M
Molokai airport –                  86
Kahului airport, Maui –         86 
Kona airport     –                 87  
Hilo airport, Hawaii –            84

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops around the state…as of 10pm Saturday evening:

Honolulu, Oahu – 78
Kahului, Maui – 75

Haleakala Summit –      46  (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit –    M (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…although this webcam is not always working correctly. 

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.  

 Aloha Paragraphs

Rather strong and gusty trade winds
this weekend…very few showers

As this weather map shows, we have a moderately strong high pressure systems located to the northwest, north and northeast of the islands. Our local trade winds will be quite strong and gusty Sunday, into the early part of the new week ahead.

The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Saturday evening:

29            Waimea Heights, Kauai – E
35            Kuaokala, Oahu – NE   
31            Molokai – ENE 
36            Kahoolawe – NE
37            Kaupo Gap, Maui -NE 
35            Lanai – NE
42            PTA Keamuku, Big Island – NE

We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean.  Here's the latest NOAA satellite picture – the latest looping satellite image…and finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands.

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Saturday evening:
 
0.27               Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.02               Nuuanu Upper, Oahu
0.00               Molokai
0.00               Lanai
0.00               Kahoolawe
0.00               Maui
0.05               Honaunau, Big Island  

                                                       ~~ Sunset Commentary ~~ 

Our trade winds will remain somewhat stronger than usual Sunday…into the new week ahead. These trade winds are now strong enough to keep small craft wind advisories active over those windiest parts of Maui County and the Big Island through Sunday at least. We still find several moderately strong high pressure systems (weather map) located to the northwest, north through northeast of the islands Saturday evening. Windward showers will be at a bare minimum, with just a few during the night and early mornings. The leeward coasts and slopes will see dry weather continuing for the time being.

Friday evening film: Three friends and I went to see a new film called The Bourne Legacy, starring Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Joan Allen, Albert Finney, Oscar Isaac, David Strathairn and Stacy Keach. The synopsis: to become an elite government operative, a man hands himself over to the same agency that birthed the likes of Jason Bourne, but he's eventually forced to go on the run. The critics aren't being overly kind to this film, perhaps because they miss Matt Damon, the original actor who starred in the original Bourne Legacy films. At any rate, based on the trailer among other things, I was very much looking forward to seeing this film, as were the friends who joined me. They included my astrophysicist neighbor Jeff…Joy, the Chief Financial Officer for a company here on Maui, and a visiting professor named Sho from Japan. At the end of the film, the first thing that came out of all our mouths was: A! Meaning, we all in unison gave this great film the highest possible grade, or at least just down from an A+. It was just great in every way, truly. It was of course action packed, although it was fabulous in many other ways too. If you're going to see just one or two such action films this year, I recommend this be one of them. What more can I say, well…I guess not much more than that. Here's a trailer just in case you wanna take a quick look. One final word, we all noted that we were on the edge of our seats throughout this top notch film. 

Here in Kula, Maui at 515pm Saturday evening, it was mostly clear and breezy…with an air temperature of 76.5F degrees. The trades are forecast to continue across our island chain, with no breaks expected well into the future. These trade winds will blow generally in the moderately strong realms…with stronger gusts over the eastern islands. If we look at this satellite image, it shows generally clear to partly cloudy skies upstream of the windward sides of the islands. In addition, there's an area of high cirrus clouds to the south of the islands…although they are ranging northward close to the Big Island at times. They provided a colorful sunrise this morning, with perhaps some color for some parts of the Big Island by sunset.

We continue to be in a well established dry period, with our gusty trade winds prevailing. Looking further ahead, the new week ahead looks like it will have generally more dry conditions, with the trade winds blowing steadily, and perhaps just a few additional showers during the later Monday through the Thursday time frame. I'll be back again Sunday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise. I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Extra: a very interesting video…not for the faint of heart, although not violent

        World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Central Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Eastern Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

An area of disturbed weather remains active a few hundred miles south of Acapulco, Mexico…with a medium 30% chance of generating into a tropical cyclone. Development of this area into a tropical depression could occur during the next few days. Here's a satellite image showing this area offshore from southern Mexico.

Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean:  Tropical storm Isaac (9L) is crossing the Straits of Florida, and in the process, lashing south Florida and the Keys with heavy weather. It is located about 80 miles southeast of Key West, Florida…moving northwest at 18 mph. This tropical cyclone is crossing the Florida Keys into the Gulf of Mexico now, as a hurricane soon. The latest sustained wind speeds were 65 mph. Here's the NHC graphical track map, along with what the computer hurricane models are doing with Isaac. Here's a satellite image of Isaac. The latest NHC forecast shows what will soon be hurricane Isaac striking the Gulf coast just to the east of New Orleans…along the Mississippi coastal region.

Meanwhile, there's that tropical disturbance about 650 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. It is a medium 50% chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next 48 hours.

Here's a satellite image showing tropical storm Isaac (9L)…and this area of disturbed weather in the Atlantic.

Western Pacific Ocean:  Typhoon Tembin (15W) remains active about 360 NM southwest of Taipei, Taiwan. Sustained winds are 90 knots, with gusts to near 110 knots. The JTWC shows Tembin offshore from the eastern China coast, to the east of Hong Kong. The forecast has Tembin continuing to complete its loop to the southwest and south of Taiwan, then moving up along the east coast of that island. The extended forecast shows this weakening tropical cyclone then heading northwards over Shanghai, China as a weakening tropical storm in about 3 days. Here's the JTWC graphical track map…showing this loop that Tembin is taking.

Typhoon Bolaven (16W) is active in the western Pacific…located about 17 NM north-northeast of Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan. Sustained winds are 105 knots, with gusts to near 130 knots! The JTWC shows that Bolaven has moved nearly right over Kadena AB. 16W then moves generally northwards just offshore from the west coast of South Korea…making a landfall along the southwest coast of North Korea into the Chinese mainland in 2 days as a weakening tropical storm. Here's the JTWC graphical track map.

South Pacific Ocean:   There are no active tropical cyclones

North and South Indian Oceans:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Interesting:  Migrating Whimbrels — a type of shorebird — may struggle for hours against winds when trying to cross the Caribbean during hurricane season but get a huge boost as they fly out of storms, report researchers from the Center for Conservation Biology in Williamsburg, Virginia. Ahead of a large tropical storm last year scientists attached satellite transmitters to one Whimbrel, which they named "Hope". A statement from the American Bird Conservancy explains what they found.

"She took 27 hours averaging just 9 mph to fly non-stop through the storm to get to the center; then she flew at an average of almost 100 mph for 1.5 hours out the back end, using the power of the storm to 'slingshot' her towards land." Fletcher Smith, lead biologist on the tracking project, said the study highlights the "truly amazing dynamics of bird migrations".

"In addition to the simply staggering distances these birds travel — often thousands of miles at a time, nonstop — we are also observing what could be described as jaw dropping physical feats involving storms," he said in a press release. "These herculean efforts leave the birds exhausted and in need of a safe haven to rest and refuel. Unfortunately there are few of these locations in the Lesser Antilles."