Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / January 11-12, 2013

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

Lihue, Kauai –                         77  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –      82  
Molokai airport –                     77
Kahului airport, Maui –            79 
Kona airport     –                    79  
Hilo airport, Hawaii –               78

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops around the state…as of 930pm Friday evening:

Honolulu, Oahu – 73
Kailua Kona – 67

Haleakala Summit –   39       (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Loa Summit –  36      (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…if it's available.

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.  The 2012 hurricane season is over in the eastern and central Pacific…resuming on May 15th and June 1st 2013.

Aloha Paragraphs

High Surf Advisory…large waves on the east shores

Small Craft Advisory…for most coastal waters
 
Our winds will be from the trade wind direction, gradually
easing up in strength this weekend, veering to the
southeast…with areas of volcanic haze (vog) 

Localized showers, some heavy at times, with a possible
thunderstorm around Maui and the Big Island, followed
by a weak cold front Monday-Tuesday, although it won't
bring much rain our way…with returning trades

~~~Air temperature at 645am HST Saturday morning, with
clear skies, and calm winds…at my  upcountry Kula,
Maui weather tower: 54F degrees~~~

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

15       Port Allen, Kauai – SW
29       Kuaokala, Oahu – N
22       Molokai – NE     
18       Kahoolawe – NE
24       Lipoa, Maui – NE  
22       South Point, Big Island – SW

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Friday evening:
 
0.93          Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.31          Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.00          Molokai
0.00          Kahoolawe
0.00          Lanai
0.99          Kaupo Gap, Maui
0.70          Hilo airport, Big Island  

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.

                   ~~~ Hawaii Weather Commentary ~~~ 

Our winds will remain active from the trade wind direction…gradually softening through the weekend.  Here's a weather chart showing a very strong, and extra large 1041 millibar high pressure center, far to the northeast of Hawaii.  At the same time, we find low pressure systems to the northwest, with a quickly weakening cold front to the west-northwest of Kauai…and a trough of low pressure near the Big Island this evening. The trade winds remained today, although easing up…becoming much lighter from the southeast this weekend. Look for possible voggy (volcanic haze) to be carried up from the Big Island vents, over some parts of the smaller islands with time.

Here's a satellite image, showing clear skies in many areas this evening, although with some heavy showers just east of the Big Island and Maui. The main thing we see are large areas of dense clouds, the brighter white ones, to our northeast and east, including large thunderstorms out in that direction. There are some of these buildups that are getting very close to the Big Island and Maui as we move into the evening hours. Here's a larger satellite view showing this impressive area of cloudiness out over the ocean. If a few of these towering cumulus, and cumulonimbus edge a bit closer, we could see locally heavy rains, with lightning and thunder over the east side of the island chain during the night into Saturday. 

We'll find our long lasting trade wind weather pattern, finally shifting to a convective weather pattern soon. This will happen as a cold front to our northwest edges in closer to the state, and a trough of low pressure to our east migrates westward. We'll soon find much lighter southeasterly breezes prevailing. This type of weather pattern typically exhibits cool clear mornings, with increasing clouds over and around the mountains during the afternoons. The latest outlook suggests that some of those convective showers will be locally heavy, especially around Maui and the Big Island, and again…with some thunderstorms popping off here and there too!  

The first cold front mentioned above, is expected to stall before arriving. Meanwhile, a pool of cold air, associated with an upper level trough of low pressure, will edge into our area from the east….which is already happening. This will destabilize our overlying atmosphere, making it ripe for locally generous showers into the weekend. This cold air aloft will enhance any showers that fall, and may lead to a thunderstorm or two on the Big Island and Maui. There's a good chance that we'll see some ice or snow atop the tallest summits on the Big Island during this period too. As a light wind regime will be in force during this time, the bulk of whatever showers that are around, will be falling over the interior sections of the islands…although not exclusively.

A second weak cold front will finally push down through the state by Monday into Tuesday. This frontal cloud band isn't expected to have all that much rainfall, although will be associated with a return of trade winds. As you can see, we have some changes in our local weather conditions just on the horizon, bringing a mix of interesting weather our way. I'll be back early Saturday morning with more news concerning the very interesting weather conditions that are on the radar screen now. Speaking of which, here's the looping radar image for the state of Hawaii.  I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you're spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday evening Film: There are so many good looking films playing now, it's tough to make the right choice! I'm figuring I better see a couple that might be leaving Maui theater's before too long. Thus, several friends of mine and I, are going to see one that is causing quite a splash as far as Oscar Nominee's go. This one is called Silver Linings Playbook, starring Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, Jacki Weaver, Julia Stiles…among many others.

The synopsis: Pat Solatano has lost everything — his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother and father after spending eight months is a state institution on a plea bargain. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his wife, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat's parents want is for him to get back on his feet – and to share their family's obsession with the Philadelphia Eagles football team. When Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own, things get complicated. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.

This film is getting very good reviews, with the rotten tomatoes film rating website giving it a high 91 points out of 100. The yahoo readers gave it 4 out of 5 rating, all of which helped to draw my friends and I into the theater. As it turns out, we all loved this film, a little slow at times, although the quick paced parts more than made up for the slow parts. The four of us, three University professors among us, gave these grades: A, A-, A- and a B+. The acting was so good, among all the actors, and there were many. For me, there was nothing not to like, I was through and through entertained. I could suggest that anyone see it, and I would be surprised if 9 out of 10 folks wouldn't feel like the four of us did. In sum: it was a perfect blend of drama, humor, and flat out craziness! Here's a trailer, which has nothing that would be offensive…for once!

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean Sea:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

Eastern Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

Central Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Western Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

South Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones 

North and South Indian Oceans:  Tropical cyclone 08S (Narelle) remains active in the South Indian Ocean…located approximately 170 NM northwest of Learmonth, Australia. Sustained winds were 100 knots, with gusts to near 125 knots. This tropical cyclone will be steadily decreasing in strength, as it remains offshore from western Australia….for the most part. Here's the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) graphical track map, along with a satellite image.

Interesting facts:  99% of our solar systems mass is concentrated in the sun / A cat has 32 muscles in each ear / A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue / A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds / A jumbo jet uses 4,000 gallons of fuel to take off