Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday…along with the minimums Sunday:

81 – 74  Lihue, Kauai
82 – 73  Honolulu, Oahu
82 – 72  Molokai
81 – 70  Kahului AP, Maui
79 – 64  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.77  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.18  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.49  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.09  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.56  Mountain View, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Sunday evening:

25  Port Allen, Kauai – ENE
30  Kahuku Trng, Oahu – SE
33  Molokai – E
27  Lanai – NE
42  Kahoolawe – NE
27  Kaupo Gap, Maui – NNE
31  South Point, Big Island – NNE

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.


Aloha Paragraphs

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
We see a dissipating cold front offshore to the
northeast…with a second front approaching
to the northwest

Here’s a wind profile…of the offshore waters
around the islands – with a closer view

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Cold front northwest, which will move by to our north
over the next several days…perhaps brushing Kauai

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Clear to partly cloudy with cloudy areas…
windward clouds increasing tonight


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers falling locally…especially along parts of
Maui and the Big Island – looping radar image

Small Craft Wind Advisory…most coastal and channel waters

High surf Advisory…north and west shores of Kauai, and north
shores of Oahu, Molokai and Maui


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Gusty trade winds…diminishing Monday and Tuesday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find moderately strong high pressure systems to our northeast and northwest. At the same time, we find several gale and storm low pressure systems far to our north and northwest. The trade winds will remain strong and gusty, at least in those most exposed locations. We have small craft wind advisories over all of the coasts and channels around the state, along with high surf advisory flags as well. We’ll find another cold front prompting our trade wind speeds to relax rather dramatically, into the lighter realms Monday into the middle of the new week. This will be caused by an approaching cold front…which should brush Kauai. It appears that we’ll see chilly northerly winds arriving New Year’s Day or on Saturday, behind another shower bearing cold front, which will bring a cold snap to the islands in its wake…tropically speaking that is.

Showers will fall locally along our windward sides…quite actively for the time being. As the gusty trade winds continue, they’ll carry moisture our way in an off and on manner. The windward sides will see passing showers tonight into Monday morning, with some being carried over into the leeward sides…on the smaller islands. An upper level low pressure system is over the state now as well, which will destabilize our overlying atmosphere, and enhance our shower activity at times locally. This cold air aloft, associated with the low, may cause ice over the Big Island summits tonight. In sum, a locally wet trade wind weather pattern will prevail into Monday morning. Drier conditions should prevail thereafter, which of course is good news for visitors and locals alike! Looking towards the very end of 2015, there’s a good chance we may see a more robust cold front bringing showers to the islands in the January 1-2, 2016 time frame.

Here on Maui…It’s mostly clear across the island this morning before sunrise, although with clouds and showers passing along our windward sides. Here in upcountry Kula, it’s calm and clear…with an air temperature of 51.6F degrees at near 615am. The temperature in contrast was a warmer 72 degrees down near sea level in Kahului, with 72 out in Hana…and 43 atop the Haleakala Crater at the same time.

– Mid-afternoon Sunday, partly cloudy in general, with a bit more and a bit less of these clouds around the edges. It’s kind of a slow day, after all the Christmas festivities fade into the past rather quickly, and Monday’s back to work reality looms. Now we have the upcoming New Year’s celebration to attend to as well, which I love! I think it’s the fine French Champagne that I have laid in, that’s so exciting…as much as anything I suppose.

– Early evening, and its cloudy with some fog here in upcountry Kula…with a tad bit of very light mist as well. I can see lots of sunshine still lighting the central valley down below in contrast. I would imagine that these clouds will clear back soon, although the windward sides will see more passing showers arriving tonight into the morning hours. 

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> Atlantic Ocean: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

>>> Gulf of Mexico: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

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: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 North Pacific hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on May 15, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

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: The central north Pacific hurricane season has officially ended. Routine issuance of the tropical weather outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, special tropical weather outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> South Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting:  Study looks into past climate in Oregon’s Coast Range – Lush greenery rich in Douglas fir and hemlock trees covers the Triangle Lake valley of the Oregon Coast Range. Today, however, geologists across the country are more focused on sediment samples dating back 50,000 years that were dug up by University of Oregon scientists.

The sediment indicates that the mountainous region, which was not covered in glaciers during the last ice age, was a frost-covered grassy landscape that endured erosion rates at least 2.5 higher than today’s, an eight-member team reports in a paper in the journal Science Advances.

The research raises the possibility that non-glaciated terrain across North America was similar to that found 40 miles northwest of Eugene. The findings also suggest that mean annual temperatures were about 11 degrees Celsius cooler than modern temperatures, and that frost cracking — not rainfall — drove erosion as the region began emerging out of the Last Glacial Maximum.

Core samples containing telling signatures of frost were drilled up from 200 feet below today’s surface near Little Lake. The valley, also home to the much larger Triangle Lake, is the result of a massive landslide 50,000 years ago. Eroding sediment then continued to fill a large lake and transform the valley floor.

A work crew operates a drilling rig near Little Lake in the Oregon Coast Range, where researchers pulled up a buried archive of sediment that helped them detail climate changes dating to a massive landslide 50,000 years ago. The location is just west of the community of Triangle Lake that sits on the edge of a larger lake with that name. The valley is about 40 miles northwest of Eugene, Oregon.