Hawaiian Islands Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs / February 27-28, 2016

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

79 – 64  Lihue, Kauai
82 – 67  Honolulu, Oahu
86 – 65  Molokai AP
85 – 60  Kahului AP, Maui
89 – 65  Hilo AP, Hawaii – broke the high temperature record of 88…set back in 1980

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

0.01  Kilohana, Kauai
0.07  Kii, Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.01  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.82  Waiakea Uka, Big Island

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

14  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
15  Waianae Harbor, Oahu – WNW
21  Molokai – ENE
10  Lanai – SW
29  Kahaloowe – NE
22  Maalaea Bay, Maui – N 
25  Upolu AP, Big Island – NE

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

Storms in the middle latitudes to our north…are sending a
couple of weak cold fronts in our direction

Scattered clouds across the central Pacific Ocean…with a
cold front north, and thunderstorms to our south

Clear to partly cloudy skies across the state

Just a few showers mostly offshore – looping radar image

High Surf Advisory…along north and west shores of Kauai,
north shore Oahu, Molokai, Maui and the Big Island

Small Craft Advisory…many coasts and channels

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Generally light breezes through Monday…then cooler from the north Tuesday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a weak high pressure system just north of Hawaii, moving rapidly northeastward, and a second far northeast. At the same time, there’s a weak ridge of high pressure just to our north, which will be slipping southward over, or near the state. In addition, there’s numerous low pressure systems far to the northeast through northwest of Hawaii. An approaching cold front, now still well to the northwest, will be moving in our direction. Our winds will be light and variable breezes Sunday into Monday. As aforementioned cold front moves through the state later Monday into Tuesday…we’ll find chilly northerly winds in its wake for a day or two, until they turn more northeast by mid-week. These trade winds will give way to more light winds later next week, as another cold front moves into the state by the weekend.

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

Here’s the Hawaiian Islands Sulfate Aerosol…animated graphic – showing vog forecast

Scattered showers here and there at times…although very limited for the time being. The lighter winds this weekend will allow afternoon clouds to develop along the leeward slopes, with just a few showers possible, especially Sunday and Monday afternoons.  The latest models continue showing a cold front arriving Monday, bringing a few showers to our area for a day or two then. The reason that they will last a few days, although in a limited way, is due to a second weak cold front arriving Tuesday. Northerly winds behind this second weak front, will bring cool conditions, and potentially a few more minor showers into the middle of the new week. Looking even further ahead, yet another cold front will arrive next weekend…ushering in some more showers. In sum, there will be these periodic showers coming our way, although rainfall across the Aloha State will continue to be more or less scant.

High surf details: The current northwest swell will continue decreasing in size, although a high surf advisory is still in effect for most north and west facing shores. Surf heights are expected to drop below advisory levels early this evening, before increasing again later tonight and into early Sunday morning…as the next swell arrives. This new northwest swell will peak during the day Sunday. Another very large northwest swell is forecast to arrive Tuesday and bring warning level surf to the north and west facing shores, before gradually lowering Thursday through Friday. Yet another northwest swell will be possible Friday night into next weekend.

Here in Maui County...It’s mostly clear early this Saturday morning….with still lots of volcanic haze in the air. Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 47.8F degrees before sunrise. The temperature at near the same time was 61 degrees down in Kahului under clear skies, 66 out in Hana, 66 at Kapalua, and 46 degrees up at the summit of the Haleakala Crater. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe was 70 degrees, 64 at Lanai City, with 69 at the Molokai airport.

– Early afternoon, under sunny skies near the beaches, with partly cloudy conditions over and around the nearby mountains. At the same time, we also have thick volcanic haze in our surrounding skies.

– Early evening, under partly cloudy skies, and yes…still this blanket of volcanic haze. / Now at 940pm, skies are mostly clear, with a temperature of 50.5 degrees here at my place in Kula, while at near the same time, it was a warmer 74 degrees down in Kahului near sea level.

Friday Evening Film – There are all kinds of new films that have shown up in our local Maui theaters. One in particular jumped right out at me, which is called Triple Nine, starring Casey Affleck, Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson, Teresa Palmer, Anthony Mackie, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Gal Gadot...among others. The synopsis: In Triple Nine, a crew of dirty cops is blackmailed by the Russian mob to execute a virtually impossible heist, and the only way to pull it off is to manufacture a 999, police code for “officer down.” Their plan is turned upside down when the unsuspecting rookie they set up to die foils the attack, triggering a breakneck action-packed finale tangled with double-crosses, greed and revenge.

My friend Jeff and I took this movie in, and we pretty much knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into. It didn’t take long before we were actively involved in shootouts and bloodshed on the streets of Atlanta. It was like a war zone, with so many tough guys doing their thing, so heavy…so so heavy! It was a little slow in places, although one soon forgot those brief moments, when the action kicked in again, which it did over and over…believe me. This was a very dark crime drama, with barely the light of day sneaking in around the edges occasionally. The cast was excellent, with many top notch actors involved, so that it had to be pretty darn good…and it was. Jeff mentioned on the drive back up the mountain, that he felt rather exhausted from sitting through all that nasty business, and I felt the same way. Did I like it, absolutely, although its difficult to give a grade to a film with so much killing involved! This was a very rough film, no two ways about it…here’s the trailer.

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Saturday 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 the 2015 hurricane season summary

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 the 2015 hurricane season summary

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 the 2015 hurricane season summary

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