Air Temperatures – The following high temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday…along with the low temperatures Friday:
83 – 72 Lihue, Kauai
84 – 75 Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 73 Molokai AP
87 – 73 Kahului AP, Maui
83 – 73 Kailua Kona, Hawaii
83 – 68 Hilo, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands Friday afternoon:
0.76 Wailua, Kauai
0.12 Luluku, Oahu
0.07 Molokai
0.08 Lanai
0.14 Kahoolawe
0.73 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.15 Kahuku Ranch, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Friday afternoon:
15 Poipu, Kauai
20 Kahuku Trng, Oahu
27 Molokai
33 Lanai
17 Kahoolawe
21 Kapalua, Maui
30 Pali 2, Big Island
Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of our tallest mountain Mauna Kea (nearly 13,800 feet high) on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here’s the webcam for the 10,000+ feet high Haleakala Crater on Maui. These webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands, and at night whenever there’s a big moon shining down. Also, at night you will be able to see the stars, and the sunrise and sunset too…depending upon weather conditions.
Aloha Paragraphs
High clouds moving over the state from the west
(click on the images to enlarge them)
Deeper clouds well to the south
Partly to mostly cloudy skies…some clear areas
Showers locally
Looping image
High Surf Advisory…purple color below
Small Craft Advisory…pink color below
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Broad Brush Overview: A high pressure system located north-northwest of Hawaii, will cause the trade winds to strengthen through early next week. An upper-level trough of low pressure, which is passing near the state, will prompt increasing instability and wetter conditions, as moisture associated with a weakening cold front moves across the area this weekend. This frontal cloud band will push south of the Big Island Sunday night into Monday. The trailing end of another cold front may reach the islands around the middle of next week.
Details: A trough appears to be nearing the western end of the island chain, while another trough is moving towards the state from the northwest. Even though the trough aloft near the islands is producing some instability, the mid-layers of the atmosphere remain relatively dry. Low clouds and showers being carried into the islands by the strengthening trade wind flow, are affecting windward sides of most islands. A few of these showers are also passing across some leeward sections of the smaller islands. In addition to the low clouds, high clouds are streaming over the islands from the west-southwest…ahead of the upper-level trough.
The models show the trades will become locally stronger as the surface high builds toward the east-southeast. At the same time, trade showers are forecast to continue over windward sections. The slight instability due to the troughs aloft may produce some brief heavy rainfall. However, the showers will likely be fast moving, so no significant flooding is expected. This scenario might require the issuance of a Flood Advisory for localized water on roadways…or elevated flow in some streams and drainage systems over windward sections.
As we head in to the weekend, the high will likely push the weakening frontal band down toward the islands. Based on the latest guidance, the remnant band of low clouds and showers will reach Kauai late tonight, and then Oahu Saturday morning. After that, it may move over Maui County Saturday evening and the Big Island Saturday night. The band is expected to move southeast of the Big Island Sunday night. Showers can be expected over windward and mountain areas as this band passes. In addition, the strong trades will likely transport scattered showers over many leeward sections of the smaller islands.
Looking Ahead: The trade winds are expected to increase this weekend as the above mentioned high strengthens, and the pressure gradient over the islands tightens. Heading into next week, the high weakens and moves closer to the islands, relaxing the pressure gradient, so look for the trades to weaken some Monday and Tuesday. Models indicate another cold front and upper level trough may approach the islands from the west towards the end of next week, resulting in another round of increased precipitation…we’ll have to wait and see about that.
Here’s a near real-time Wind Profile of the Pacific Ocean – along with a Closer View of the islands / Here’s the latest Weather Map / Here’s the latest Vog Forecast Animation / Here’s the Vog Information website
Marine Environmental Conditions: Trades are forecast to increase across the island waters and hold in the moderate to strong category through the weekend, as high pressure builds north of the state in the wake of a cold front. Trades may become stronger across most waters Monday night through Wednesday, with near gales across the typically windier waters between Maui County and the Big Island. Seas are nearing the advisory level across the northwest waters, due to a combination of a new northwest swell filling in and locally generated wind seas. As a result, the small craft advisory currently in place will remain up and has been extended through Sunday for the typically windier waters.
Surf along north and west facing shores will quickly rise as a new northwest swell fills in. Surf is forecast to reach and exceed the advisory thresholds for north and west facing shores of the smaller islands, then hold through tonight before slowly easing this weekend. Expect this source to gradually shift out of a more northerly direction through the weekend as it fades.
A reinforcement out of the northwest is expected to fill in late Monday, peak Monday night into Tuesday, then fade through mid-week. Surf associated with this feature should remain below the advisory levels along north and west facing shores, as it fills in and peaks early next week.
Surf along east facing shores will gradually rise over the weekend and early next week, as the trades increase into the moderate to strong category, especially next Tuesday as trades become stronger across most waters locally.
Small surf will continue along south facing shores.
World-wide Tropical Cyclone Activity
Here’s the Friday Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) Weather Wall Presentation covering the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea…and the Atlantic Ocean
Here’s the Friday Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) Weather Wall Presentation covering the Pacific and Indian Oceans, including a tropical disturbance in the western Pacific, a disturbance in the South China Sea,Tropical Cyclone 07B (Gaja)…and a tropical disturbance in the South Indian Ocean
>>> Atlantic Ocean: No active tropical cyclones
Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic
>>> Gulf of Mexico: No active tropical cyclones
>>> Caribbean Sea: No active tropical cyclones
Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico
>>> Eastern Pacific: No active tropical cyclones
Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)
>>> Central Pacific: No active tropical cyclones
Here’s the link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)
>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: No active tropical cyclones
Here’s what the computer models show
>>> South Pacific Ocean:
Tropical Cyclone 07B (Gaja)
JTWC textual advisory
JTWC graphical track map
>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea:
Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
Interesting: Coffee Tastes Bitter, So Why Do People Drink It? – It may sound counterintuitive, but people who are supersensitive to coffee’s bitter taste actually drink more of it, a new study finds.
This sensitivity isn’t simply a matter of taste, either, but rather is influenced by a person’s genetic makeup, the researchers said in the study, which was published online November 15th in the journal Scientific Reports.
“You’d expect that people who are particularly sensitive to the bitter taste of caffeine would drink less coffee,” study senior researcher Marilyn Cornelis, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a statement. “The opposite results of our study suggest coffee consumers acquire a taste [for] or an ability to detect [the bitterness of] caffeine due to the learned positive reinforcement elicited by caffeine.”
Put another way, people who have a heightened ability to taste the bitterness of coffee, and especially the distinct bitter flavor of caffeine, learn to associate “good things with it,” Cornelis said. This finding is surprising, given that bitterness often serves as a warning mechanism to convince people to spit out harmful substances, the scientists said.
Researchers conducted the study to understand how genetics influences people’s consumption of tea, coffee and alcohol, which tend to taste bitter, said lead study researcher Jue Sheng Ong, a doctoral student in the Department of Genetics and Computational Biology at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia.
“While all bitter flavors might seem the same, we perceive the bitterness of Brussels sprouts, tonic water (quinine) and caffeine separately.” “The degree to which we find these flavors bitter is, in part, determined by your genes.”
To investigate, the researchers looked at the genetic makeup and daily bitter-beverage consumption of more than 400,000 people from the United Kingdom. “Using the genes related to our ability to taste bitterness, we were able to assess whether those that have a higher genetic predisposition to tasting bitterness are more likely to prefer tea over coffee,” Ong said.
The results showed that people with the genes to taste the bitterness of green vegetables (such as Brussels sprouts) or tonic water are more likely to prefer tea over coffee, the researchers found. In addition, people who were more sensitive to quinine’s bitter flavors and those found in green vegetables tended to avoid coffee.
Meanwhile, people with the genes to taste the bitterness in Brussel sprouts were less likely to drink alcohol, especially red wine, than people without those gene variants, the researchers found. This insight may help scientists studying addiction, Ong said.
Ong noted that the researchers didn’t look at flavorings, such as cream or sugar, that people sometimes pour into coffee to temper its bitterness. “One can imagine that, at a personal level, there are a lot of factors that determine a person’s coffee intake — socioeconomic status, ability to metabolize caffeine and smoking,” he said. “On top of that, people drink all sorts of coffee — black coffee, flat white [and] cappuccino.” So, the researchers chose to look for big trends in how genes relate to bitter-beverage consumption, he said.
“[The results] suggest that perhaps most types of coffee still share very similar bitter-taste profiles,” Ong said.
Email Glenn James: 
