2014-04-28

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday:

79  Lihue, Kauai
82  Honolulu, Oahu

79  Molokai
82  Kahului, Maui
84  Kailua Kona

82  Hilo, Hawaii

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops on Maui and the Big Island…as of 730pm Monday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 80

Hana airport, Maui - 72

Haleakala Summit –   45 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 37 (13,000+ 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.

 

Aloha Paragraphs



Paia, Maui…sandy shoreline – West Maui Mountains in background

Strengthening trade winds – rebounding tonight through

Thursday…diminishing again Friday into the weekend

Showers falling along our windward sides at times…a

few elsewhere

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

20  Mana, Kauai – NW
30  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
15  Molokai – NE
29  Lanai – NE

18  Kahoolawe – NE

12  Hana, Maui – NW
21  Waikoloa, Big Island – NW

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Monday evening (545pm totals):

0.23  Kilohana, Kauai
0.26  Mililani, Oahu
0.37  Molokai

0.13  Lanai

0.00  Kahoolawe
0.25  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.22  Ahumoa, 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 Narrative ~~~

The trade winds will be rebounding for several days…and then become lighter Friday into the weekend. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…focused on the Hawaiian Islands. ~~~ We see two moderately strong high pressure systems, one far northeast and the other far northwest of our islands. An approaching cold front has caused a break in the connecting ridge of high pressure between these two highs…to our north. As this front gets closer, our trade winds will bounce back into the moderately strong realms…which is already beginning to happen early this evening. Looking further ahead, the winds will ease up again Friday into the weekend…as another cold front approaches the state.

Satellite imagery shows that the high level cirrus clouds now have moved past the Big Island to the southeast and east…with patches of low clouds over other parts of the state. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we see these cirrus clouds shifting northeast and easts…with clearing in their wake. At the same time we see a cold front to our north, which continues to edge southward towards our area. This cold front will bring increasing clouds and showers, first on Kauai and then reaching the Big Island Thursday…where it will stall. Here’s a looping radar image, showing showers falling over the islands locally…especially the central part of the state at the time of this writing.

Our winds are picking up some now, as a shower bearing frontal boundary approaches from the northwest. There are a couple of troughs of low pressure aloft over the state currently, which will help to enhance whatever showers that are around for the time being. The latest forecast continues to show a shower producing frontal boundary arriving tomorrow into Wednesday, first on Kauai…and then down the chain to the Big Island by early Thursday morning. Looking into the upcoming weekend, the models show another late season cold front approaching the state, although it’s expected to stall before arriving. At the same time, it will cause our winds to slow down again then, before increasing again Sunday into next week. I’ll be again early Tuesday morning with your next weather narrative from paradise, I hope you have a great Monday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui, at the 3,100 foot elevation, at my upper Kula, Maui weather tower, the air temperature was 54.5 degrees at 605am on this Monday morning. Skies were generally clear over the island, although there were patches of low clouds over the ocean to our north, with a few showers falling from them. The light winds today, described above, will cause clouds to form over and around the Haleakala Crater. These late morning through afternoon clouds will bring showers to the slopes today…and likely again tomorrow. The beaches should remain quite dry, with generally nice weather prevailing on all shores.

We’ve moved into the early afternoon hours now, at 1220pm, under increasingly cloudy skies…and the first raindrops just arrived. The clouds began collecting around the Haleakala Crater slopes earlier this morning, and continue to do so. I would expect that we’ll see more off and on showers into the early evening hours in this upcountry area. The beaches will be in better shape, and likely stay warm and sunny most of the day. Later afternoon update at 310pm, the trade winds zipped back in unexpectedly, or at least stronger than I expected. This has brought clearing skies, and put a quick end to the showers we saw earlier!

It’s now early evening at 555pm, under clear to partly cloudy skies, lightly breezy trades, and an air temperature of 69.3 degrees. It was an interesting day, in that it started off as expected, with lighter winds and clouds gathering around the mountains. Those clouds let loose with some showers, nothing too heavy, and mostly concentrated in the upcountry areas. Then, the unexpected part, the trade winds filled into the state early, which pulled the plug on the afternoon convective cloudiness, and shut down the showers in no uncertain way. As the trade winds are now in the strengthening mode, we’ll begin to see more showers arriving along our windward sides. Then, yes another then, this late season cold front, or at least a showery cloud band, will be carried into our windward coasts and slopes later tomorrow…which will stall out near the Big Island early Thursday. This isn’t going to be a big rainfall event by any means, and most of the moisture will likely be deposited along our north and east facing areas, with far fewer showers being carried over into the leeward beaches.

Extra: Jumping dog video – fun!

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th.
Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea:

Gulf of Mexico:

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 Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15th through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 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.

Central Pacific Ocean: The Central Pacific hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary

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

North Pacific Ocean: Tropical Cyclone 06W (Tapah) is active in the northwestern Pacific. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map of this strengthening tropical storm…along with a NOAA satellite image.

South Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

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

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

Interesting: California Drought – The current drought hitting California makes the nightly news in many of the state’s major markets — and for good reason. It’s the worst drought California has seen for 15 years. The entire state is officially in drought, according to the April 22 edition of the U.S. Drought Monitor. Every area in California is suffering from “moderate” to “exceptional” drought, and most of the state is either in “extreme” or “exceptional” states of drought — the most severe levels. Reservoirs are key for providing water to both cities and farmers.

All reservoir levels are low, a weekly state drought brief on April 21 reveals. The San Antonio Reservoir has been essentially dry through the entire winter. Some reservoirs are at basically half capacity, and others are at less than half capacity.

Some cities are having to enact water restrictions or water rationing. The City of Montague is at risk for running out of drinking water by the end of the summer and has requested that residents stop all outside watering until further notice. This is the first time in more than 80 years that this situation has occurred in Montague. The City of San Diego is in “level one” water supply status. According to the city’s website, a level-one status occurs when there is a reasonable probability that there will be a supply shortage and a consumer demand reduction of up to 10 percent is required to ensure that there will be enough supplies to meet anticipated demands. Level-one voluntary restrictions in the city are now mandatory. The restrictions include prohibiting excessive irrigation and not using a running hose to wash down sidewalks, driveways, parking areas or other paved areas unless the hose is connected to a water efficient device like a commercial water brook.

Other California cities have put mandatory water restrictions in place. Orange Cove, in eastern Fresno County, has enacted an outdoor watering ban. The city gets its water from the San Joaquin River. The city of Santa Cruz, in the Bay Area, will start water rationing on May 1 — with a limit of 249 gallons of water a day for a four-person household — the city’s first mandatory water restriction in 25 years. The central coast city of Cambria also will ration water, limiting use to 50 gallons of water per person daily.

The drought is hitting farmers particularly hard. Growers in Shasta Valley were expected to have only enough water to irrigate what equals a single irrigation on about half of their acreage. Many growers in the Big Springs area have already started pumping water to irrigate their fields. California Farmers will leave about 800,000 acres idle this year, according to California Farm Water Coalition estimates. That will negatively impact California’s economy by about $7.48 and on farm production losses are predicted to double. Consumers will pay more at the grocery store as a result. As the U.S. Department of Agriculture puts it, “major impacts from the drought in California have the potential to result in food price inflation above the historical average.”

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