Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs / November 16-17, 2008

November 16-17 2008

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

Lihue, Kauai – 77
Honolulu, Oahu – 83
Kaneohe, Oahu – 79
Kahului, Maui – 81
Hilo, Hawaii – 81
Kailua-kona – 85

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level, and on the highest mountains…at 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon:

Kailua-kona – 83F  
Lihue, Kauai – 70 

Haleakala Crater    – 45  (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 32  (near 14,000 feet on the Big Island)

Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Sunday afternoon:

3.07 Mount Waialaele, Kauai
1.47 Kii, Oahu
0.03 Molokai
0.11 Lanai
0.02 Kahoolawe
0.13 Haiku, Maui
0.00 Big Island

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing high pressure far northwest of the islands, that will produce locally strong trade winds today. Trade winds will then gradually diminish through Wednesday as the high moves east and weakens. Low pressure developing northwest of the islands will turn winds to the south on Thursday and Friday.

Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with the Infrared Satellite Image of the islands to see all the clouds around the state during the day and night. This next image is one that gives close images of the islands only during the daytime hours, and is referred to as a Close-up visible image. This next image shows a larger view of the Pacific…giving perspective to the wider ranging cloud patterns in the Pacific Ocean. To help you keep track of where any showers may be around the islands, here’s the latest animated radar image. 

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of near 14,000 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The tallest peak on the island of Maui is the Haleakala Crater, which is near 10,000 feet in elevation. These two webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon rising just after sunset for an hour or two! Plus, during the nights and early mornings you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise too…depending upon weather conditions.

Aloha Paragraphs

      

 
Cold front showers giving way to trade wind showers
Photo Credit: Flickr.com

As the dissipating cold front moves down the island chain, our local winds will increase in strength…coming in from the north and NE, and eventually the east-northeast trade wind direction. This cold front, as shown in the following satellite image, is moving over the Big Island Sunday afternoon, and is just about gone. As the light south winds ahead of the front give way to trades, this will support the clearing of the recent volcanic haze, and local cloudy skies as well. These winds will remain active into the new week, keeping the windward sides of the islands off and on wet for a couple of days. The leeward sides too will feel the fresh breezes…carrying at few showers at times as well.

There will be a couple of upper air troughs moving across our area, which will enhance showers at times during the next week. As the front falls apart after passing Maui, the NE winds will keep windward biased showers falling at times. This should keep off and on wet weather along those north and east facing coasts and slopes during the first part of the new week ahead…although not in a constant manner. We may see another increase in showers later Monday into Tuesday. A second, and potentially more important increase in showers may occur as a Kona low develops to our west, or a second cold front is pushed down into the state Friday into the weekend.    

The dissipating cold front is running out of steam, with dissipating showers, and clearing skies the net result. The main shower axis Sunday afternoon passed over the islands of Maui County…and rapidly falling apart as it approaches the Big Island. This looping radar image shows this reality well. As the winds become NE trade winds, we’ll find showers falling along the windward sides into the new week ahead. There is a chance that some of these windward biased showers will spread into the leeward sections too. 

It’s early Sunday late afternoon here in Kula as I begin writing this last paragraph.  It was a cloudy morning, with periods of fog, and just a few light showers…at best. Looking at the local reports, the winds have shifted to the north and NE on Kauai and Oahu, and will work their way down to Maui this afternoon then on to the Big Island during the night. Winds from the north to NE will bring slightly cooler air into the state, bringing a bit of a chill with them. As the front fell apart, skies cleared very quickly over much of the state Sunday. Most of the rainfall from the front was wrung out over Kauai and Oahu, with little left over for Maui Sunday morning. ~~~ The sun is out, and Sunday has turned out to be a beautiful day, flying in the face of what I thought would be the case! Oh well, I feel that most folks are enjoying this fair weather reality, and aren’t too upset with the way things have turned out. I’m about ready to get outside, and enjoy the end of this weekend, which started off cloudy, and ended up being really quite nice in the end. ~~~ This afternoon I made a stir fry, consisting of extra virgin olive oil, a whole organic onion, along with organic corn, brussel sprouts, and mushrooms. This morning I bqq’d some organic Rosie’s chicken thighs…the combination of which will serve me well for dinners during the upcoming work week. ~~~ I’ll be back very early Monday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you will be very well until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting:

The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1st to November 30th each year and with only a fortnight left to go, 2008 might be remembered for several reasons. The season got off to an active start with Tropical Storm Arthur developing on the 30th May and with three further storms following in July. Hurricane Bertha developed on the 3rd of July. It was an early Cape-Verde type storm which went on to become the longest-lived pre-August tropical cyclone on record. Bertha lasted a total of 18 days, running from the 3rd to the 20th of July. Tropical Storm Cristobal and Hurricane Dolly soon followed. All three storms were active together on the 20th July, making it the earliest known date for three storms to be active on the same day.

In August, Tropical Storm Fay developed, this storm went on to make landfall on four separate occasions across the state of Florida. This is the first time in history for this to have happened. More recently, Hurricane Paloma, which developed early in November, was a late season storm. It became a major hurricane and the second strongest hurricane to develop in November. So far, there have been 16 storms this season, meaning that the 2008 season is joint 4th in terms of most Atlantic storms within one season. Although prior to satellites, data may have been more ambiguous with some storms going undetected. It remains to be seen if any further storms will develop over the next weeks.

Interesting2:

U.S. conservation groups on Thursday hailed the imminent end of "environmental abuse and neglect" by the Bush administration and promised to work with President-elect Barack Obama to reverse this course. "The Bush administration has done a lot of damage to our nation’s environmental protections over the last eight years," said Mike Daulton, the National Audubon Society’s legislative director. "And nowhere is that more evident than the Bush administration’s drilling policies, which have been slanted dramatically toward the oil industry." Daulton noted that President George W. Bush last summer withdrew an executive ban on offshore drilling, which he said eroded protections for U.S. beaches and coastal economies. Obama’s election last week "defeated candidates who focused on a drill-everywhere policy and the inauguration will sweep two oilmen from the White House," Daulton said in a telephone briefing with other conservation leaders. "Eight dismal years of environmental abuse and neglect are now coming to an end," said Betsy Loyless, Audubon’s senior vice president.

Interesting3:

Are you as tired of the unending bad economic news? From the subprime crisis to the collapse of the real estate bubble to the near-failure of the global finance industry, it just goes from bad to worse. More scary news this week — major retailers are failing (CircuitCity) and one or more of our domestic auto manufacturers appears to be next. It now appears likely that the government (and as a result we, the taxpayers) will fund some kind of bailout for the auto industry. The price tag could be in the $25 – $50 billion range, and that’s on top of a $25 billion loan they’ve already received from the US Department of Energy to retool their operations to produce more efficient cars. Several years ago, when the Prius began to take off, it was pretty clear (at least here in California) that this was the beginning of a transformation rather than a little niche. It doesn’t take that much marketing insight to see that something major is happening when folks who normally would buy $50K+ luxury cars (executives, celebrities, high-tech entrepreneurs, etc) are standing in line to buy a $22K mid-size car that looks like a spruced-up door stop. Especially when that trend is being driven by a real-world problem that just happens to threaten the entire planet.

Instead of taking action, the US car companies pursued inaction. Instead of investing in new design on these alt-fuel cars, they lobbied hard to prevent increased fuel economy standards. They repackaged old products based on old technologies in increasingly extravagent ways (see Hummer and Escalade) instead of ramping up innovation. And they made sure that they used their clout (both companies and unions) to keep anyone else who might prod them to change, such as the State of California Air Resources Board, at a standstill as well. These companies deserve to fail, but this can’t happen. Our economy is teetering on the brink, and losing one out of every ten jobs in the US (and probably a higher percentage of wealth, given that these jobs are high paying) would certainly push us into a deep dark hole the likes of which we haven’t seen before. This would take a huge human toll: as much as auto unions have been part of the problem, they represent hundreds of thousands of workers who have families to support and homes to keep out of foreclosure. It would seem that we can either “rescue” these companies (albeit from themselves) or sustain their work forces in a way that ensures we are fueling the creation of a new economy rather than prolonging the rattling last gasp of an old one.

Interesting4:

Coal, which produces more climate-warming carbon dioxide than oil or gas, will remain the world’s main source of power until 2030 and nuclear will lose market share, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday. Expectations of slower economic growth have led the IEA to downgrade its 2030 world electricity demand forecast to 23,141 terawatt hours (TWh), but the share of coal generated power would rise to 44 percent by 2015 from 41 percent in 2006. It would stay at that level to 2030. "Globally, coal-based electricity is projected to rise … to almost 14,600 TWh by 2030, giving rise to significant increases in associated CO2 emissions," the Paris-based agency said in its World Energy Outlook. The report from the IEA, adviser to 28 industrialized nations, says coal emissions, also including toxic and pollutant gases, can have serious effects on the local environment and human health.

Most of the growth was expected in non-OECD countries, such as China, which the IEA expected soon to become the world’s biggest electricity consumer. Its demand for power doubled between 2000 and 2006. The IEA urged stronger policies for carbon capture and storage (CCS), saying the world was likely to make only a minor contribution in the period. "Market mechanisms alone will not be sufficient to achieve the demonstration program on the scale required. Another challenge is financing the necessary CO2 transport infrastructure," it said. Despite a global nuclear renaissance sparked by efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change, the IEA expected nuclear’s share in power generation to drop to 10 percent by 2030 from 15 percent in 2006. "Over the past few years, a large number of countries have expressed renewed interest in building nuclear power plants," it said. "Few governments, however, have taken concrete steps to build new reactors.

Interesting5:

As if the worst drought in a generation wasn’t bad enough, wheat farmers in Australia’s south-east corner were Friday warned that locusts could decimate this year’s winter harvest. "We expect to see locusts swarming in the next week or so and members of the community especially those in northern Victoria, who have not previously seen locusts, need to be prepared for their arrival," Victorian Agriculture Minister Joe Helper said. "It’s still vital that landholders report locust sightings as swarming locusts are capable of laying eggs that can hatch as early as within two weeks, if ideal conditions prevail." The long dry spell has cut the forecast for the winter grain crop by almost 9 per cent to 23 million tons. Earlier in the year, estimates for a crop that will be harvested from October were as high as 26 million tons but low rainfall forced the projection to be scaled back.  Wheat sowing has risen by 13 per cent to a record 14 million hectares and the wheat harvest should trump last year’s by 10 million tons. Last year’s harvest came in at 13 million tons.