December 17-18 2008
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 76
Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Kaneohe, Oahu – 79
Kahului, Maui – 84
Hilo, Hawaii – 79
Kailua-kona – 82
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level, and on the highest mountains…at 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon:
Kahului, Maui – 81F
Lihue, Kauai – 73F
Haleakala Crater – missing (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 37 (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 Wednesday afternoon:
1.82 Kapahi, Kauai
1.07 Poamoho 2, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.05 Oheo Gulch, Maui
0.46 Waiakea Uka, Big Island
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a high pressure system located far northeast of the islands, in combination with low pressure system far west of the state, which will maintain an east to southeast flow over the islands through 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
Aloha Paragraphs
Warm ocean around Kauai
Photo Credit: Flikr.com
Our local winds will vary between east and southeast…gradually becoming trade winds after the weekend. A low pressure system remains in place to the west, with a high pressure center to the northeast. This pressure configuration will keep winds generally light to moderately strong…although locally more gusty near the Big Island. The winds are strong enough around the Big Island, that a small craft wind advisory is active locally. The computer models suggest that once the low pressure system to our west, lifts out this weekend, the trade winds will take over thereafter.
The state will have a few showers, with still the chance that Kauai may get wetter over the next few days…and perhaps Oahu too. Meanwhile, the east to southeast wind flow will carry some moisture over the area as well. As the low pressure system to our west edges closer, it’s eastern edge may bring locally heavy showers to Kauai and perhaps Oahu later Thursday into Friday. Meanwhile, the southeast and east sides of all the islands will find some showers arriving at times too. As the trade winds fill in after the weekend, the bias for showers will concentrate over the windward coasts and slopes. The leeward sides will find generally dry conditions, with lots of sunshine then.
It’s early Wednesday evening here in Kihei, Maui, as I start writing this last paragraph. There were lots of blue skies Wednesday, that is between intrusions of high level cirrus clouds. Looking at this looping satellite image, we continue to see the counter-clockwise rotation of the low pressure system to our west. This low will slowly migrate eastward, which may put localized heavy showers over that Kauai with time. Meanwhile, checking out this looping radar image, we see some showers at times taking aim on both Kauai and Oahu…with some coming in towards the Big Island too. ~~~ It appears that Thursday into Friday will be the time when Kauai, and maybe Oahu, will see the threat of more rainfall. The soils haven’t had a chance to dry out, so that more heavy precipitation wouldn’t be a good thing…and we’re hoping that the rains stay away. Once the trade winds return, our weather will improve markedly by early next week. ~~~ Wednesday was a nice day here on Maui, a very nice day compared to the last week or so, when we saw copious amounts of high cirrus clouds streaming overhead. We will be seeing more of that stuff, although the way it looks from here, the islands of Maui and the Big Island will miss the rains that may occur again on Kauai and perhaps Oahu. I’m about ready to take the drive upcountry, up to Kula, and it looks nice out there…which will likely make for great sunset conditions. I’ll be back very early Thursday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Wednesday night. By the way, stay warm out there if you’re on the mainland, as its cold over there! Alohaa for now…Glenn.
Interesting: It has been described as a geologist’s dream – a unique opportunity to study up close the volcanic processes that built the Earth’s continents. Drillers looking for geothermal energy in Hawaii have inadvertently put a well right into a magma chamber. Molten rock pushed back up the borehole several metres before solidifying, making it perfectly safe to study. Magma specialist Bruce Marsh says it will allow scientists to observe directly how granites are made. "This is unprecedented; this is the first time a magma has been found in its natural habitat," the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, professor told BBC News. "Before, all we had to deal with were lava flows; but they are the end of a magma’s life. They’re lying there on the surface, they’ve de-gassed. It’s not the natural habitat. "It’s the difference between looking at dinosaur bones in a museum and seeing a real, living dinosaur roaming out in the field." Professor Marsh has been discussing the discovery here at the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting 2008.
This is not the first time drillers have encountered magma; the depth of the hit and the setting are, however, thought to be unique. The exploratory well was being put down in the east of Hawaii’s Big Island, through the basalt lava fields formed by Kilauea Volcano. The idea was to find steam from waters heated deep underground in fractured rock, to drive turbines on the surface to generate electricity. The company behind the project, Puna Geothermal Venture, has had a successful power operation in the area for 15 years. But the drillers were shocked – not only to hit magma but to also hit such a big heat source at the relatively shallow depth of 2.5km. "It’s hotter than hell; it’s over a thousand degrees centigrade," said Professor Marsh. Bill Teplow, a consulting geologist with US Geothermal Inc, who oversaw the drilling, stressed there was no risk of an explosion or of a volcanic eruption at the site. "It was easily controlled in the well bore because of the magma’s highly viscous nature. It flowed up the well bore 5-10m but then the cool drilling fluid caused it to solidify and stop flowing," said Mr Teplow. "At no time were we in danger of losing control of the well."
Interesting2: The harsh winter weather is expected to continue this week across the north Midwest with further heavy snowfall and ice expected. Much of northern Illinois and Iowa received around 2 to 5 inches of snow on Tuesday with an additional 1 to 3 inches expected by Wednesday. A winter weather warning remains in effect for the Chicago area. Bitterly cold air followed in behind the snowstorms with temperatures dipping down to 18F on Tuesday across Illinois and Iowa. The National Weather Service is warning of yet more wintry weather to hit the north Midwest and the northeast on Thursday, bringing more heavy snowfall to areas already affected.
Meanwhile, parts of the west have also been battered by winter storms with California and Arizona bearing the brunt. Heavy snow is still falling in Arizona. The National Weather Service warned of accumulations of snow up to 2 feet across the higher ground of southern Arizona through Tuesday and into Wednesday. However, the winter weather will subside across the western US as milder air moves later this week. Very cold arctic air spreading down from Canada and colliding with low pressure systems over central USA has been responsible for the wintry weather across the north Midwest and the northeast. Winter storms are expected to continue through much of this week with lethal combinations of heavy snow and ice.
Interesting3: The milder winters and longer growing seasons predicted under global warming forecasts could boost populations of crop-munching insects in the Midwest’s corn country over the coming decades, new research suggests. Purdue University scientists said their findings could mean lower yields for corn and other crops — and higher pest control costs for farmers — as the climate warms up. The researchers examined how global warming could impact winter’s lowest readings and lengthen the growing season across the continental U.S. based on what the study’s lead author said is a conservative climate change model. They then used that data to determine the regions where four insects that feed on corn and other crops could survive until spring, based on forecasts of warmer winter readings.
All four pests, they concluded, would expand their ranges into areas where they are currently not a problem — or not found at all — because each would have more spring survivors and more time in the spring and summer to feed, mate and reproduce. "The range of each of these pests expanded — not only in areas of the Midwest where corn is the dominant crop but also in areas of the western U.S.," said Noah Diffenbaugh, a Purdue associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences. Diffenbaugh, who led the study, said the warmer readings could mean the insects will be capable of producing up to three generations of their kind in a single growing season, filling fields with their hungry offspring. The findings were recently published online in the Environmental Research Letters.
Interesting4: Earth’s magnetic field, which shields our planet from particles streaming outward from the Sun, often develops two holes that allow the largest leaks, according to researchers sponsored by NASA and the National Science Foundation. "The discovery overturns a long-standing belief about how and when most of the solar particles penetrate Earth’s magnetic field, and could be used to predict when solar storms will be severe. Based on these results, we expect more severe storms during the upcoming solar cycle," said Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California, Los Angeles, Principal Investigator for NASA’s THEMIS mission (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms).
THEMIS was used to discover the size of the leak. Earth’s magnetic field acts as a shield against the bombardment of particles continuously streaming from the sun. Because the solar particles (ions and electrons) are electrically charged, they feel magnetic forces and most are deflected by our planet’s magnetic field. However, our magnetic field is a leaky shield and the number of particles breaching this shield depends on the orientation of the sun’s magnetic field. It had been thought that when the sun’s magnetic field is aligned with that of the Earth, the door is shut and that few if any solar particles enter Earth’s magnetic shield. The door was thought to open up when the solar magnetic field direction points opposite to Earth’s field, leading to more solar particles inside the shield.
Interesting5: Dinosaur hunters on a month-long expedition to the Sahara desert have returned home in time for Christmas with more than they ever dreamed of finding. They have unearthed not one but two possible new species of extinct animals. Their success marks one of the most exciting discoveries to come out of Africa for 50 years. The team has discovered what appears to be a new type of pterosaur and a previously unknown sauropod, a species of giant plant-eating dinosaur. Both would have lived almost one hundred million years ago. The palaeontologists discovered a large fragment of beak from a giant flying reptile and a more than one metre long bone from a sauropod, which indicates an animal of almost 65 feet in length.
The discovery of both is extremely rare. The expedition was composed of scientists from the University of Portsmouth, University College Dublin (UCD) and the Université Hassan II in Casablanca and was led by UCD palaeontologist, Nizar Ibrahim. Ibrahim, who is an expert on North African dinosaurs, said: “Finding two specimens in one expedition is remarkable, especially as both might well represent completely new species.” Dr David Martill, a reader in Palaeobiology at the University of Portsmouth, said: “Plant eaters are uncommon in this deposit, extremely rare in this region and to find one this large is very exciting. It’s a major discovery.”
Interesting6: Two giant plumes of hot rock deep within the earth are linked to the plate motions that shape the continents, researchers have found. The two super-plumes, one beneath Hawaii and the other beneath Africa, have likely existed for at least 200 million years, explained Wendy Panero, assistant professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University. The giant plumes — or "super-piles" as Panero calls them — rise from the bottom of Earth’s mantle, just above our planet’s core. Each is larger than the continental United States. And each is surrounded by a wall of plates from Earth’s crust that have sunk into the mantle. She and her colleagues reported their findings at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.
Computer models have connected the piles to the sunken former plates, but it’s currently unclear which one spawned the other, Panero said. Plates sink into the mantle as part of the normal processes that shape the continents. But which came first, the piles or the plates, the researchers simply do not know. "Do these super-piles organize plate motions, or do plate motions organize the super-piles? I don’t know if it’s truly a chicken-or-egg kind of question, but the locations of the two piles do seem to be related to where the continents are today, and where the last supercontinent would have been 200 million years ago," she said. That supercontinent was Pangea, and its breakup eventually led to the seven continents we know today.
Email Glenn James: 
