Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs / December 3-4, 2008

December 3-4 2008

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

Lihue, Kauai – 80
Honolulu, Oahu – 81
Kaneohe, Oahu – 80
Kahului, Maui – 85
Hilo, Hawaii – 81
Kailua-kona – 84

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 – 82F
Molokai airport – 76F

Haleakala Crater    – 54  (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:

0.86 Mount Waialaele, Kauai
0.06 Wheeler airfield, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.04 Oheo Gulch, Maui
0.17 South Point, Big Island

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a weak ridge of high pressure over the state, which will drift north of Kauai today into Friday. This in turn will allow trades to return to the islands for a short time. The ridge will move back south over the state Saturday. It will then recede eastward Sunday night into Monday as a front nears the state from the northwest...with lighter southeast winds.

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

      

 
  The meeting point
Photo Credit: Flikr.com

Light to moderately strong trade winds will gradually return intoThursday…continuing on into Friday. A high pressure ridge is still located over the islands, although it will be migrating northward into the area north of Kauai by Thursday. The volcanic haze is still around in most places, although better visibilities will occur into early Saturday, as the trade winds return. We expect more light southeast winds this weekend, which may bring the volcanic haze back then. The winds will remain from the south to southeast moving into early next week, ahead of a cold front forecast to arrive over Kauai and Oahu Tuesday.

There will be only a few light showers around, shifting back over to the windward sides along with the return of the trade winds.  As the trade winds return, the bias for showers will shift back over to the windward sides…although showers will be few and far between generally. The breezes return to the southeast this weekend, when we may see an increase in showers arriving along our leeward coasts and slopes. There may be a few pre-frontal showers early next week, ahead of a cold front Tuesday. The cold front likely won’t amount to very much though, as the high pressure ridge over the state aloft, will limit the front’s shower activity.

The recent large northwest swell waves will drop in size Wednesday, although a new west-northwest swell will bring the surf back up again late today into Thursday. This second large to extra large swell will cause another round of high surf advisory level surf again, and be long lasting into the weekend. The NWS has issued a high surf warning over Kauai and Oahu Wednesday afternoon. A high surf advisory will be active across the north and west shores of the other islands. This high surf event will remain active into the weekend…with more medium to large surf expected at times next week. The more westerly aspect to this new swell will cause some island blocking behind Kauai and Oahu.

It’s early Wednesday evening here in Kihei, Maui. The volcanic haze stuck around in most areas Wednesday. Looking out the window, before I drive home to Kula, I can see that the haze is still very thick out there. I’m actually home now, and along the way I realized that it wasn’t just the volcanic haze junking-up our usual pristine skies, but also lots of clouds too! Here’s a satellite image showing you the nature of that cloudiness dropping southwards over us. As the light to moderately strong trade winds get back into our Hawaiian Island weather picture soon, we’ll find nice weather, with just a few showers, even along our windward sides…with less haze too. This weekend may turn a bit more showery, as the trade winds give way to southeast winds again. There’s always that chance that we could see increased volcanic haze once again then too. The lighter southeast winds will likely bring clear mornings, with cloudy skies developing over the mountains during the afternoon hours. ~~~ I’ll be back very early Thursday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise, I hope you have a great Wednesday night until then! Aloha for now, Glenn.

TV weather show news: With almost 18 years under my belt, I’ve decided to discontinue the TV weather program. This decision wasn’t an easy one, one that I deliberated over for quite a while. In the end though, it seems like the right thing to do. As many of you know, I’ve been carrying a very heavy work load…with this website, having the weather show, and working as the senior weather analyst at the Pacific Disaster Center in Kihei, Maui. That has made for three weather related jobs, keeping me very busy. ~~~ I needed to find some relief from my 14 hour work days. I know that many people count on, and have enjoyed this 15 minute, live broadcast morning weather show. I’ve greatly enjoyed doing it myself! The last day of viewing on Kauai, Oahu and the Big Island will be December 19th, while the islands of Maui County will be on the air until December 24th. I will speak more of this as we move through the month, but just wanted to let you know. I will absolutely continue this website, and recommend that my TV viewers transfer over to this web site as their source for weather news. Please use the reply box below for your feedback, and I will respond to them individually. Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting:

On Tuesday high tides hit the historic city of Venice, leaving it submerged again, just a day after experiencing its worst floods in 20 years. On Monday alarms sounded out across the city warning of the “acqua alta” or high waters. As water levels rose to a height of 61 inches the city was brought to a virtual standstill. As much as 99% of the city was left submerged by the time the waters peaked mid-morning.  This was the fourth highest tide to have hit the city since records began in 1872, and the highest level seen since 1986. The highest tide recorded was during the disastrous floods of November 1966 when the water level rose to 76 inches. Yesterday high tides submerged the city for a second time. While not as bad as Monday, it was still enough to flood the city’s landmark St Mark’s Square and other low-lying areas. The recent high tides have been caused by low pressure which has been sitting in the eastern Mediterranean over the last few days. Strong winds funneling up the Adriatic Sea have created the unusually high tides, driving the sea in across the country. With low pressure set to edge east over the next 24 hours the threat of further flooding should recede.
 
Interesting2: A group of 43 small island states called on Wednesday for tougher goals for fighting global warming than those being considered at U.N. climate talks, saying that rising seas could wipe them off the map. "We are not prepared to sign a suicide agreement that causes small island states to disappear," Selwin Hart of Barbados, a coordinator of the alliance of small island states, told Reuters at the 187-nation meeting. The December 1-12 talks in Poznan, Poland, are reviewing progress at the half-way stage of a two-year push for a new U.N. treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. The new treaty is meant to be agreed by the end of 2009 in Copenhagen he 43 nations, including low-lying coral atolls from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean, said global warming should be limited to a maximum of 2.7 Fahrenheit above pre-industrial times.

Interesting3:

Electric car company Better Place said on Tuesday it plans to develop a $200 million to $250 million electric car network in Hawaii ,



the latest market to join such efforts to cut global warming carbon emissions and pricey fuel imports.

Shai Agassi, founder and chief executive of privately owned Better Place, said the cost is an estimated "ballpark" range and that investors have yet to be lined up for the all-island project. Better Place has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hawaiian Electric Companies. Better Place plans to offer electric transportation as a service, like for mobile phones, with drivers paying to access a network of charging stations. Governments from Australia to Denmark to the San Francisco Bay Area have signed on to create similar networks in their cities. Renault and Nissan Motor Co Ltd have said they will build electric cars, and mass market availability in Hawaii is expected in 2012.

Interesting4: Louisiana has displaced Mississippi as the unhealthiest U.S. state and other Southern states were close rivals due to high obesity and smoking rates in new rankings that deemed Vermont the healthiest. The overall health of Americans remained static for a fourth year, according to an annual report issued on Wednesday assessing a series of measures also including binge drinking, health insurance coverage, air pollution, infectious disease rates, crime levels and immunization coverage. Many Southern states were clustered near the bottom of the rankings. The region has some of the highest rates of obesity, which contributes to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some types of cancer, as well as high rates of smoking, which causes cancer, lung disease, heart disease and other problems.

One in five Louisianians lacked health insurance, while 31 percent were obese. It also suffers from high child poverty, infant mortality, premature death rate and cancer deaths, according to the report. "We’ve just not made any improvement in the overall healthiness of the nation," said Dr. Reed Tuckson of UnitedHealth Group Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer, and the private United Health Foundation. The foundation, American Public Health Association and the Partnership for Prevention advocacy group put together the 19th annual state-by-state rankings. It was the second straight year that Vermont topped the rankings. It was followed by Hawaii, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Utah, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Idaho and Maine.