Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / October 8-9, 2011

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

Lihue, Kauai –                   84
Honolulu airport, Oahu –   90   (record high for the date – 92 in 1994)
Kaneohe, Oahu –               83
Molokai airport –                84
Kahului airport, Maui –        86  
Kona airport                      85
Hilo airport, Hawaii –          86

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 4pm Saturday afternoon:

Barking Sands, Kauai – 85
Kaneohe, Oahu – 76

Haleakala Crater –     50 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 43 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)

Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Saturday afternoon:

1.46     Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.14     Wilson Tunnel, Oahu
0.05     Molokai
0.00     Lanai
0.00     Kahoolawe
0.20     West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.06     Pahoa, Big Island

Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with this Infrared Satellite Image of the islands to see all the clouds around during the day and night. This next image is one that gives close images of the islands during the daytime hours, and is referred to as a Close-up visible image. Finally, here's a Looping IR satellite image, making viewable the clouds around the islands 24 hours a day. 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 web cam on the summit of near 13,500 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. The Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui just came back online, after being on the blink for several weeks.

Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest weather information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here.  Here's a tropical cyclone tracking map for the eastern and central Pacific.

 Aloha Paragraphs

The whales are returning to Hawaii now!

 
 

Our trade winds will remain locally breezy, then mellow out some by mid-week.  Glancing at this weather map, it shows high pressure systems to our northeast and northwest, connected by a long ridge of high pressure. Our locally trade winds will continue in the moderately strong realms…with a slight weakening after this weekend. It looks like we'll get into a much lighter wind flow during the second half of the new week, especially by next weekend.

Trade winds continue…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts (mph), along with directions Saturday afternoon:

24                 Port Allen, Kauai – NE
28                 Honolulu, Oahu – NE
32                 Molokai – NNE
31                 Kahoolawe – ENE
37                    Kahului, Maui – ESE
08                 Lanai – W
32                 Upolu Point,  Big Island – NE

We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Saturday evening. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we find low clouds generally offshore of the islands…although they are being carried over the islands locally. At the same time we see high cirrus clouds to our southwest, west and north, which continue to move over the islands at times on the upper winds. We can use this looping satellite image to see those low clouds moving along in the trade wind flow. There are those high level clouds coming our way from the west, which are at least someone thinner and less extensive now. Checking out this looping radar image we see some showers over the ocean, moving along in the trade wind flow…impacting the windward sides in places.

Sunset Commentary:  The trade winds are being driven by moderately strong high pressure systems far to the northeast and northwest of the islands Saturday night. These moderately strong high pressure cells are located well offshore, with their connecting ridge of high pressure located along more or less 30 degrees north latitude…to the north of our islands. These moderately strong trade winds will hold steady through the weekend, into the first several days of the new week ahead. The winds have become strong enough now, that the NWS forecast office in Honolulu has issued a small craft wind advisory for those windiest areas in Maui County and the Big Island. There’s a good chance that some change in our wind speeds and directions will occur from around Thursday and Friday…into next weekend.

Showers will continue to be drawn over the windward sides of the islands, as showery clouds get carried our way on the trade wind flow at times. We’ve seen a few showers being carried all the way over into the leeward sides on the smaller islands. The clouds upstream of the islands look a bit showery, so there may be a slight increase windward biased showers occurring into the overnight hours. Towards next weekend, or as early as next Thursday or Friday, the models are suggesting that we may see some changes coming our way…with an increased chance of unsettled weather with showers. It's still a bit early to be able to nail down exactly how this unsettled weather will manifest, although the computer models have been suggesting for several days now, that something will be changing, stay tuned for more over the next few days.

Friday evening after work I met my neighbor Jeff, his daughter Jill, and our mutual friend Joy, the JJJ club in Kahului. We met at Whole Foods and got take out food, sitting outside and talking while we ate. We then walked over to the theater to see another one of those radical action films, this one called Killer Elite, starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen, and Robert DeNiro…among many others. Synopsis: an ex-special operations agent is lured out of retirement to complete a near-impossible mission, and to rescue his mentor. The Yahoo site critics are giving this film a C+ grade, while the viewers are giving a slightly better B rating. The tough graders on the rotten tomatoes movie review site are giving a low 24 number out of 100. I was a little nervous about seeing this rather rough edged film with two ladies, although Jeff assured me that they could handle this film as well as we could. As expected, it was a "rough and tumble" film, with all kinds of killing going on along the way. I enjoyed seeing Jason, Clive, and Robert DeNiro, who were all tough guys to da max. Jill gave it a B, I gave it a soft B, and both Jeff and Joy gave a B-. I think we all rather enjoyed it, although we all said we were very much looking forward to seeing Ides of March with George Clooney and Ryan Gosling too. I'd say that most of you, almost all of you probably, could give this Killer Elite film a pass. You hard core folks might enjoy it for the most part though, if for no other reason than to see these well known actors doing their thing. Oh, and yes there was a leading lady, although she played a pretty minor role. Here's the trailer, just in case you have the slightest interest.

Here in Kula, Maui at around 5pm HST  Saturday evening, skies are partly cloudy again, with an air temperature of 73.4F degrees. The sunrise this morning was very nice, making for a great way to start the day! There were fewer sun dimming high cirrus clouds around today, so I'm thinking that the sunset may be more of a common one. The trade winds will continue blowing, as they have been, and will continue to do for many more days. There will be those occasional showers, although that's very common with such a fairly routine trade wind regime in force. I'm starting to look forward to the possible unsettled weather that may finally move our way towards next weekend, more about that as we move forward. ~~~ I had a great day, starting off with a nice long and fast walk in Keokea. I met a nice person who moved here recently, from a house boat in the Puget Sound. He and I were about the same age, and had a pleasant talk about this and that. We both noted that we enjoy walking backwards sometimes, literally…have you ever tried it? It slows the mind down somehow, and brings a completely different perspective than charging ahead in the normal forward way. At any rate, I'll be getting out on my weather deck right after dark, that is if the clouds that around now finally dissipate then. I'll let you know if I see any shooting stars, as noted below, Sunday morning when I'll be back with your next new weather narrative. I hope you have a great Saturday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting:  Look to the sky on October 8th (Saturday evening) and you might catch a falling star — or 750. Astronomers are predicting an outburst of Draconid meteors, up to 750 an hour, this weekend as Earth passes through dust streams of Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner.

Unfortunately, the sight may not be a show stopper, as its peak is expected to occur during daylight hours in the U.S. and even the tail end of the show could be drowned out by the moon's light. Other regions have better chances of catching the sky lights.

The Draconids are a regular October occurrence, but 2011 could be a particularly active year, according to NASA. Earth is expected to pass through at least three dust filaments left behind by Comet Giacobini-Zinner.

The comet shoots through the inner solar system about every six-and-a-half years, leaving trails of debris behind. Earth usually grazes a filament or two, according to NASA Science News, but this year the planet should run into several filaments head-on.

When the bits of particle dust enter Earth's atmosphere, they burn up, creating streaks of light across the sky. Most Draconids burn up before reaching the ground, and they're slow enough to pose relatively little risk to satellites and spacecraft like the International Space Station.

It's hard to predict how many meteors will show up during the Draconids. The comet's debris produced serious light shows in 1933 and 1946, with full-on meteor storms of thousands of shooting stars per hour.

In 1988 and 2005, the Draconids also provided impressive meteor outbursts, but some years bring only one or two meteors per hour.

Observers in Europe, north Africa and the Middle East have the best chance of seeing the Draconids at their peak this year. The strongest activity is predicted between 1900 and 2100 UTC on Oct. 8, which is 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EDT.

That means most meteors will likely occur during daylight hours in the United States, but skywatchers may catch sight of some of the brighter meteors after sunset.

According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the best way to secure a good view of a meteor shower is to get as far away from light pollution as possible and to pay attention to the darkest patch of sky you can find. Meteors travel away from the constellation after which they are named, so look for Draconids that seem to originate from the constellation Draco.

And temper expectations: With a full moon coming on Oct. 12, light from the waxing moon may drown out most shooting stars.