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

79  Lihue, Kauai
82  Honolulu, Oahu
82  Molokai
86  Kahului, Maui
83  Kona, Hawaii
80  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 943pm Friday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 77
Hilo, Hawaii – 70


Haleakala Summit –   41 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 30 (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. Here’s the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui – if it’s working.

 


Aloha Paragraphs



http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/85/e8/16/85e816ba4322b2defd736bf42474e494.jpg
Winter officially begins Saturday morning…

Light to moderate winds, turning lighter from the
east-southeast to southeast this weekend…trades
picking up again early next week – weather
for Christmas Day looking good so far

Showers at times on the windward sides, a few elsewhere

High Surf Warning for north and west shores of Kauai, and
north shores of Oahu, Molokai, and Maui…and west shores
of the Big Island

High Surf Advisory west shores of Oahu, Molokai, Lanai,
and Kahoolawe

Small Craft Advisory…over our coastal and channel waters

Winter Solstice here in Hawaii…711am Saturday morning / more
information towards the bottom of this page

 




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

17  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
20  Kahuku Trng, Oahu – ESE
24  Molokai – ESE
17  Lanai – E
35  Kahoolawe – NE
22  Lipoa, Maui – E
28  South Point, Big Island – NE


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Friday evening:

0.95  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.80  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.01  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.19  Puu Kukui, Maui
1.35  Waiakea Uka, 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 ~~~



Light to moderate east-southeast winds will prevail, becoming lighter from the southeast through the weekend…then back to the trades Monday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the Pacific Ocean. We find a very large, near 1036 millibar high pressure system far to the northeast of the state, with its associated ridge extending southwest…to the northwest of Kauai. At the same time we see gale low pressure systems far north-northwest and north-northeast of us, with an associated cold front draping down to the northwest of our islands. High pressure will remain active to our northeast, with light to moderately strong breezes continuing…although veering to the southeast, and becoming lighter this weekend. As these breezes arrive, they will carry volcanic haze (vog) up from the Big Island vents to the smaller islands. This softening of the winds will be due to the approach of this cold front to our northwest, which ends up moving by well offshore to our north. This in turn will help push the high pressure ridge closer to our islands, until it rebounds northwards again Monday…with returning trade winds then for several days at least. 

We’ll find a fading chance of showers…especially heavy ones. Satellite imagery shows just a few patchy clouds over and near the islands at the time of this writing. Here’s the looping radar image, showing a few showers falling mostly over the ocean, although a couple are coming ashore over the islands at times locally too. The bulk of these offshore showers are located to the south of the Big Island. They seem to be clipping small parts of the Big Island, Maui County, and Oahu at the time of this writing.

There was a distinct improvement in our weather today. This fact however, doesn’t rule out localized showers during the weekend, especially in the upcountry areas during the afternoon hours…and perhaps around the Big Island and Maui again Saturday night into Sunday. As we push into early next week, it appears that a more typical, early winter trade wind weather pattern will return, with just the usual windward biased showers. This is looking more and more like Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day will have favorably inclined weather conditions, with no white Christmas for Hawaii! I’ll be back early Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.



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)


Western Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


South Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


North and South Indian Oceans: Tropical cyclone 03S (Amara) remains active in the South Indian Ocean. Here’s a JTWC graphical track map…along with a satellite image.

Tropical cyclone 04S (Bruce) remains active in the South Indian Ocean. Here’s a JTWC graphical track map…along with a satellite image.

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



Interesting:  Winter solstice – As the winter arrives, the sun’s maximum elevation during the day, the elevation at noon, gets lower. This maximum elevation attains its lowest value at the winter solstice and after that it starts to increase.


When it is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. Here in Hawaii, the shortest day will be December 21st (Saturday) and last 10 hours 50 minutes and 12 seconds. Officially, the winter solstice occurs at 07:11am Hawaiian local time on December 21st.


For the Northern Hemisphere, at the moment of winter solstice, the sun is at its greatest height as observed from the South Pole. Similarly, for the Southern Hemisphere, at the moment of the winter solstice, the sun is at its greatest height as observed from the North Pole. In the Northern Hemisphere the winter solstice is also the Southern solstice and occurs in December, In the Southern Hemisphere this is the Northern solstice which occurs in June.


Depending on one’s position on the globe, the December solstice usually occurs on the 21st and the 22nd and the June solstice usually occurs on June the 20th or 21st. However, it is sometimes possible for a solstice to coincide with three different dates. Thus the December 2016 solstice coincides with 20th of the month in American Samoa, with the 21st in London and with the 22nd at Kirtimati.


The axial tilt of Earth and gyroscopic effects of the planet’s daily rotation keep the axis of rotation pointed at the same point in the sky. As the Earth follows its orbit around the Sun, the same hemisphere that faced away from the Sun, experiencing winter, will, in half a year, face towards the Sun and experience summer. Since the two hemispheres face opposite directions along the planetary pole, as one polar hemisphere experiences winter, the other experiences summer.


More evident from high latitudes, a hemisphere’s winter solstice occurs on the shortest day and longest night of the year, when the sun’s daily maximum elevation in the sky is the lowest. The winter solstice itself lasts only a moment in time, so other terms are used for the day on which it occurs, such as “midwinter”, or “the shortest day”. For the same reason, it should not be confused with “the first day of winter” or “the start of winter” (Lidong in the East Asian calendars). The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is in the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights and shortening of days. The earliest sunset and latest sunrise dates differ from winter solstice, however, and these depend on latitude, due to the variation in the solar day throughout the year caused by the Earth’s elliptical orbit (see earliest and latest sunrise and sunset).


Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied from culture to culture, but many cultures have held a recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around that time.