Hawaiian Islands Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs / April 20-21, 2018

Air Temperatures – The following high temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday…along with the low temperatures Friday:

80 – 72  Lihue, Kauai
84 – 75 Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 74  Molokai AP
82 – 72  Kahului AP, Maui
85 – 74  Kailua Kona
80 – 70  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

6.64  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.63  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.11  Molokai
0.27  Lanai
0.01  Kahoolawe
1.13  Puu Kukui, Maui
1.43  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Friday evening:

33  Port Allen, Kauai
35  Kuaokala, Oahu
30  Molokai
39  Lanai
36  Kahoolawe
30  Maalaea Bay, Maui
32  Waikoloa, Big Island

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of our tallest mountain Mauna Kea (nearly 13,800 feet high) on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here’s the webcam for the Haleakala Crater on Maui. These webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands, and at night whenever there’s a big moon shining down. Also, at night you will be able to see the stars — and the sunrise and sunset too — depending upon weather conditions.

Aloha Paragraphs

A trough north…high pressure north and northeast of the state

Multi-layered clouds across the entire state

Partly to mostly cloudy

Showers locally over the islands and offshore…some are heavy
Looping image

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Small Craft Advisory – coasts and channels Oahu, Maui County and the Big Island except windward Oahu and
Big Island

 

Broad Brush Overview: This long lasting cloudy with off and on wet conditions, will continue for the time being, particularly over windward areas. Some of these showers will be heavy at times…with a few thunderstorms possible. Here’s the good news, a more typical trade wind pattern will return tonight, with showers favoring windward and mountain areas. High pressure northeast of the state will maintain moderate to strong trade winds through the weekend…before strengthening to locally windy levels next week.

Details: The too frequent influence of an upper level trough across the islands has destabilized our atmosphere, while an old cold front embedded within trades is bringing moisture our way from the east. Cloudy conditions persist, including a large area of middle and high level clouds currently extending well southwest of the island chain. These layered clouds are pushing east, raising chances of winter weather on the Big Island summits. Thus…periods of snow, heavy at times, are expected to continue for the time being.

Most of the showers are pushing into windward areas, with some of these showers becoming briefly heavy across windward sections of Kauai, Oahu and Maui. Models show a continued trade flow, so showers will continue to favor windward and mountains areas. However, leeward locations will get wet as well from time to time. The upper trough will push eastward across the islands, maintaining the possibility of heavy rainfall and thunderstorms. As we get into the night, drier air from the east and increasing stability…will gradually decrease shower intensity and coverage.

Looking Ahead:  A surface ridge to the north will maintain moderate to locally strong trade winds through the weekend. High pressure will strengthen Monday bringing trades to locally windy levels through mid-week. Look for a fairly typical trade wind pattern through this period, with bands of clouds and showers drifting through the islands from time to time. Showers will focus over windward and mountain areas with a few showers riding the strong trades into a few leeward locations on the smaller islands.

Here’s a wind profile of the Pacific Ocean – Closer view of the islands / Here’s the vog forecast animation / Here’s the latest weather map

Marine environment details: A surface high north of the area will move northeast through Saturday. The high is producing locally strong trade winds over Hawaiian waters, although a trough aloft is keeping winds weaker than might be expected. The trough will bring a slight chance of thunderstorms with locally heavy downpours today.

A Small Craft Advisory (SCA) continues through early Saturday morning for strong trade winds in the windier areas near Maui County and the Big Island. A new high building northwest of the area will cause the trade winds to strengthen this weekend. The SCA will likely be extended and expanded.

Surf is expected to remain below High Surf Advisory (HSA) thresholds along all shores through this weekend. Rough surf will persist along east facing shores through Sunday night due to the trade winds, although heights will remain moderate through the weekend. As trade winds strengthen early next week…surf may approach the HSA threshold.

A moderate northwest swell is expected to build, with a slightly larger swell peaking Sunday…and another moderate swell is possible next Thursday.

A series of small swells from the southern hemisphere will maintain modest surf along the south facing shores through this weekend. Lows in the southern hemisphere may strengthen and shift east enough to produce some larger surf along south facing shores by the end of next week.

 

World-wide Tropical Cyclone activity

Here’s the Friday Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) Weather Wall Presentation, covering a tropical disturbance being referred to as Invest 93S located in the South Indian Ocean

>>> 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:

Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

>>> Central Pacific:

Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: No active tropical cyclones

>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: No active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting: Is Sparkling Water As Healthy As Regular Water? – Have you ever picked up a can of sparkling water, looked at the nutrition facts and marveled at all the nothing? Zero calories, zero sugar, zero added ingredients ? how can so much nothing taste so refreshing, and why does it spark so much controversy?

When it comes to the nutritional perks and perils of sparkling water, health myths abound. Does carbonated water erode your teeth? How about your bones? And is it as hydrating for you as regular, run-of-the-mill tap water?

Although there’s not a huge amount of research on this yet, several studies have shown that, yes, sparkling water hydrates you just as well as still water (and nutritionists tend to agree). This makes sense, considering that carbonated water is just regular water infused with bubbly carbon gas.

These bubbles might make you feel fuller or give you some indigestion if consumed too quickly — and that could impact how much water you drink. One sports medicine study found that people were less likely to hydrate after exercising if all they had on hand was carbonated water; however, a different study found that kids who had access to a home carbonation machine (like a SodaStream) were better hydrated than kids who didn’t. Whether you end up hydrating more or less when reaching for a glass of sparkling water might ultimately be a matter of whether you have the stomach for it.

So, what about the claim that carbonated water is more likely to erode your teeth and bone calcium?

The good news is, there’s absolutely no evidence that drinking carbonated water has any effect on your calcium levels. This myth may have sprung from a 2006 study that found that older women who drank sugary sodas every day had slightly lower bone mineral density than women who didn’t. Women who drank plain carbonated water did not show any such dips in density.

On the other hand, there is some truth to the claim that carbonated water can erode your tooth enamel. (Tooth enamel is the hard, outer surface of your teeth.) This is due to the carbonic acid — a byproduct of water and carbon gas — that gives sparkling water its bright, slightly tangy taste. Studies have found that carbonic acid can indeed have a mild erosive effect on your teeth over a long  time. Carbonated drinks flavored with citrus — like lime, lemon and grapefruit — contain small amounts of citric acid on top of that, and are slightly more erosive as a result.

Still, the acids in non-sugary sparkling drinks are weak, and so is the damage to your teeth. For comparison, soda was found to be about 100 times more damaging to teeth than simple sparkling water.

At the end of the day, plain sparkling water is about as benign an H2O substitute as you can find. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highly recommends drinking it instead of syrupy sodas. So, when you reach for that can of delicious nothing, make sure it truly is nothing but carbonated water. Added sugar, salt or extra ingredients come with all sorts of added problems.