Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs / November 13-14, 2008

November 13-14 2008

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

Lihue, Kauai – 81
Honolulu, Oahu – 83
Kaneohe, Oahu – 85
Kahului, Maui – 85
Hilo, Hawaii – 82
Kailua-kona – 85

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level, and on the highest mountains…at 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon:

Barking Sands, Kauai – 82F  
Hilo, Hawaii – 77 

Haleakala Crater    – 43  (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 36  (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 Thursday afternoon:

0.02 Omao, Kauai
0.77 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.45 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.01 Kahoolawe
0.97 Kaupo Gap, Maui
4.13 Pali 2, Big Island

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a cold front northwest of Kauai approaching the main Hawaiian Islands. This front will continue to move into the northwest waters and weaken tonight through Saturday, before dissipating over the islands Sunday. Moderate to fresh trade winds will rebuild over the area Sunday and Monday.

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

      

 
Hula dancer on the beach
Photo Credit: Tim Taylor Reece

An approaching cold front is pushing a ridge of high pressure down over the state, resulting in lighter winds from the south to southeast. This rather impressive looking cold front, as shown in the following satellite image, will likely stall somewhere around Kauai or Oahu this weekend.  As this satellite picture shows, there is quite an extensive amount of high clouds out ahead of the actual frontal boundary.  This frontal cloud band itself has pushed our trade wind producing ridge of high pressure southward to near Kauai. Meanwhile, that picture shows a lot of high level clouds moving up from the deeper tropics to our east as well. Our local winds have become lighter as a result, coming into the state from the south to southeast direction Thursday afternoon. Winds from this compass point will carry volcanic haze up from the BigIsland, over much of the rest of the Aloha state during the next couple of days. Winds from this direction often split around the BigIsland, putting the smaller islands into a modified wind shadow. Look for the trade winds to return during the upcoming weekend, following in the wake of a cold front destined for Saturday evening…or so. These trade winds will likely remain active into next week, although its still early to know exactly how strong they will be. As a matter of fact, some of the model runs keep the winds light and from the southeast direction…stay tuned.

We’ve left the trade wind weather pattern behind, having moved into a well established convective weather pattern instead. Days with this influence generally start off clear to partly cloudy, with slightly cooler than normal air temperatures at dawn. As the daytime heating occurs, we’ll find afternoon clouds gathering over and around the mountains. These convective cumulus clouds will provide localized interior showers, which can spread down towards the coasts locally. This will all happen as this autumn cold front, moves in our direction. As the front dissipates near Kauai or Oahu, the trade winds will bring back some windward biased showers starting later this weekend. There’s a chance of wetter weather during the first part of next week, which would occur generally along the windward sides, as trade winds carry leftover moisture, from the cold front, in our direction for several days. The models, at least the GFS model run for next week, gives a rather moist appearance to our local skies. It should be pointed out that an upper level low, to the east of the BigIsland, has kept parts of the BigIsland wet to very wet during the last 24 hours! The largest amount on that southernmost island has fallen at the Pali 2 rain gauge, where 4.13” of the wet stuff has soaked that area…we need more of that in many areas of the state.

The weather activity described above shows that that we’re moving deeper into our autumn season…with increased risk of showery outbreaks. This is a normal response to the approaching winter season here in the islands. There will continue to be sunny periods during the days, although for the time being, the afternoon hours will be quite cloudy over the mountains…some will remain locally very heavy Thursday afternoon into the evening hours.. These clouds will let loose with showers…some of which will be quite generous locally here and there. ~~~ The leeward side of the Big Island had the most numerous and heaviest showers Thursday afternoon…with some as high as 2.00" per hour. Here on Maui, atop the Haleakala Crater, there was a report of a light hail falling briefly. The afternoon saw an increase in not only volcanic haze, but also quite a bit of high level clouds streaming south ahead of the cold front to our north and NW. ~~~ Speaking of the cold front, it will likely make landfall over Kauai late Saturday, and then slide down towards Oahu…whether it will dig that far into the state is still a question at this point. Looking at next week, it now appears that the first 2-3 days will be quite moist along the windward sides of all the islands, as the returning trade winds Sunday keep the front’s moisture hung up along those north and east facing coasts and slopes. ~~~ Note: when I got home to Kula, Maui after work, I ran into a heavy thunderstorm, which soaked me as I went from parking my car into the house. Actually, my good neighbor brought me an umbrella to use, and still I was wet, wet, wet after the relatively short walk! I will be back very early Friday morning with your next new weather narrative, I look forward to having you stop by again then, and wish you a good Thursday night as well. Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting:

A three-kilometer thick cloud of brown soot and other pollutants hanging over Asia is darkening cities, killing thousands and damaging crops but may be holding off the worst effects of global warming, the U.N. said on Thursday. The vast plume of contamination from factories, fires, cars and deforestation contains some particles that reflect sunlight away from the earth, cutting its ability to heat the earth. "One of the impacts of this atmospheric brown cloud has been to mask the true nature of global warming on our planet," United Nations Environment Program head Achim Steiner said at the launch in Beijing of a new report on the phenomenon. The amount of sunlight reaching earth through the murk has fallen by up to a quarter in the worst-affected areas and if the brown cloud disperses, global temperatures could rise by up to 2 degrees Celsius. But the overall effect of slowing climate change is not the silver lining to a dark cloud that it appears to be.

The choking soup of pollutants may hold temperatures down overall, but the mix of particles means it is also speeding up warming in some of the most vulnerable areas and exacerbating the most devastating impacts of higher temperatures. The complex impact of the cloud which tends to cool areas near the surface of the earth, and warm the air higher up, is believed to be causing a shortening of the monsoon season in India, while increasing flooding there and in southern China. Soot from the cloud is also deposited on glaciers, which are at the center of environmentalists’ and politicians’ concerns because they feed Asia‘s key rivers and provide drinking water for billions who live along them. There the particles capture more solar heat than white, reflective snow and ice — speeding up melting of a key resource. At a monitoring station near Mount Everest, soot has been found at levels which scientists say would be expected in urban areas. There is also a high human cost. The report estimates round 340,000 people are dying prematurely because of damage to their lungs, hearts and risk of cancer.

Interesting2:

Air New Zealand will make its first commercial flight using biofuels next month as it looks to cut fuel consumption and carbon emissions, the national carrier said on Wednesday. The flight on Dec. 3 out of Auckland will use a 50-50 blend of standard jet fuel and a biofuel made from the jatropha plant in a Rolls Royce engine on a Boeing 747-400, the airline added. "The blended fuel meets the essential requirement of being a ‘drop-in’ fuel, meaning its properties will be virtually indistinguishable from traditional Jet A1 fuel," said Air NZ’s chief pilot, David Morgan, in a statement. Jatropha is a plant that grows up to three metres and produces inedible nuts, which contain the oil. It is grown on arid and marginal land in Africa. Air New Zealand told Reuters in June it hoped to use one million barrels of biofuel a year, about 10 percent of its fuel consumption, in its jet fleet by 2013. Shares in Air NZ, about three-quarters owned by the New Zealand government, last traded steady at NZ$0.91, in an overall weaker market. British-based Virgin Atlantic used a bio-jet fuel blend made from babassu and coconut oils in a commercial flight in February. ($1=NZ$1.75)

Interesting3:

The next few days temperatures are set to rise across many parts of the UK with temperatures expected to reach the low 60s F. The mild spell is attributed to an area of high pressure which is moving up from the Azores and is expected to settle over the Bay of Biscay. Warm air along the western side of the high pressure will spread over the UK through today and overnight. The average temperatures for mid November in the UK range from 9  48 – 52F. The highest recorded November temperature in the UK was 72F at Prestatyn, North Wales in 1946. This record high temperature was due to the ‘Föhn effect’ phenomenon. The name is derived from a German word given to a wind local to the Alps, which is most noticeable in late winter and spring.

The phenomenon also occurs in the British Isles when warm, moist air from the southwest rises up one side of a mountain range. As the air lifts it slowly cools, and moisture condenses over the mountains. Dry air changes temperature much more quickly than moist air, so as the air in the Föhn descends down the leeward side of the mountains, it warms more rapidly than it cooled on the way up. The air therefore reaches a higher temperature at the end of its descent than before it started rising. Areas most favourable to the Föhn effect in the UK are Northeast Wales and eastern Scotland. Places that could benefit from this phenomenon on Friday include Leeds, to the east of the Pennines, and Aberdeen, to the east of the Grampians. With high pressure set to remain across the Bay of Biscay, the UK is likely to see above average temperatures right up until this coming weekend.

Interesting4:

The key to understanding Earth’s evolution, including how our atmosphere gained oxygen and how volcanoes and earthquakes form, is to look deep, really deep, into the lower mantle—a region some 400 to 1,800 miles (660 to 2,900 kilometers) below the surface. Researchers at the Carnegie Institution’s Geophysical Laboratory simulated conditions at these depths and recently discovered that the concentration of highly oxidized (ferric) iron (Fe3+) in the two major mantle minerals is key to moving heat in that region. Such heat transfer affects material movement throughout the planet. They also discovered that less oxidized (ferrous) iron (Fe2+) has much smaller effect than expected. The results, reported in the November 13, issue of Nature, call into question current models of mantle dynamics. Lead author of the study Alexander Goncharov explains: "The lower mantle sits on top of the core where pressures range from 230,000 to 1.3 million times the pressure at sea level. Temperatures are unimaginable—from about 2,800 to 6,700 °F. About 80% of the mantle is made of iron-containing silicate perovskite, while the mineral ferropericlase makes up the rest. The iron in both of these minerals strongly influences many properties of matter.

Interesting5:



























































Developing countries in Asia should raise their vehicle emission standards to the levels of Japan, Europe and Asia to protect public health and quality of life in urban areas, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) study urged Thursday. The report, A Roadmap for Cleaner Fuels and Vehicles in



















Asia, recommended steps to improve fuel quality and vehicle emissions for creating better air quality in the region. The Manila-based bank noted that vehicle emissions continue to pose a significant threat to the environment and lives of Asia‘s urban population. It warned that if no action was taken to clean up fuels and vehicles, urban air quality would continue to decline as emissions in many Asian countries were expected to increase over the next few decades due to rapid increase in vehicle population.

"Cleaner fuels will play an important role in reducing vehicle emissions and improving urban air quality in Asia," the report said. "Fuel specifications influence emissions but they also influence driveability, engine-wear, and fuel efficiency, which are also important in terms of greenhouse gas emissions." The report recommended that sulfur in gasoline and diesel is reduced to enable the use of advanced emission control technologies, which would enable Asia to adopt vehicle emission standards similar to those in Japan, Europe and the United States.  It added that there were no technical obstacles to producing cleaner fuels in Asia, adding that this would be cost-effective and would have large economic benefits because of the health benefits associated with the positive impact on air quality.

Interesting6: The past two years have seen a "remarkable" downturn in hurricane activity, contradicting predictions of more storms, researchers at Florida State University say. The 2007 and 2008 hurricane seasons had the least tropical activity in the Northern Hemisphere in 30 years, according to Ryan Maue, co-author of a report on Global Tropical Cyclone Activity. "Even though North Atlantic hurricane activity was expectedly above normal, the Western and Eastern Pacific basins have produced considerably fewer than normal typhoons and hurricanes," he said. Maue’s results dovetail with other research suggesting hurricanes are variable and unconnected to global warming predictions, said Stan Goldenberg, a hurricane researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "The simplistic notion that warmer oceans from global warming automatically lead to more frequent and or stronger hurricanes has not been verified," said Goldenberg, whose research points to periods of high and low hurricane activity that last several decades each. Maue used a measurement called Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE), which combines a storm’s duration and its wind speed in six-hour intervals. The years 2007 and 2008 had among the lowest ACE measurements since reliable global satellite data was first available three decades ago.