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

74 – 71  Lihue, Kauai
84 – 72  Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 69  Molokai AP
84 – 67  Kahului AP, Maui
81 – 70  Kailua Kona
75 – 69  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

15.36  Mount Waialeale, Kauai!
4.10  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.39  Molokai
 0.00  Lanai
 0.02  Kahoolawe
4.00  Hana AP, Maui
2.25  Mountain View, Big Island

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

18  Puu Opae, Kauai
27  Kii, Oahu
22  Molokai
18  Lanai
32  Kahoolawe
20  Kahului AP, Maui
22  South Point, 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

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High pressure north, low pressure far northeast and northwest, and just west…shifting our winds towards the southeast

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Extensive multi-level clouds over and around the islands

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Partly to mostly cloudy skies

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Showers locally over the islands…especially around Kauai and east Maui
 Looping image

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Winter Weather Advisory…Big Island summits / 1 inch of snow

Flash Flood Watch…Kauai and Niihau

Flood Advisory…Kauai

Flash Flood Warning…eastern Maui

 

Broad Brush Overview: The long lasting unsettled weather pattern will continue, as low pressure lifts northward, passing Kauai to the west through Thursday. The trades will weaken and be shifting to the southeast into Thursday. This will likely give way to overnight land breezes…and afternoon sea breezes over the smaller islands Friday through the weekend. Clouds and showers will focus over upcountry areas, mainly during the afternoon hours. Another wet period is possible next week, as a cold front approaches and moves into the area from the west, causing southerly kona winds to increase.

Details: Cloudy and wet conditions continue across parts of the state, due to high pressure north and an upper low positioned a few hundred miles west-southwest of Kauai. Moisture in the area is causing areas of light rain (with some major exceptions) to develop and lift northward. The latest weather maps and satellite imagery shows a low developing to the west-southwest of Kauai…along with a large shield of well above average precipitable water values overspreading the islands.

The model consensus supports the area of low pressure to the west-southwest lifting northward, passing Kauai to the west through Thursday. The moderately strong trades will gradually weaken and veer to the southeast as this scenario evolves. Although periods of mostly light rain are expected, some embedded heavier showers may fall occasionally, especially over the western side of the state near the low. There’s a modest chance of thunderstorms over the Kauai and Niihau waters tonight through Thursday.

Looking Ahead:  As the low to our west moves northwest and away from the state Friday into the weekend, we should find a diminishing threat of widespread rainfall. The moist southeast flow will likely give way to overnight land breezes and afternoon sea breezes each day. This pattern will support the best rainfall chances setting up through the afternoon hours over upcountry areas. As we’ve come to know, southeast breezes often carry volcanic haze (vog) over the smaller islands as well.

Early next week, the extended model guidance has come into better agreement, and now supports another period of wet weather developing, as a cold front approaches and moves into the island chain from the west. Southerly kona winds are forecast to strengthen across the state…along with increasing rainfall chances. Look for additional fine tuning of the forecast particulars for this extended period over the coming days.

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: The current north swell continues to slowly lower. The strong trades are generating elevated, rough surf conditions along east facing shores of most islands.

A surface low, which has developed west-southwest of Kauai, appears to be moving slowly northward. Based on the forecast guidance, this low will likely continue to drift slowly northward far west of Kauai during the next couple of days. This is expected to cause the winds to become southeast and weaken across the state tonight through Friday. Light winds will likely continue across the area this weekend, as the low tracks north of the region.

The surf will gradually subside along east facing shores tonight through the weekend, as the winds weaken and become southeast. Small north and northwest swells arriving this weekend are expected to produce a slight rise in surf along some north and west facing shores of the smaller islands…Saturday through early next week.


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World-wide Tropical Cyclone activity

Here’s the latest PDC Weather Wall Presentation covering Tropical Cyclone 13P (Linda) in the Coral Sea, Tropical Cyclone 14S in the South Indian Ocean, and two tropical disturbances being referred to as Invest 92S…and Invest 90B


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>>> 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

>>> South Pacific Ocean: No active tropical cyclones


>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: 

Tropical Cyclone 14S (Eliakim)

JTWC textual forecast warning
JTWC graphical track map
NOAA satellite image

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


Interesting: A Surprising Use for Old iPhones: Brain Surgery! – In most cases, you’d probably want the doctor who’s about to perform your brain surgery to set her smartphone aside before poking into your cranium. And, in most cases, you’d be right.

But what if the doctor’s smartphone was a crucial part of the surgical tool kit?

According to a new paper published (March 13) in the Journal of Neurosurgery, brain surgeons in Brazil have begun attaching old iPhones to their surgical equipment to replace the bulky, expensive video cameras and monitors they typically use — and the doctors like it.

In fact, swapping in a smartphone made certain “minimally invasive” surgeries cheaper, more efficient, and easier to teach to rookie surgeons, the authors wrote. This phone-friendly method could even become a valuable workaround in countries whose infrastructure cannot support expensive medical equipment.

“Our initial goal was to reduce the cost of the neuroendoscopic video set,” study co-author Mauricio Mandel, a doctor at the University of São Paulo Medical School, said in a statement.”In the end, we came across a new, more intuitive and fluid method of performing these procedures.”

Mandel and his colleagues tested their smartphone camera on a series of neuroendoscopy surgeries — essentially, procedures that involve cutting a small hole in the patient’s nose, mouth or head and using an endoscope (a long, flexible tube) to feed a camera and other surgical tools through the incision.

Typically, these procedures require a long, thin video camera to slip through the endoscope and capture the view inside the patient’s head. This video feed gets transmitted to a monitor standing by the side of the operating table, which the surgeons look up at (rather than looking down at their patient).

In the new study, the authors mounted iPhones (models 4, 5 and 6) onto their endoscopes using a special adapter. Using this apparatus, they performed brain surgeries on 42 patients. This setup allowed the surgeons to keep their focus down on the patient, looking at the phone screen rather than up at a monitor, for the duration of the surgery. Using the phone’s built-in Wi-Fi, the surgeons streamed the live footage to a video monitor elsewhere in the room so other members of the team could watch.

According to the authors, all 42 surgeries were successful and no complications involving the smartphones occurred. What’s more, once surgeons started using a smartphone-endoscope, they chose not to switch back to the conventional method.

Funny as it may sound, there are lots of advantages to integrating smartphones into surgeries, the authors said. According to the paper, the phone’s high-definition display provided an “excellent view” of the surgical site, and could be manipulated or enhanced in real time via the touch screen. Smartphones are cheaper and more portable than standard endoscopic video equipment, the authors added, and they don’t require an external power source. If a surgery runs long, a surgeon can simply recharge the phone’s battery without interrupting the procedure.

So, if your surgeon can’t put down her iPhone, don’t fret — it may be for the sake of a more streamlined surgery. If she’s just using it to watch “Grey’s Anatomy,” however, you might have a problem.