Hawaiian Islands Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs / June 26-27, 2018

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

86 – 76  Lihue, Kauai
87 – 75  Honolulu, Oahu
86 – 74  Molokai AP
87 – 72  Kahului AP, Maui
86 – 74  Kailua Kona
83 – 70  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

2.82  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.60  Kawailoa, Oahu
0.54  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.07  Kahoolawe
2.64  Puu Kukui, Maui
1.62  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

38  Port Allen, Kauai
35  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
30  Molokai
35  Lanai
39  Kahoolawe
37  Maalaea Bay, Maui
32  Pali 2, 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 10,000+ feet high 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 new Tropical Depression will be spinning-up far east-southeast over the next day or so (click to enlarge)

Thunderstorm’s south of the state

Clear to partly cloudy…localized cloudy areas

Showers locally…and offshore – Looping image

 

Small Craft Advisory…windiest coasts and channels around the state

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Broad Brush Overview: A high pressure system far northeast of the state, with its associated ridge north of the islands, will maintain a trade wind flow across the island chain through the week…with the clouds and showers favoring the windward and mountain areas. A few of these showers will be carried into the leeward sides of the smaller islands.

Details: The trade wind producing high pressure ridge will remain parked north of the islands, producing a trade wind weather pattern through Thursday. The models show the ridge north of the islands weakening Friday, in response to a deepening upper level low north of the islands. Lighter trade winds will develop into the weekend. 

Looking Ahead: Stronger trades will be returning on Monday, lasting through the middle of next week.  Finally, the eastern Pacific remains somewhat active with tropical disturbances…although the central Pacific remains quiet in contrast. We expect nothing to spin-up anywhere near Hawaii through at least the next 5-days.

Here’s a near real-time Wind Profile of the Pacific Ocean – along with a Closer View of the islands / Here’s the latest Weather Map / Here’s the latest Vog Forecast Animation / Here’s the Vog Information website

Marine Environmental Conditions: Moderate to strong trades associated with high pressure to the northeast, will continue the next couple of days, with some decrease in wind speeds expected Friday into the Saturday.

Surf along windward shores will remain elevated the next couple of days, due to the local and upstream trade wind flow, with surf heights remaining below advisory levels. Surf along leeward shores is expected to gradually build through Thursday as a south swell arrives. The peak of the swell Thursday will likely warrant a High Surf Advisory, with the swell gradually diminishing into the weekend. A southern hemisphere storm track, that’s favorable for the generation of additional south swells is expected for at least the next couple of days, with associated swells arriving in about a week. A small southeast swell is also expected in island waters for at least the next several days…generated by persistent trade winds in the distant southeast Pacific.

Full Moon tonight

World-wide Tropical Cyclone Activity

 

Here’s the latest Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) Weather Wall Presentation covering a couple of tropical disturbances in the eastern Pacific

>>> Atlantic Ocean: No active tropical cyclone

1.) A weak, non-tropical low pressure system located offshore of the the southeastern coast of North Carolina continues to produce a small area of disorganized cloudiness and showers. Environmental conditions are not expected to be conducive for development while this system moves northeastward away from the United States during the next couple of days.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…near 0 percent

>>> Caribbean Sea: No active tropical cyclones

>>> Gulf of Mexico: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.

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:  No active tropical cyclones

1.) Cloudiness and showers associated with a broad low pressure area  (the red X above) located about 600 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico, continue to gradually become better organized. Environmental conditions support further development, and a tropical depression is expected to form within the next day or so while the system moves generally west-northwestward away from Mexico.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…90 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…near 100 percent

2.) Disorganized showers and thunderstorms over the far eastern Pacific Ocean are associated with a westward-moving tropical wave. Environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive for gradual development of this system over the next several days, and a tropical depression is expected to form well south of the coast of Mexico over the weekend.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…30 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…90 percent

Here’s a looping satellite image of the eastern Pacific and south of Mexico

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: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.

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: The Coldest Place on Earth Is Even Colder Than Scientists Thought – Scientists already knew that the lowest temperatures ever measured on Earth were on a frozen ice ridge in eastern Antarctica, near the South Pole. But they recently discovered that temperatures there can drop even lower than those previously measured.

In 2013, analysis of satellite data pinpointed scattered pockets of intensely cold air on the East Antarctic Plateau between Dome Argus and Dome Fuji — temperatures that dipped to a staggering minus 135 degrees Fahrenheit.

However, new analysis of the same data suggests that under the right conditions, those temperatures can drop to nearly minus 148 degrees F, which is probably the coldest it can get on Earth, researchers reported in a new study.

On ice-covered Antarctica, the average temperature during the dark winter months is around minus 30 degrees F. For the new study, scientists analyzed data collected during July and August between 2004 and 2016. The temperatures were measured in small basins of the East Antarctic Plateau near the South Pole, at an elevation of 12,467 feet, the highest part of the ice sheet.The new, record-breaking temperatures were widespread, appearing at 100 locations in depressions dotting “a broad region” of the plateau, the study authors reported.

During the polar winter, long stretches of time elapse with clear skies and weak winds. Together — as long as these conditions last — they can cool the snow surface and drive down temperatures, according to the study.

In 2013 and in the new study, researchers calibrated the same satellite measurements of surface temperatures with data collected from weather stations on Antarctica’s surface. For the new analysis, researchers took a fresh look at the surface weather data. This time, they also factored in atmospheric dryness of the atmosphere, as drier air makes snow cover lose heat faster, lead study author Ted Scambos, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, said in a statement.

With this update, they recalibrated the satellite data and got a more accurate measure of the bone-chilling temperatures in those pockets near the South Pole. The same spots on the plateau that were previously identified as the coldest on Earth were still the coldest — only more so, by about 9 degrees F, the study found.

The new record-low temperature is probably about as cold as it can get on Earth. It needs to be extremely cold and extremely dry for several days for such extreme lows to emerge, Scambos explained.

“There’s a limit to how long the conditions persist to allow it to cool to these ultra-low temperatures, and a limit to how much heat you can actually get through the atmosphere, because water vapor has to be almost nonexistent in order to emit heat from the surface at these temperatures,” he said.