Wind Storm Alert for Hawaii

[bluesboy]

Is the prevailing wind at Hilo out of SSW due to the nighttime land breezes? (cool air coming down the mountain)

[Ino]

“Is the prevailing wind at Hilo out of the SSW due to the nighttime land breeze? (cool air coming down the mountain)”

Yes, it is.

Check out (17)-(22)-(40) and Figures 2 and 3 lower right;
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.10...16888/full


This downsloping or katabatic flow meets the trades head on, this plus orographic lifting aloft creates a convergence zone (rising air) and is responsible for our nocturnal precipitation maximum. The stronger the trades the more inland this higher rate of precipitation is. And vice versa if the downslope flow is strong this convergence zone is offshore-giving us a clear night.

This is more than you ever really wanted to know but the HaRP study is interesting;
http://tinyurl.com/hvabzr5

[TomK]

Ino,

"TomK If you think of the atmosphere as a fluid, you’ll realize that it’s all a balancing act. Occasionally things get out of whack but it has always amazed me how related the Domes ( Highs ) and rising air features (Low) are.[...]"

The problem for me is that I'm more than familiar with fluid dynamics (magnetohydrodynamics comes to mind, and shocks - it's an essential part of understanding space!) but I just never thought of things in term of domes. That's probably because I'm not thinking of things on the surface of a planet. []

Thank you!