Long-Lead Outlook for Hawaiian Islands (reproduced with permission, NOAA CPC)

Editor's note: Because of its complexity, the Long-Lead Hawaiian Outlook is not intended for ready use by the public. It is reproduced here in reference to information contained elsewhere in this bulletin. Futher information on this product is available from the NOAA CPC and the National Weather Service-Pacific Region Headquarters (PRH).

PROGNOSTIC DISCUSSION FOR LONG-LEAD HAWAIIAN OUTLOOK
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER NCEP
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  WASHINGTON DC
3 PM EST THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13 1997

PROGNOSTIC DISCUSSION OF HAWAIIAN OUTLOOKS

MONTHLY OUTLOOK DISCUSSION - DECEMEMBER 1997

THE SSTS IN THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC FROM THE DATELINE EASTWARD  TO THE COAST OF
SOUTH AMERICA CONTINUE TO BE MUCH ABOVE NORMAL.  TEMPERATURES IN THE VICINITY OF
THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS ARE UP TO 1 DEGREE C ABOVE NORMAL.  CANONICAL CORRELATION
ANALYSIS (CCA) FORECASTS REFLECT THE INFLUENCE OF THE LOCAL SSTS WITH ABOVE
NORMAL AIR TEMPERATURE FORECAST AT SOME STATIONS. IN CONTRAST CCA FORECASTS
OF PRECIPITATION ARE NONCOMMITAL AND HAVE LED TO PREDICTIONS OF CLIMATOLOGICAL
PROBABILITIES AT ALL HAWAIIAN LOCATIONS.


            TEMPERATURE                 PRECIPITATION
          FCST  AVE  LIM        FCST    BLW    MEDIAN     ABV
HILO       N4  72.4  0.5         CL     6.7      9.8     13.8 
KAHULUI    A8  73.1  0.5         CL     1.8      2.6      3.7
HONOLULU   A4  74.1  0.5         CL     1.6      2.7      4.2
LIHUE      CL  72.8  0.5         CL     2.4      3.9      5.8


SEASONAL OUTLOOK DISCUSSION DEC-JAN-FEB 97/8 TO DEC-JAN-FEB 98/9

CENTRAL AND EASTERN EQUATORIAL PACIFIC SSTS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN WELL ABOVE
NORMAL THROUGH THE COMING WINTER AND EARLY SPRING - AFTER WHICH THEY WILL
DECREASE TOWARDS NORMAL BY SOMETIME NEXT SUMMER.  THE FORECASTS FOR HAWAII ARE
ENTIRELY BASED ON THE CCA TOOL WHICH UNDER THE PRESENT CONDITIONS IS HEAVILY
INFLUENCED BY EL NINO CONSIDERATIONS.  AN ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATION IS THAT
HAWAIIAN AIR TEMPERATURE REFLECTS THE LOCAL SST WHICH IN TURN DEPENDS HEAVILY
ON ENSO.  CURRENTLY THE LOCAL SST IS ABOVE NORMAL BY 0.5-1.0 DEGREE C - BUT THIS
IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE TO COLDER THAN NORMAL NEAR HAWAII AS THE EXPECTED EL NINO-
RELATED STRONG SOUTH-OF-NORMAL ALEUTIAN LOW EXTRACTS HEAT FROM THE WATERS OF
THE CENTAL PACIFIC OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS.  CONSEQUENTLY A CLEAR SHIFT
FROM INITIALLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES DURING DECEMBER TO BELOW NORMAL AIR
TEMPERATURES BY JFM 98 IS FORECAST TO TAKE PLACE - FIRST AND MOST STRONGLY AT
LIHUE AND LATER AT HONOLULU AND KAHULUI.  A RE-EMERGENCE OF ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES IS EXPECTED FOR NEXT SUMMER AND EARLY FALL - AFTER WHICH THE
TEMPERATURE SIGNAL BECOMES WEAK AND ERRATIC.  PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BE
BELOW MEDIAN IN MOST AREAS DURING LATE WINTER AND SPRING WITH WEAK INDICATIONS
FOR A REVERSAL TO HEAVIER THAN MEDIAN PRECIPITATION BY MIDDLE AND LATE SUMMER
1998.  THERE IS LITTLE OR NO SIGNIFICANT CLIMATE SIGNAL FOR PRECIPITATION FOR THE
REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST PERIOD.

CLARIFICATION.  CL IS CLIMATOLOGICAL PROBABILITIES - WHICH MEANS THAT NO
PARTICULAR TILT OF THE ODDS TOWARD ABOVE - NEAR - OR BELOW NORMAL CONDITIONS IS
FORECAST.  A5 (EXAMPLE) MEANS A 5% HIGHER THAN NORMAL CHANCE THAT TEMPERATURE
OR PRECIPITATION WILL BE IN THE ABOVE CLASS.  B3 (EXAMPLE) MEANS A 3% HIGHER THAN
NORMAL PROBABILITY THAT TEMPERATURE OR PRECIPITATION WILL BE IN THE BELOW
CLASS.  N2 (EXAMPLE) MEANS A 2% HIGHER THAN NORMAL PROBABILITY THAT TEMPERATURE
OR PRECIPITATION WILL BE IN THE NEAR NORMAL CLASS.

NOTE -- THE HAWAIIAN FORECAST IS BASED ON THE CCA TOOL AND ENSO CONSIDERATIONS
ONLY

                       HILO

            TEMPERATURE               PRECIPITATION
          FCST  AVE  LIM     FCST     BLW    MEDIAN     ABV

DJF 1997   CL  71.9  0.5      CL     19.8     27.1     36.1
JFM 1998   CL  71.8  0.5      B3     22.8     30.2     39.1
FMA 1998   CL  72.1  0.5      B5     30.5     37.2     44.7
MAM 1998   CL  72.8  0.5      B4     30.4     36.8     44.1
AMJ 1998   CL  73.9  0.5      B5     24.2     29.4     35.4
MJJ 1998   CL  75.0  0.5      CL     20.5     24.5     29.0
JJA 1998   CL  75.8  0.4      CL     19.7     23.8     28.5
JAS 1998   CL  76.1  0.4      A5     22.0     26.2     30.9
ASO 1998   CL  76.0  0.4      CL     23.3     26.6     30.3
SON 1998   CL  75.3  0.4      CL     25.7     31.2     37.4
OND 1998   A2  74.1  0.4      CL     27.1     33.9     41.7
NDJ 1998   A2  72.7  0.4      CL     27.0     34.0     42.2
DJF 1998   CL  71.9  0.5      CL     19.8     27.1     36.1

                       KAHULUI

            TEMPERATURE               PRECIPITATION
          FCST  AVE  LIM     FCST     BLW    MEDIAN     ABV

DJF 1997   N4  72.2  0.5      CL      6.9      9.0     11.5
JFM 1998   CL  72.1  0.5      B3      6.7      8.7     11.1
FMA 1998   B4  72.9  0.5      B4      4.7      6.4      8.5
MAM 1998   B2  74.2  0.5      B3      3.0      4.4      6.1
AMJ 1998   CL  75.7  0.5      CL      1.1      1.9      3.1
MJJ 1998   A5  77.3  0.6      CL      0.6      1.0      1.6
JJA 1998   A7  78.5  0.5      CL      0.6      0.9      1.3
JAS 1998   A5  78.9  0.5      A5      0.8      1.1      1.4
ASO 1998   A2  78.6  0.5      CL      1.2      1.7      2.4
SON 1998   CL  77.4  0.5      CL      2.4      3.4      4.8
OND 1998   CL  75.5  0.5      CL      4.8      6.3      8.1
NDJ 1998   A2  73.5  0.4      CL      6.7      8.8     11.4
DJF 1998   B4  72.2  0.5      CL      6.9      9.0     11.5
  
                         HONOLULU

            TEMPERATURE               PRECIPITATION
          FCST  AVE  LIM     FCST     BLW    MEDIAN     ABV

DJF 1997   N7  73.3  0.4      CL      6.2      8.3     10.9
JFM 1998   N5  73.4  0.5      CL      5.0      6.9      9.1
FMA 1998   N5  74.4  0.5      CL      3.7      5.1      6.8
MAM 1998   B5  75.9  0.5      CL      2.5      3.8      5.5
AMJ 1998   B4  77.6  0.5      B4      1.5      2.4      3.6
MJJ 1998   CL  79.1  0.5      CL      1.1      1.7      2.5
JJA 1998   A4  80.4  0.5      A3      0.9      1.3      1.8
JAS 1998   A4  81.0  0.5      A4      1.3      1.7      2.1
ASO 1998   A3  80.7  0.5      CL      1.8      2.8      4.0
SON 1998   A2  79.3  0.5      CL      3.6      5.1      6.9
OND 1998   A2  77.0  0.5      CL      6.0      8.0     10.4
NDJ 1998   CL  74.7  0.4      CL      6.7      9.0     11.4
DJF 1998   B2  73.3  0.4      A2      6.2      8.3     10.9
            
                         LIHUE

            TEMPERATURE               PRECIPITATION
          FCST  AVE  LIM     FCST     BLW    MEDIAN     ABV

DJF 1997   CL  72.0  0.5      CL     10.5     13.3     16.6
JFM 1998   B3  72.0  0.6      B5      9.1     11.9     15.3
FMA 1998   B10 72.8  0.6      B5      7.8     10.0     12.6
MAM 1998   B12 74.1  0.6      B4      7.7      9.9     12.3
AMJ 1998   B10 75.8  0.5      B3      5.8      7.5      9.5
MJJ 1998   B5  77.5  0.4      CL      4.9      6.3      8.0
JJA 1998   CL  78.7  0.4      A2      4.5      5.3      6.2
JAS 1998   A4  79.2  0.4      A2      4.9      5.9      7.0
ASO 1998   A2  78.7  0.4      CL      6.2      7.8      9.7
SON 1998   CL  77.4  0.4      CL      9.3     11.4     13.8
OND 1998   CL  75.3  0.4      CL     10.8     13.7     17.1
NDJ 1998   CL  73.3  0.4      CL     12.1     15.2     18.7
DJF 1998   B2  72.0  0.5      A2     10.5     13.3     16.6

NOTE - THESE OUTLOOKS ARE INTENDED FOR USE PRIOR TO THE START OFTHEIR VALID
PERIODS.  WITHIN ANY VALID PERIOD OBSERVATIONS ANDSHORTER RANGE FORECASTS
SHOULD BE CONSULTED.  ALSO - THIS SET OFOUTLOOKS WILL BE SUPERSEDED BY THE
ISSUANCE OF THE NEW SET NEXTMONTH.

NOTE - THE NEXT SET OF LONG LEAD-TIME MONTHLY AND SEASONALOUTLOOKS FOR HAWAII
WILL BE ISSUED THURSDAY DECEMBER 18 1997.


Back to Pacific ENSO Update - 4th Quarter 1997- Vol.3 No.4