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

Lihue, Kauai –                        75  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –         79  
Molokai airport –                    76
Kahului airport, Maui –           78 
Kona airport     –                 81   
Hilo airport, Hawaii –              79

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops around the state…as of 430am Tuesday morning:

Honolulu, Oahu – 71
Barking Sands, Kauai – 64

Haleakala Summit –   41     (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 25      (13,000+ feet on the Big Island) 

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,800 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. This web cam is available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon shining down during the night at times. Plus, during the nights you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise and sunset too…depending upon weather conditions. Here's the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui.

Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest weather information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here.  The 2012 hurricane season is over in the eastern and central Pacific…resuming on May 15th and June 1st 2013.

 

Aloha Paragraphs

https://d2fijpsef22722.cloudfront.net/photos/big/51e2-to-do-oahu-stand-up-paddle-or-sailing-paddling-and-surfing-canoe.jpg

Small Craft Advisory for gusty trade winds…just
around parts of Maui County and the Big Island

Wind Advisory for the Big Island summits

Passing windward showers at times, with a few leeward…

~~~545am HST Tuesday morning: clear and calm… at my
upcountry Kula, Maui weather tower: 48.9F degrees~~~

The following numbers represent the most recent top wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Monday evening:

29       Port Allen, Kauai – NE
52       Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
31        Molokai – NE 
28       Kahoolawe – NE
27       Kahului, Maui – NE
37       PTA Keamuku, Big Island – NE

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Monday evening:
 
1.78     Kilohana, Kauai
1.46     Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.03     Molokai
0.00     Lanai
0.00     Kahoolawe
2.04     Puu Kukui, Maui
0.36     Piihonua, Big Island  


We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean.  Here's the latest NOAA satellite picture – the latest looping satellite image…and finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands.


                   ~~~ Hawaii Weather Commentary ~~~ 


Our trade winds will remain active through this new week. Here's a weather chart showing a large, near 1035 millibar high pressure system located far to the northeast of Hawaii, with another near 1030 millibar high pressure cell to our north. At the same time, we see a near 1024 millibar low pressure system to our northeast. Our trade wind weather pattern, with the rather strong wind speeds, at least locally at times, will continue. These winds are expected to become slightly lighter Wednesday and Thursday…then increasing again into the weekend. 

Satellite imagery shows a low cloud band draped along our windward sides…with higher level clouds to our southeast. As the trades hold firm, they will be bring us windward biased showers through the next 12 hours or so. These clouds being carried our way, are associated with a dissipating cold front. Meanwhile, an upper level trough of low pressure will be in the area to our northeast, which could enhance showers over the Big Island, and perhaps Maui County into Tuesday morning. Here's a larger view of the clouds in our central Pacific. Looking ahead further, the models show a decrease in showers through later tomorrow through Friday, with another increase in showers slated for this weekend.

This blustery trade flow, will continue to carry moisture that's associated with this frontal boundary our way…with a few possible heavy showers around the Big Island. A well established trade wind weather regime will remain in force this week, with no end in sight.  The remnant moisture from a dissipating cold front, will be carried our way on these robust trades. The bulk of these incoming showers will keep the windward coasts and slopes damp, with a few showers being carried over into the leeward sides here and there on the smaller islands. The presence of an upper level trough over the state, with its cold air aloft, will make our atmosphere somewhat unstable, especially around the Big Island. This in turn will enhance showers over the eastern islands. I'll be back early Tuesday morning with more updates on all of the above. I hope you have a great Monday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean/Caribbean Sea:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

Eastern Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

Central Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

Western Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

South Pacific Ocean:  There are no active tropical cyclones

North and South Indian Oceans:  Tropical cyclone 15S (Gino) remains active in the south Indian Ocean…located approximately 700 NM southeast of Diego Garcia. Sustained winds are 75 knots, with gusts to 90 knots (86-104 mph). Here's the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) graphical track map, and a satellite image.

Interesting:  It’s no secret that Americans throw away an enormous amount of food, sending day-old leftovers and slightly wilted spinach straight to the garbage. But what about the food that never even makes it to the kitchen table?

A new report released by a British engineering society reveals that worldwide, billions of tons of food are squandered each year because of poor agriculture practices, which include inefficient harvesting and inadequate infrastructure and storage—and it’s depleting Earth's water supply.

"This level of wastage is a tragedy that cannot continue if we are to succeed in the challenge of sustainably meeting our future food demands," writes the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

"The potential to provide 60-100% more food by simply eliminating losses, while simultaneously freeing up land, energy and water resources for other uses, is an opportunity that should not be ignored."

According to the report, developing countries, including India, China, and Vietnam, don't have the infrastructure to stop food from rotting.

But that doesn't mean that Americans are off the hook: Developed societies tend to waste food on the consumer end of the chain, because it doesn't meet cosmetic standards (i.e., the tomatoes aren’t pretty enough for your local supermarket) and also because consumers and supermarkets are throwing away perfectly good food, largely because of conservative "use-by" labels.