Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / September 1-2, 2013

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday:

86  Lihue, Kauai
87  Honolulu, Oahu
85  Molokai
88  Kahului, Maui
85  Kona, Hawaii
82  Hilo, Hawaii

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops on Maui and the Big Island…as of 843pm Sunday evening:

Kailua Kona – 81
Hilo, Hawaii – 73

Haleakala Summit –   50 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 37 (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 – if it’s working.

Aloha Paragraphs

Small Craft Wind Advisory…over those windiest coasts and channels
around Maui County and the Big Island

Our local trade winds will remain pretty gusty through Tuesday

Windward showers at times, most generous at night…a few
elsewhere through this long holiday weekend

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

24  Port Allen, Kauai – ENE
35  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
29  Molokai – NE
35  Lanai – NE
39  Kahoolawe – NE
33  Kaupo Gap, Maui – NE
31  South Point, Big Island – NE

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

0.77  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.38  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.10  Molokai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Lanai
0.17  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.09  Saddle Quarry, 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 Narrative ~~~

The trade winds will remain locally gusty into Tuesday…then weaken by the middle of the new week for several days. Here’s a weather chart showing high pressure systems located to the north of the islands. The forecast is for gusty trade winds…lasting for another day or two. The models then show our winds easing back around the middle of this new week for a few days.

Windward showers, mostly during the night and early mornings…a few leeward at times. Satellite imagery scattered low level clouds out over the ocean, a few of which are covering parts of the islands too. Here’s the looping radar image, showing generally light showers offshore of the islands. As the clouds offshore to our northeast and east-northeast arrive at times, we’re finding shower activity along our windward coasts and slopes. Looking a bit further ahead, as the trade winds ease up during the second half of this new work week, we should see an increase in afternoon upcountry clouds and showers…above the leeward beaches.

Reflections from Maui: Here on Maui this evening, skies were clear to partly cloudy for the most part. The air temperature here in Kula at 5pm was 77.2F degrees, while at the airport in Kapalua, on the upper west side, at about the same time, it was near 86 degrees…while the Haleakala Crater was 55 degrees. The trade winds remain well established, remaining somewhat elevated during the remainder of this long Labor Day holiday weekend. The NWS forecast office in Honolulu is continuing the small craft wind advisory, although it’s restricted to those windiest parts of Maui County and the Big Island. Otherwise, our weather should be fairly normal as we continue moving through these first few days of September. My neighbors and I went down to our French restaurant for breakfast, after I got back from my fast two mile walk. These same neighbors not too long ago bought a great place up the mountain from here, so we go up there and water the plants, and see the latest building advancements after breakfast.  I just got off the phone with my friend Linda, who has a house here on Maui, and in Marin County, where I stay while I’m California at times. Right now, I’m going out into the garden and do some weeding, which I enjoy this time of day. I’ll be back with your next new weather narrative on Labor Day, I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday evening film: There continue to be lots available films to see, many of which look really good. I’m going to see one that I’m afraid will be leaving soon, even though it just got to Maui last weekend. It’s called Blue Jasmine by Woody Allen, starring Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Bobby Cannavale...among many others. Here’s the synopsis: Woody Allen trades New York City for San Francisco with his comedy-drama Blue Jasmine, starring Cate Blanchett as a troubled former Manhattanite who moves to the City by the Bay to live with her sister after her wealthy husband divorces her. Forced to put her life back together piece by piece while under the effect of powerful anti-depressants, she dates a series of men, attempts to build a career, and slowly learns how to count on herself to survive. This film is getting high grades, and looked good, plus I typically enjoy seeing Woody Allen films. ~~~ As almost always, I enjoyed this film quite a bit, and was happy to have seen it. Cate Blanchett was sooo good in this film, with a riveting lead performance. She was more fiery than I’ve ever seen her before, and is apt to garner a best actress Academy Award. She was in every scene, grand and showy, I couldn’t keep my eyes off her for a second. As for a grade, I’d say somewhere between a B+ and an A-…just really good! Here’s a trailer in case you’re curious.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

CLOUDINESS AND SHOWERS REMAIN DISORGANIZED IN ASSOCIATION WITH AN
ELONGATED AREA OF LOW PRESSURE EXTENDING FROM THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN
ACROSS THE LESSER ANTILLES AND INTO THE TROPICAL ATLANTIC. ALTHOUGH
UPPER-LEVEL WINDS APPEAR TO BE CONDUCIVE…THE PROXIMITY TO DRY AIR
IN THE MIDDLE LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE COULD INHIBIT DEVELOPMENT OF
THIS DISTURBANCE. THIS SYSTEM HAS A MEDIUM CHANCE…40 PERCENT…OF
BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS…AND A MEDIUM
CHANCE…50 PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE
NEXT 5 DAYS WHILE IT MOVES WESTWARD TO WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AT AROUND
10 MPH OVER THE CARIBBEAN SEA…AND NEAR OR OVER HISPANIOLA.
REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT A TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMS…LOCALLY
HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO AFFECT
PORTIONS OF THE LESSER ANTILLES OVER THE NEXT DAY OR SO.

OTHER SYSTEMS WITH FORMATION POTENTIAL BEYOND 48 HOURS…

A TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED OVER THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA IS
MOVING WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AT ABOUT 10 MPH. THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED
TO MOVE ACROSS THE YUCATAN PENINSULA TODAY AND OVER THE BAY OF
CAMPECHE TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY…WHERE SOME DEVELOPMENT IS
POSSIBLE LATER IN THE WEEK. THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE…NEAR 0
PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48
HOURS…AND A LOW CHANCE…20 PERCENT…OF BECOMING A TROPICAL
CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 5 DAYS.

Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

Interesting: Are sea turtles responsible for lower fish catches in India? – Fishing communities on Agatti Island in Lakshwadeep, India, blame their reduced fish catch on green turtles; according to them, green turtles chomp their way through the seagrass beds lining the shallow reef waters that are essential for fish to breed. This leads some in the community to clandestinely kill sea turtles and destroy their nests.

Wildlife happens to intrude on human “space” mostly while searching for food, and this can result in human deaths, or destruction of human livelihood. The perception of people living close to wildlife in such conflict areas shapes the interaction between them and the wildlife.

Certainly, Agatti’s fishing community attributes the drop in fish catch to green turtles, but is this perception accurate? Rohan Arthur and others from the Nature Conservation Foundation, based in Mysore, India, surveyed perceptions of fishers from two places in the Lakshwadeep islands: Agatti and Kadmat. Both are atolls – ring shaped coral reefs with a rim that encircles a lagoon – and both share similar characteristics: size, population, number of households, number and density of fishers, and extent of seagrass meadows. Also, importantly, fish catch had declined in the lagoons of both atolls.

The only difference between the two atolls is the number of resident green turtles. The number of green turtles around Agatti has increased tremendously since the 1970s, due to effective conservation measures in the area. In 2010, the turtle density in Agatti was six to seven times the turtle density in Kadmat (27 turtles per square kilometer of seagrass meadow to 3 turtles respectively).

Perception matters

People’s perceptions in both atolls were remarkably different. In Agatti, almost 75% of respondents felt decrease in fish catch was due to green turtles. In Kadmat, less than 20% thought green turtles were responsible. Instead they pointed to a variety of factors, including overfishing.

Fishers in Agatti, however, thought green turtles reduced fish catch in two ways. According to them, green turtles hurt their livelihoods firstly by “direct” damages, such as tearing nets, breaking lines, or driving fish away from nets and thus reducing catch. Secondly, Agatti fishers proposed that turtles at high densities eat up a lot of the seagrasses, reducing habitat available for the fish through “indirect damages.” Adult fish from the coral reefs do not like overgrazed meadows, and fewer young fish settle down in them.