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

85  Lihue, Kauai
88  Honolulu, Oahu
86  Molokai
90  Kahului, Maui
86  Kona, Hawaii
88  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 943pm Saturday evening:


Kailua Kona – 81
Hilo, Hawaii – 74


Haleakala Summit –    M
(near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 36 (13,000+ feet on the Big Island)


Hawaii’s MountainsHere’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



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HZqAjg1Ea5w/UOddgrg0_kI/AAAAAAAABfA/UKBjtkHeja8/s640/_DSC0511.JPG

Our local trade winds will finally pick up some
after the weekend


Some showers…a few locally heavy


And then that sliver of a new moon bracketing
Venus this evening, and if you missed it…
Virtually




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

24  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
31  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE 
28  Molokai – ENE
33  Lanai – NE
35  Kahoolawe – ENE
31  Kahului, Maui – NE
28  Kealakomo, Big Island – NE


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


1.18  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.38  Kahuku Trng area, Oahu
0.79  Molokai
0.06  Kahoolawe
0.00  Lanai
1.48  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.62  Kawainui Stream, 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 winds will be light to moderately strong through Sunday, gradually strengthening on Monday…prevailing through the rest of the week. Here’s a weather chart showing a near 1019 millibar high pressure system located far to the west, and another near 1025 millibar high pressure cell far northeast of the islands…with an associated ridge to our north. At the same time, we find an early season cold front approaching the state towards the northwest. This front won’t get down into the islands, although continues weakening our high pressure ridge, keeping the trade winds from returning in full force for the time being. We’ll find light-moderate trades, along with daytime sea breezes prevailing locally through Sunday. The forecast calls for recovering trade winds after the weekend for the rest of the new week.

Windward showers at times this weekend, a few elsewhere…a couple of which may become quite generous. Satellite imagery shows an area of low level clouds over the islands, the largest of which currently departing Kauai…heading west over the ocean. At the same time, we see the leading edge of an area of high cirrus clouds over the ocean to the southwest. Here’s the looping radar image, showing showers moving across the islands…generally in the light to moderate range, heading towards the Big Island and Maui at the time of this writing. Look for similar weather on Sunday, that we had today, at least in general.


Reflections from Maui:
Here on Maui this evening, it was partly cloudy, with a few light showers out along the windward sides. There were also large clear spots in our skies as well. The air temperature here in Kula at 545pm, was 81.7F degrees, under partly cloudy skies. Meanwhile, down at the airport in Kahului, it was mostly sunny at about the same time, with a warmer 87 degrees.  There are more of those afternoon clouds in the interior sections today, over the Crater and the West Maui Mountains, although we didn’t have even a light shower here in my area. Earlier today I drove down to Pukalani with my neighbor Jeff, to buy some stuff at the farmers market, which I just love. Then, after taking my morning walk with another neighbor, this time Varsha, I had breakfast, and headed down to the health food store in Paia with her. The afternoon was a mellow one, while I stayed home, kind of waiting for the sun to go down, so things would finally cool down. I hope you have a great Saturday evening wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday evening film: I went to see The Grandmaster last evening with several friends, this film was starring Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Jin, among many others. The synopsis: The Grandmaster is an epic action feature inspired by the life and times of the legendary kung fu master, Ip Man. The story spans the tumultuous Republican era that followed the fall of China’s last dynasty, a time of chaos, division and war, that was also the golden age of Chinese martial arts. Filmed in a range of stunning locations that include the snow-swept landscapes of Northeast China and the subtropical South, The Grandmaster features virtuoso performances by some of the greatest stars of contemporary Asian cinema, including Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang.

~~~
The critics are giving it a strong 75% rating, while the viewers are providing a somewhat softer 64%. Some are saying that this film ranks up there with Crouching Tiger-Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers…as one of the most elegant and beautiful martial-arts films to play on American screens. It was a very serious and dark film, and very artistic in its approach. The music was wonderful, the visuals were stunning, and the lead actor and actress were handsome and beautiful. There was lots of fighting, and drama, and love too, lots of unrequited love. This film swept me along, and was very entertaining, and a bit depressing if I would have let it carry me in that direction. I was with five other folks, and most everyone liked it very much, with one dissenting grade. Those grades ranged from A- to C+…the bottom rating from this group was that C+, with all the rest up towards B+ to A-.  Here’s a trailer for this action film, it’s pretty interesting…although there’s quite a bit of fighting going on too.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones




A WELL-DEFINED LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS LOCATED ABOUT 350 MILES
EAST-SOUTHEAST OF THE SOUTHERN CAPE VERDE ISLANDS. ALTHOUGH
ASSOCIATED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS CURRENTLY DISPLACED WELL TO THE
NORTHWEST OF THE CENTER...CONDITIONS APPEAR FAVORABLE FOR SOME
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT...AND A TROPICAL DEPRESSION COULD FORM IN THE
NEXT DAY OR TWO AS THE DISTURBANCE MOVES WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AT
ABOUT 10 MPH.  THIS SYSTEM HAS A HIGH CHANCE...60 PERCENT...OF
BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS...AND A HIGH
CHANCE...90 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE
NEXT 5 DAYS. INTERESTS IN THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS SHOULD MONITOR THE
PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM...AS TROPICAL STORM WATCHES OR WARNINGS
COULD BE REQUIRED. REGARDLESS OF TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION...HEAVY
RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS
LATER TODAY.

DISORGANIZED SHOWER ACTIVITY IS ASSOCIATED WITH A BROAD LOW PRESSURE
AREA...THE REMNANTS OF GABRIELLE...LOCATED A COUPLE HUNDRED MILES
NORTHEAST OF THE SOUTHEASTERN BAHAMAS.  UPPER-LEVEL WINDS ARE
CURRENTLY UNFAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT...BUT THEY COULD BECOME A
LITTLE MORE CONDUCIVE IN A FEW DAYS WHILE THE LOW MOVES NORTHWARD
OR NORTHEASTWARD AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC
OCEAN. THIS SYSTEM HAS A LOW CHANCE...20 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A
TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS...AND A MEDIUM CHANCE...
40 PERCENT...OF BECOMING A TROPICAL CYCLONE DURING THE NEXT 5 DAYS.


Caribbean Sea:
There are no active tropical cyclones


Gulf of Mexico:  T
here are no active tropical cyclones

A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE COULD FORM OVER THE EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN
GULF OF MEXICO AND BAY OF CAMPECHE IN A FEW DAYS…AND SOME
DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE BY MIDWEEK. 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.


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:
Post-tropical cyclone 12E (Lorena) remains active in the northeast Pacific. Here’s the National Hurricane Center’s graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image. Here’s what the hurricane models are showing for this system. – Final Advisory

 

Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.


Central Pacific Ocean:
There are no active tropical cyclones

 

Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)


Western Pacific Ocean:
There are no active tropical cyclones


South Pacific Ocean:
There are no active tropical cyclones

 

North and South Indian Oceans: There are no active tropical cyclones


Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)


Interesting: Hawaii Coastlines on Track to Lose 100 Feet of Beach – Hawaii is known for it’s pristine beaches and it’s 750 miles of coastline. However with looming sea water rise due to melting ice caps and climate change, a new study by the University of Hawaii shows the state is on pace to lose 100 feet of beach in the coming decades.


According to the study, Maui beaches are most at risk as the sea-level rise is approximately 65% higher compared to the island of Oahu.


While many beaches have been faced with erosion for years, predictions show that beaches will start to disappear even faster.


Researchers with the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) studied 100 years of data for both Maui and Oahu. They found global warming is causing the sea level to rise which in turn is causing beaches to erode. In the next 25 to 30 years the prediction is Hawaii shores could lose 100 feet of beach.


Island-wide and regional historical shoreline trends were calculated for the islands using shoreline positions measured from aerial photographs and survey charts. Shoreline positions were manually digitized using photogrammetric and geographic information system (GIS) software from aerial photo mosaics and topographic and hydrographic survey charts provided by the National Ocean Service (NOS).


“A hundred feet of shoreline erosion around Hawaii takes us into homes and communities and highways so this is a coming problem that has already started and it’s going to become magnified within the next decade or two,” said Charles Fletcher, PhD. SOEST Associate Dean.


In places like Kailua and Waikiki sand has been added which is good but not a permanent fix.


“We patch potholes in our roads, it’s not a permanent solution but it gets you through the next couple of years. It makes the roads usable,” said Prof. Fletcher. “Putting sand on the beach is a form of environmental maintenance.”


Not only is sea level rising around Maui and the Big Island, but the islands are also sinking because the volcanoes there are relatively new and haven’t fully settled.


Managing coastal erosion is a daunting task. Not only does it take hundreds of man hours to create temporary solutions, but it can cost hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. In order to combat these issues, planning needs to occur.


The authors of the study hope to show that sea level rise is a primary cause of shoreline change on a regional scale. They also hope to encourage managers and other coastal zone decision-makers to focus on these impacts in their own research programs and long-term planning.