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

78 Lihue, Kauai
78 Honolulu, Oahu
76 Molokai
80 Kahului, Maui
78 Kona, Hawaii
77 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 543pm Friday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 77
Hilo, Hawaii – 73


Haleakala Summit –   43 (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.

 


Aloha Paragraphs


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Continued large surf along our north and west facing beaches…
through the weekend into the new week

Dry and generally fine weather through Saturday

We’ll see another period of showers with the next cold front
Sunday, followed by windward showers for a few days…
some could be quite heavy, with even a thunderstorm
by Tuesday – especially on Maui and the Big Island

Small Craft Advisory...coastal and channel waters

High Surf Advisory…north and west shores of Kauai –
north shores of Oahu, Molokai, and Maui – west shores
of Oahu, Molokai 

Wind Advisory…Big Island summits





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

15  Poipu, Kauai – SW
17  Kii, Oahu – WSW
09  Molokai – NW
14  Lanai – SW
15  Kahoolawe – SSW
14  Lipoa, Maui – SW
16  PTA Kipuka Alala, Big Island – NW


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Friday evening (545pm totals):

0.01  Lihue, Kauai
0.01  Kahuku Trng, Oahu
0.00  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.01  Kahakuloa, Maui
0.04  Honaunau, 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 ~~~



Our winds will gradually increase from southwest later Saturday into Sunday…locally quite gusty. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. Here’s a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…centered on the Hawaiian Islands. ~~~ We find two storm low pressure systems to the north and northwest of Hawaii, with their associated cold front positioned to our north. At the same time, we have a couple of weak, near 1013 millibar high pressure cells, to the west and east, with their associated ridge over our islands. These weather features will keep our winds on the light side into Saturday morning, although locally a bit stronger in gusts…increasing later Saturday into Sunday from the southwest.

Satellite imagery shows some middle and high level clouds to the north and northeast of the island chain…the brighter white ones. The air mass over the state now, as it was yesterday, continues to be dry and on the cool side…which will continue to limit showers. Here’s the looping radar image, showing hardly any precipitation anywhere in the state. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see those brighter white clouds to our north through east. It’s interesting to see how they look like a breaking wave over our islands!

Meanwhile, looking ahead into the weekend, we’ll find generally fine, dry weather…although with cooler than normal air temperatures prevailing through Saturday morning. We’ll see the next cold front arriving Sunday morning into Monday, bringing another round of showers to the state…although less than the front that crossed the islands this past Wednesday. This front will usher in a few showers, although nothing extraordinary. As the northeast winds increase in the wake of the frontal passage, we’ll slip into a period of wet trade winds, with the bulk of that precipitation remaining anchored to the north and east facing windward coasts and slopes.  As we get to Monday night into the middle of the week. the models are showing an upper level trough of low pressure moving over the state. This trough with its cold air aloft, is expected to enhance the windward biased showers then…making them heavier. We may see some generous rainfall, especially over the eastern islands, with a bit of lightning and thunder not out of the question. ~~~ I’ll be back Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you’re spending it. Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui early this morning, at the 3,100 foot elevation, at my upper Kula weather tower, the outdoor air temperature sensor was reading 46.6F degrees. This is about three degrees warmer than at the same time Thursday morning, although still cooler than normal. The reason for the slightly warmer temperatures are the higher clouds that are overhead this morning, helping to hold in the escaping heat from Earth. It’s still dark as I write these words, although I’m expecting to see those altocumulus clouds in our skies this morning at sunrise, which may contribute color to our sunrise. I’ll catch up with you a bit later this morning. ~~~ Here it is 820am HST, and it’s still only 49.9F degrees, as I head out on my walk, I’m going to walk really fast to stay warm out there!  ~~~ This morning I took a short drive up the Haleakala Crater, and found a nice stretch of road to skateboard. The weather was perfect, although there was a tab bit too much traffic…which interrupted my flow some. At any rate, that was my second trip up that way this week, as I really enjoy that sport. If you were wondering, no, I didn’t fall, as I keep my speed down…by making lots of turns. I have been a surfer all my life, although I rarely do it much now, skateboarding is very similar to surfing on land, and it gives me a similar feeling in my body. ~~~ The rest of Friday turned out to be simply splendid, with dry weather and sunny skies prevailing. It will still be a bit chilly Saturday morning…although not quite as cold as it has been the last few mornings, although I wouldn’t take off that extra blanket just yet. ~~~ I just got home from seeing a movie in Kahului, and the temperature at 1010pm is a very chilly 51.1 degrees. Obviously, its going to be in the 40’s before too long, and for sure by the time I get up to do my website updating in the morning!

Friday Evening Film: I was going to skip the film that I’ve decided to see this evening, although for some reason, at the last minute, I’ll go see it anyway. It’s called August: Osage County, starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ewan McGregor, Margo Martindale, Sam Shepard, Abigail Breslin, Chris Cooper, and Juliette Lewis…among others. The synopsis: AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY tells the dark, hilarious and deeply touching story of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose lives have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them. Letts’ play made its Broadway debut in December 2007 after premiering at Chicago’s legendary Steppenwolf Theatre earlier that year. It continued with a successful international run. ~~~ I’ve seen the trailer for this film several times, and time time, I think, maybe I’ll this film…and then again maybe I won’t. In other words I hasn’t had an overly strong pull on me. The critics have been reasonably kind to this film, although it’s not off the chart by any means. I’ll let you know what I thought Saturday morning, here’s the trailer for this film.



World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean: The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea:

Gulf of Mexico:

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: The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15th through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


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: The Central Pacific hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


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: One quarter of all sharks and rays are threatened with extinction – One quarter of all sharks and rays are threatened with extinction, according to a new study published in the open-access journal eLife. The paper analyzed the threat and conservation status of 1,041 species of chondrichthyans—the class of fish whose skeletons are made of cartilage instead of bone which includes sharks, rays, skates and chimaeras—and found this group to be among the most threatened animals in the world.


The collaboration between 300 scientists from 64 countries reports, “the main threats to chondrichthyans are overexploitation through targeted fisheries and incidental catches (bycatch), followed by habitat loss, persecution, and climate change.”


The authors pinpoint two areas with greater than expected threat levels: the Indo-Pacific Biodiversity Triangle and the Red Sea. The former is among the most biologically and culturally diverse areas on the planet, but is also among the least-regulated.


“The Indo-Pacific Biodiversity Triangle, particularly the Gulf of Thailand, and the islands of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Sulawesi, is a hotspot of greatest residual threat especially for coastal sharks and rays with 76 threatened species.” The paper’s authors argue that without national and international action, the species found in this area may rapidly become extinct.


The paper cites ‘finning’—the process of cutting off the fins and dumping the body back into the ocean—as a major threat to sharks, wedgefishes and sawfishes. This practice is driven by market demands in China where shark fin soup is a highly sought-after delicacy.


“Fins, in particular, have become one of the most valuable seafood commodities,” the authors write, “It is estimated that the fins of between 26 and 73 million individuals, worth US$400-550 million, are traded each year.”


Large body size and shallow habitat are the biggest factors determining a species’ likelihood of being threatened. “The probability that a species is threatened increases by 1.2% for each 10 cm increase in maximum body length, and decreases by 10.3% for each 50 m deepening in the minimum depth limit of species,” the authors report.


In addition to targeted fishing, 20 species of shark and rays are directly threatened by pollution. 22 species are threatened by the destruction of river systems and estuaries through residential and commercial development. 12 species are at risk from the conversion of mangroves into shrimp farms, and the construction of dams and other water-control measures.