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

83  Lihue, Kauai
86  Honolulu, Oahu
83  Molokai
86  Kahului, Maui
85  Kailua Kona
81  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 810am Wednesday morning:

 

Kailua Kona – 81
Hilo, Hawaii
– 73

Haleakala Summit –   48 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 43 (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.

 


Aloha Paragraphs

 

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Trade wind weather pattern…well into the future

W
indward showers arriving in an off and on manner

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




The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph), along with directions…as of  Wednesday morning:


13  Poipu, Kauai – NE
33  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – NNE
27  Molokai – NE
20  Lanai – NE
14  Kahoolawe – NE
13  Kahului, Maui – NE

22  Upolu airport, Big Island – NE


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Wednesday morning (545am totals):


2.06  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.89  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.20  Molokai
0.13  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.01  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.60  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 ~~~



Gusty trade winds will prevail through this week…into next week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…focused on the Hawaiian Islands. We have a moderately strong, near 1030 millibar high pressure system located to the north, with its associated ridge extending west and southwest…to the north and northwest of the state. Our local winds will remain gusty, with only minor daily variations in speed and direction. Those places with the most direct exposure to this wind flow will top 30 mph in gusts during the days…lighter at night.

Satellite imagery shows a large area of low clouds to our east…which are being carried our way on the trades.
Looking at this larger looping satellite image, we see areas of high level clouds well to the north and northwest, south…and a smaller area associated with an upper level low to our northeast. There are also those lower level clouds riding along in the trade wind flow…impacting our windward sides. Here’s a looping radar image, showing that despite all those clouds upstream, there’s just a few light to moderately heavy showers being deposited along the windward sides locally. These showers will likely decrease some during the day…and then increase to some degree again this evening into early Thursday morning.

A few showers along our windward sides…while the leeward sides will be generally dry. The windward sides, as the trade winds remain active, will continue to see a few showers coming our way at times. Looking ahead through the rest of this week, there will be little change in either windward biased rainfall…or our trade wind speeds. The one change will likely entail a more stable and somewhat drier air mass shifting over us from the east. This would suggest fewer showers over the windward sides…and probably none over the leeward beaches. I’ll be back many times during the day with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Wednesday wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui, at the 3,100 foot elevation, at my upper Kula, Maui weather tower, the air temperature was a relatively warm 60.8 degrees at 555am on this Wednesday morning. Skies are clear overhead, although there are clouds over along the windward sides…stretching over the West Maui Mountains as well.
The leeward facing beaches are in better shape, with what looks like a nice beginning to this hump day of the work week.

It’s now 1225pm in the early afternoon here in Kula, under mostly cloudy skies, light winds, no rain…and an air temperature of 75.2 degrees. By the way, the NWS Honolulu is having problems with their website, which keeps me from getting the latest temperatures, winds, and rainfall around the state…unfortunately.
I’ll keep checking their site to see when it may be fixed, but until then, some of the usual data will be missing.

It’s now 8pm this evening, under partly cloudy skies, calm winds, and a relatively warm 69.1 degrees. 



World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones expected through the next 5 days


Here’s a
satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean


Caribbean Sea:
There are no active tropical cyclones expected through the next 5 days

Gulf of Mexico:
There are no active tropical cyclones expected through 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: Tropical cyclone 03E (Cristina)
remains active, here’s a NHC graphical track map…and a satellite image of this strengthening system. Here’s what the hurricane models are showing for Hurricane Cristina.


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:
No tropical cyclones are expected through Saturday morning


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


North Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


South Pacific Ocean:
There are no active tropical cyclones

North and South Indian Oceans:
Tropical Cyclone 02A (Nanauk) remains active in the Arabian Sea. Here’s a JTWC graphical track map…and a satellite image.

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


Interesting: Bottom feeding fish helping the fight against Global Warming Over-fishing is already a concerning problem, but new research indicates that not only could it mean losing fish species, it could also contribute to global warming more than we’d previously thought.


That’s because researchers from the Marine Institute and the University of Southampton have found that fish that feed on our ocean floor and do not come to the surface actually act as carbon sinks. Other examples of naturally occurring carbon sinks include forests and, indeed, the oceans themselves. What’s more, the UK-based researchers have found that deep-sea fish might be capturing more than a million tons of carbon dioxide from UK and Irish waters.


The process starts with what are known as mid-level swimming fish, as well as jellyfish and certain cephalopods like squid. They will often venture close to the surface, feed and then, for a short time, dive to deeper waters. When they do this, they run the risk of becoming prey for larger bottom dwellers who never surface. When this happens, the carbon in the prey animals’ system transfers to the predator fish — and there it stays. True, when one of those predator fish dies it’s likely some of that carbon is released, but even then those fish are often dined on by others at the bottom of the ocean, and so the majority stays in our deep water fish.


The researchers investigated this by collecting muscle tissue samples from fish caught in fish trawls off the west coast of Ireland, at varying degrees between 500 and 1,800 meters. To look at how much carbon was present at each stage they searched the muscle samples and looked for carbon and nitrogen isotopes. By doing this, the researchers are able to see how carbon transfers through the ecosystem and thereby determine diet and the predator/prey dynamics of that area.


This is an important finding because it tells us a number of things. Chiefly, it reveals a vital carbon sink that could help us in a small but significant way to combat adding to the global warming problem. It also tells us how dangerous unregulated fishing and overfishing practices can be. For instance, many of the bottom-feeders are not caught for food but regularly get swept up in fishing trawls regardless. They are killed in this process and then usually thrown back, thus releasing that carbon (which is just one troubling aspect of this practice).