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

82  Lihue, Kauai
86  Honolulu, Oahu
83  Molokai
85  Kahului, Maui
87  Kailua Kona
83  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 743pm Monday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 81
Hana airport, Maui – 73


Haleakala Summit –   50 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 39 (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

 

http://magazine.inspirato.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Kapalua_Beach-660x440.jpg

Active trade winds…through this new week

Windward showers arriving in an off and on
manner…a few quite generous here
and there locally – a few elsewhere

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 Monday evening:

24  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
31  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
28  Molokai – E
32  Lanai – NE
28  Kahoolawe – NE
27  Kapalua, Maui – NE
29  South Point, Big Island – NE


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

2.90 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.32  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.13  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.16  Kahoolawe
0.50  Puu Kukui, Maui
1.46  Glenwood, 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 ~~~



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 large, moderately strong, near 1029 millibar high pressure system located far to our northeast, with its associated ridge extending 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 lower level clouds…banked up against our windward sides. Looking at this larger looping satellite image, we see areas of high level clouds well northwest, south and southwest of Hawaii…with a few small wisps moving through the central islands at the time of this writing. There are lower level clouds riding along in the trade wind flow…from east to west. Here’s a looping radar image, showing mostly light to moderately heavy showers being carried along in our trade wind flow, and being deposited along the windward sides. There are some light showers falling at times elsewhere, especially along the leeward slopes on the larger islands.

There’s little change expected in our current Hawaiian Island weather picture. The windward sides, as the trade winds remain active, will continue to see showers coming our way at times, most active during the night and early morning hours. The leeward sides will find lots of sunny weather during the days, with fair and warm nights prevailing. I’ll be back early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise, I hope you have a great Monday night 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 57.4 degrees at 545am on this Monday morning. Skies are clear overhead, with the usual clouds banked up against the windward sides…and of course over the West Maui Mountains. The leeward beaches are starting off the day in a favorably inclined way. There’s some smoke in the central valley, due to an early sugar cane fire, which will eventually be blown away by the trade winds.

It’s now early afternoon at 1220pm, under cloudy skies, light showers, near calm winds…with a relatively cool 69.4 degrees. I just got back from being up the mountain from here, having driven up to near the 5,500 foot level on the slopes of the Haleakala Crater. I went up there to skateboard, and to just hang out for a while. When I got up there it was cloudy and foggy, so I just sat in the car and listened to National Public Radio, drinking tea. It got more and more foggy, and I figured it wasn’t going to clear up…so that I’d better get out there and do some skating. It was a good thing I did, as the road began to get a little slick with the fog…and then it started to rain! That of course chased me back into the car, as the road was much too slick to skate, and the chances of falling would have been greatly increased. The light rain followed me down the mountain, and was starting to get wet here in Kula…and is continuing now. Nonetheless, it was really fun being up higher, and I enjoyed my time as I always do, when I deviate from my normal daily work schedule.

We’ve now pushed into the early evening hours at 520pm, under partly cloudy skies, light breezes…and an air temperature of 75.4 degrees. A new part of our weather this evening, compared to earlier in the day, is the arrival of some high cirrus clouds. These may light up colorfully at sunset, although I expect that they may be gone by Tuesday morning’s sunrise.


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 tropical storm Cristina…becoming hurricane Cristina later Wednesday or early Thursday.


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 Thursday 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 has spun up 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).