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

85  Lihue, Kauai
88  Honolulu, Oahu
86  Molokai
89  Kahului, Maui
88  Kailua Kona
84  Hilo, Hawaii

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


0.16  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.17  Tunnel RG, Oahu
0.10  Molokai 1, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.08  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.26  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Friday evening:

24  Port Allen, Kauai

27  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
31  Molokai
35  Lanai
36  Kahoolawe
31  Kahului AP, Maui

30  PTA Keamuku, 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




http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/tpac/vis-l.jpg
Satellite image showing gradually weakening
tropical storm Karina far to the east-southeast


http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/EP11/refresh/EP1114W5_NL+gif/204735W5_NL_sm.gif


Here’s a real time wind profiler showing retired
Julio to Hawaii’s north, and
weakening Karina far to the east
…the area closer to the southeast of
the islands is a tropical disturbance, which may become a tropical

depression within the next two days –
it has a medium chance


Trade winds…strengthening into the weekend – carrying just a few
windward showers


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



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative
~~~




Strengthening trade winds, with generally fine weather…along with a few windward showers at times. 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. We have moderately strong high pressure systems located to the northwest and northeast of the state. Post-tropical cyclone Julio, which is just a remnant low pressure system now, is located to the north of our islands, situated between these high pressure cells. Our trade winds will strengthen some…lasting into the new week ahead.

Satellite imagery shows a normal amount of clouds upstream of the islands...being carried our way on the trade winds. Looking at this larger looping satellite image, it shows mostly clear to partly cloudy skies over most of the state…while there are lots of thunderstorms far to the southwest, south, and southeast. There’s low clouds being carried our way, although the atmosphere is quite stable and dry…with any resultant windward showers remaining very limited through the weekend. Here’s the looping radar, showing a few showers moving across our island chain…almost exclusively along the north and east facing windward coasts and slopes…which will likely increase a touch tonight into Saturday morning.

Post-tropical cyclone Julio is dissipating to our north…while tropical storm Karina is weakening in the eastern Pacific. The islands continue to move through a long lasting trade wind weather pattern, with strengthening wind speeds expected into the weekend. We may see some increasing clouds and showers right after the weekend, most of which will take aim on our windward sides. Meanwhile,we aren’t out of the woods in terms of tropical cyclones moving into our central Pacific from the eastern Pacific. This means that we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for new activity to our southeast and east-southeast through the next week and longer. As a matter of fact, we have an area of disturbed weather, with a medium chance of developing into a tropical depression…which is in our central Pacific now. I’ll return with more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday Evening Film: 
For some reason I’ve been looking forward to seeing this one, I guess ever since I first saw the trailer. It certainly is a far cry from being the normal action thriller…that often frequents our local theaters. It just looked sweet and comfortable somehow, kind of quaint in some ways. The synopsis: In “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal) is a culinary ingénue with the gastronomic equivalent of perfect pitch. Displaced from their native India, the Kadam family, led by Papa (Om Puri), settles in the village of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in the south of France. Filled with charm, it is both picturesque and elegant – the ideal place to settle down and open an Indian restaurant, the Maison Mumbai. That is, until the chilly chef proprietress of Le Saule Pleureur, a Michelin starred, classical French restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Academy Award (R)-winner Helen Mirren), gets wind of it. Her icy protests against the new Indian restaurant a hundred feet from her own, escalate to all out war between the two establishments – until Hassan’s passion for French haute cuisine and for Mme. Mallory’s enchanting sous chef, Marguerite (Charlotte Le Bon), combine with his mysteriously delicious talent to weave magic between their two cultures and imbue Saint-Antonin with the flavors of life that even Mme. Mallory cannot ignore. At first Mme. Mallory’s culinary rival, she eventually recognizes Hassan’s gift as a chef and takes him under her wing. ~~~ Here’s the trailer, I’ll let you know what I thought early Saturday morning.

~~~ Here’s video footage of the Big Island…showing some of the destruction that recent tropical storm Iselle did to the southern part of that island! [Full screen]



World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


1.)  Early morning visible satellite images indicate that the shower activity associated with an area of low pressure centered between the west coast of Africa and the Cape Verde Islands has become disorganized. Although the potential for tropical cyclone formation has diminished considerably, the low could still produce a few squalls over the Cape Verde Islands today as it drifts west-northwestward.


Here’s what the computer models are showing, with a satellite image of this area being referred to as Invest 95L.


* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...20 percent * Formation chance through 5 day...low...20 percent


Here’s a
satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea:
There are no active tropical cyclones

Gulf of Mexico:
There are no active tropical cyclones

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 storm 11E (Karina) remains active in the northeast Pacific, located about 860 miles west-southwest of the west-southern tip of Baja California – wind speeds 45 mph. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a satellite imagehere’s what the computer models are showing about this storm.


1.) A broad trough of low pressure located about 500 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, is producing a large but disorganized area of showers and thunderstorms. Gradual development of this system is possible through the middle of next week while it moves generally westward or west-northwestward at 5 to 10 mph.


* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...10 percent * Formation chance through 5 day...medium...50 percent


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


Central Pacific
There are no active tropical cyclones


1.)  An area of low pressure located about 1075 miles east-southeast Hilo, Hawaii, continues to produce showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions may support development in this area during the next two days. Here’s what the computer models are showing, along with a satellite image of what’s being referred to as Invest 94C.


* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…60 percent


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


Northwest 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: Bottling Water from Drought Stricken Areas The bottled water industry has grown exponentially the past few decades despite the fact tap water in the United States is generally safe. Never mind the fact bottled water producers have had more than their fair share of safety issues: bottled water has become accepted by consumers. While companies such as Nestlé insist they are taking responsibility for water stewardship and recycling, they also bottle their water at dubious sources, including those in drought stricken regions.


In fact, much of the bottled water produced in the U.S. comes from areas affected by drought. As an article recently posted on Mother Jones illustrates, four of the most popular bottled water brands—Aquafina, Dasani, Arrowhead and Crystal Geyser—come largely from California. True, farming takes up the lion’s share of water in the state, and bottled water in the grand scheme of things is not parching California on its own. But at a time when California is struggling to provide residents, industry and farmers adequate supplies of water, more citizens are asking why it is bottled here and shipped out of state.


Part of the problem is regulation, or lack of it. While most states monitor and restrict groundwater use to ensure they are not depleted, California lacks any such laws. The state’s legislature is finally starting to address this oversight, but even if the legislation in current form is passed, the state will long be in danger if the current drought conditions do not improve. Agencies in charge of groundwater basins will not have to issue sustainability plans until 2020, and those plans would not have to be fully implemented until 2040, according to the Washington Post. Over half of the bottled water churned in California and ending up in PET bottles is groundwater, through the bottling companies prefer the more exotic term, “spring water.”


Whether it is spring water, groundwater, or water coming from other municipal supplies, the point is that the state could be using this water for far better use than allowing the beverage companies to bottle it and mark it up to sell it at obscene profit margins. Despite the bottling industry’s bizarre claims that bottled water production is “ironically” low compared to that of processing other beverages, it still takes almost 1.7 liters of water to produce a liter of bottled water. Add the wasted plastic resulting from the petroleum that could be better used as fuel, plus the energy required to produce bottled water, and we have an oddly unsustainable industry despite these companies’ fervent claims to the contrary.


In the end, consumers need to be convinced tap water really is the cost-effective and safe alternative. While many bottling companies refuse efforts at transparency when it comes to disclosing the actual sources of their water, recent snafus such as the loss of drinking water in Toledo, Ohio (through no fault of the city) give bottlers more ammunition to pitch their product. Nevertheless, the strange spectacle of bottling water in a state entering its third year of drought should give us pause before we spurn the tap in favor of those brightly-labeled bottles.