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

86  Lihue, Kauai
91  Honolulu, Oahu – the record high temperature for Monday was 93 degrees back in…1985
87  Molokai
87  Kahului, Maui
87  Kailua Kona
88  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.69  Kilohana, Kauai
1.09  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.19  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.74  Haiku, Maui
0.36  Ahumoa, Big Island

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

14  Poipu, Kauai
24  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
21  Molokai
25  Lanai
 14  Kahoolawe
09  Hana, Maui
23  PTA Range 17, 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://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/tpac/ir4-animated.gif


http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg


The satellite imagery above shows a low pressure system to
the northeast of Hawaii, with its associated weak cold front
draping south to near the Big Island

Light winds with clouds and localized showers…hot and
humid weather during the days…especially near sea level

High Surf Advisory…south facing shores



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~




Light winds will remain in place across the islands. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profiler of the central Pacific. We find a high pressure system far to the northwest of the islands. There’s another high pressure system to the east-northeast. At the same time, there are low pressure systems to the northeast of the islands…with an associated early season cold front/trough of low pressure reaching down over the Big Island. The winds will remain light through the next several days, keeping muggy conditions over the area…until the trade winds rebound to some degree during the second half of the week.
Satellite imagery shows clear to partly cloudy skies over the islands. Looking at this larger looping satellite image, it shows thunderstorms well offshore to the southeast and southwest of Hawaii. The early season frontal cloud band is now stalled over and around the Big Island. The light winds over our region, in conjunction with the daytime heating of the islands, will also prompt afternoon clouds and some showers locally…over the upcountry slopes for the most part. During those times when light trade winds return, we should see a few windward biased showers at time too…mostly during the nights. Here’s the looping radar, showing a few showers moving across our island chain at the time of this writing. I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Monday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

 

>>> Atlantic Ocean: Hurricane 06L (Edouard) remains active in the Atlantic, located about 420 miles east of Bermuda…with sustained winds of near 115 mph. Here’s a graphical track map…along with a satellite image – Category 3 hurricane


Here's what the computer models are showing for major hurricane 06L.


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 15E (Odile) remains active over Baja California…with sustained winds of near 60 mph. Here’s a graphical track map…along with a satellite image. Interesting real time video

Here’s what the computer models are showing for tropical storm Odile.


Tropical Storm 17E (Polo)is now active about 285 miles south of Acapulco, Mexico …with sustained
winds of near 40 mph. Here’s a graphical track map...along with a satellite image.  

Here’s what the computer models are showing for tropical storm Polo.

1.)  A tropical wave is forecast to move off the west coast of Africa on
Wednesday and produce an area of low pressure over the far eastern
Atlantic.  Conditions appear conducive for some development of this
system by late this week while it moves west-northwestward.

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


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


>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: Typhoon 15W (Kalmaegi) remains active in the South China Sea, located about 118 mile east of Hanoi, Vietnam…with sustained winds of near 81 mph. Here’s a graphical track map…along with a satellite image.


>>> 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:  Japan: ‘solar islands’ replace nuclear power – As Japan seeks to end reliance on nuclear power, one of the answers is floating ‘solar islands’, writes Jon Major. A solar island opened last year, and two additional plants have just been announced.


Two companies in Japan recently announced they are to begin building two large solar power islands that will float on reservoirs.


This follows smartphone maker Kyocera’s Kagoshima Nanatsujima Mega Solar power plant, the country’s largest at 70 megawatts, which opened in late 2013 and is found floating in the sea just off the coast of southern Japan.


The two new solar islands, to be built by Kyocera and commercial partners, will form a network of thirty 2MW stations – adding another 60MW of solar capacity.


The move comes as Japan looks to move on from the Fukushima disaster of 2011 and meet the energy needs of its 127m people without relying on nuclear power.


Shattered confidence in nuclear power


Before the incident around 30% of the country’s power was generated from nuclear, with plans to push this to 40%. But Fukushima destroyed public confidence in nuclear power, and with earthquakes in regions containing reactors highly likely, Japan is now looking for alternatives.


Solar power is an obvious solution for relatively resource-poor nations. It is clean, cost-competitive, has no restrictions on where it can be used and has the capability to make up for the energy shortfall.


A small fact that solar researchers love to trot out is that enough sunlight falls on the earth’s landmass around every 40 minutes to power the planet for a year. To put this another way, if we covered a fraction of the Sahara desert in solar panels we could power the world many times over.


The technology already exists, so producing enough solar power comes primarily down to one thing: space. For countries such as the USA with lots of sparsely populated land this is not an issue, and there have already been a large number of solar farms installed around the country.


For Japan, the answer is offshore


But Japan where space is limited, more inventive solutions are required. This is the principle reason behind the decision to move their solar power generation offshore.


While the land is highly congested, and therefore expensive, the sea is largely unused. It therefore makes a good degree of sense to use this space for floating power plants.