Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / September 24-25, 2014

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

86  Lihue, Kauai
91  Honolulu, Oahu – the record highest temperature for Wednesday was 93…back in 1966, 1991, 1995
88  Molokai
89  Kahului, Maui 
89  Kailua Kona
89  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.66  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.01  Waianae Valley, Oahu
0.01  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.01  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.01  Pohakuloa Kipuka Alala, Big Island

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

23  Port Allen, Kauai
30  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
24  Molokai
32  Lanai
28  Kahoolawe
27  Kapalua, Maui
35  PTA Keamuku, 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

Satellite imagery above shows scattered clouds over the islands…
with thunderstorms well to the south…and the approaching cloud
band that will bring showers to us…first on Kauai and Oahu

Moderately strong trade winds…lasting through the rest of the week

A substantial increase in windward showers is expected tonight
into Thursday night…possibly on into the weekend – as a cloud
band gets carried over us by the gusty trade winds…some of
these showers will extend over into the leeward sides at times

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

Wind Advisory…for the summits of the Big Island – until noon

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

>>> Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

1.) An elongated low pressure area located about 1100 miles east of
the Windward Islands is producing disorganized showers and
thunderstorms. Environmental conditions are not conducive for
significant development and tropical cyclone formation is unlikely.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...10 percent.

* Formation chance through 5 days...low...10 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 18E (Rachel) remains active, located about 455 miles south of the southern tip of Baja California…with sustained winds of near 50 mph. Here’s a graphical track map…along with a satellite image  

Here's what the computer models are showing for TS 18E

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: Tropical Storm 17W (Kammuri) remains active, located about 399 miles southeast of Iwo To, Japan…with sustained winds of near 40 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:  NEW YORK — At a historic summit that enlisted climate pledges from dozens of companies, President Obama called Tuesday on all United Nation members to support an agreement to curb global warming, saying “nobody gets a pass.” “We can only succeed in combating climate change if we are joined in this effort by every nation, developed and developing alike,” Obama told the U.N. General Assembly, adding “no nation can meet this global threat alone.”

U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon organized the day-long U.N. Climate Summit to build momentum for a new international accord to be finalized during U.N. talks next year in Paris. It drew representatives from more than 120 countries, but China and India — the first- and third-largest emitters of heat-trapping greenhouse gases — did not send their heads of state.

The event comes as global emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases continue to rise despite prior U.N. agreements to reduce them.

“The climate is changing faster than our efforts to address it,” Obama said, citing impacts such as “more frequent extreme weather events” like floods and hurricanes and record-breaking temperatures. He cited his administration’s push to curb carbon emissions from power plants, develop non-polluting renewable power and increase the fuel efficiency of its vehicles.

“We will do our part, and we will help developing nations do theirs,” he said, announcing technological assistance to countries most at risk. He said the U.S. and China, as the two largest emitters, have a “special responsibility” to lead.

The summit, which featured hours of speeches in varying languages, also drew climate commitments from countries and companies. For example, dozens announced an unprecedented partnership aimed at halving the loss of the world’s forests by 2020 and ending it by 2030.

The 32 countries, including the U.S., and 39 major companies, including Wal-Mart and McDonald’s, signed on to the “New York Declaration on Forests,” signaling the vital role that forests play in climate change. Trees store carbon dioxide but when cut down, they release the heat-trapping greenhouse gas to the atmosphere.

“There is no way to crack the climate issue without the forest issues,” said Charles McNeill, senior environmental policy adviser for the U.N. Development Program. He said the pledges are voluntary but, because they’re public, signatories won’t want to back out.

If the goal is met, the U.N. estimates the impact would be equivalent to taking every car in the world off the road. The participants, including dozens of environmental and indigenous groups, also pledge to restore more than 1 million square miles of forest worldwide by 2030.

The effort has the backing of wealthy countries including Canada, France and the European Union, but its success may be hampered by the absence of Brazil, home to much of the Amazon rainforest. Brazil did not sign on although three Brazilian states — Acre, Amapa and Amazonas — did.

The participants include many well-known consumer goods makers including Cargill, Nestle, General Mills, Kellogg’s, L’Oreal, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. They agree not to source products such as palm oil, soy, paper and beef from land that has been recently or illegally cleared of trees.

Also Tuesday, six global energy companies — but not the mega-U.S.-based ones like ExxonMobil and Chevron — agreed to work with more than a dozen countries to reduce their emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. They include Norway’s Statoil, Britain’s BG Group, Italy’s ENI, Mexico’s state-owned Pemex, Thailand’s PTT and Houston-based Southwestern Energy.

“We see this effort as starting small and growing over time,” says Nathaniel Keohane, a former Obama administration energy adviser and now vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund, a private group that’s leading the initiative on behalf of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. He says EDF has discussed it with major U.S. oil and natural gas companies, but he says “not every company is ready to do this right away.”

Keohane says emissions of methane can be 86 times as potent as carbon dioxide over a 20-year period but have not been an industry focus until recently. He says a large proportion of these emissions come from a small number of sources so fixing them can make a real difference.

Methane can leak into the atmosphere during the production or transmission of oil and natural gas. The six companies have agreed to identify uncontrolled sources of methane, take steps to fix them such as replacing leaky valves or other equipment and publicly report their experiences. They’re not committing to specific reduction targets.