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

87  Lihue, Kauai
89  Honolulu, Oahu 
88  Molokai
89  Kahului, Maui 
87  Kailua Kona
87  Hilo, Hawaii 

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

1.99  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.41  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.37  Molokai
0.16  Lanai
0.04  Kahoolawe
1.63  Puu Kukui, Maui
2.31  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

23  Port Allen, Kauai
23  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
28  Molokai
35  Lanai
27  Kahoolawe
27  Kahului AP, Maui
28  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




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Satellite imagery shows clouds over some parts of the state…
which will drop a few showers, especially around the Big
Island…although with a drying trend through most of Sunday

The animated satellite picture above shows a counter-clockwise
rotating upper level low pressure to the south of the state

Heavy weather arrives early Monday for a couple of days – thanks
to a cold front and that upper level low pressure system – joining
forces then – causing heavy rain and thunderstorms into Tuesday

Trade winds easing up Sunday, becoming lighter from the
southeast as we move into the new week…possible voggy
conditions for a couple of days



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~




Moderately strong trade winds will continue, although gradually diminishing through this weekend…becoming lighter from the southeast by Monday. 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 moderately strong near 1026 millibar high pressure system to the northeast. Far to the northwest we see a storm low pressure system, which will send us a new northwest swell next week. We have an upper level low pressure aloft to the south of the state as well, which is destabilizing our overlying atmosphere to some degree. Our winds will be moderately strong, coming in from the trade wind direction…then tapering off to lighter southeasterlies Monday. These breezes could user in a period of voggy weather for a few days.
Satellite imagery shows clouds with their showers…mostly over the nearby ocean to our south. Looking at this larger looping satellite image, it shows an area of towering cumulus clouds and thunderstorms, offshore from the islands…although clipping some parts of the state at times. Here’s the looping radar, showing light to moderately heavy showers, with even a few heavy ones…most of which are over the ocean at the moment. The forecast continues to call for off and on windward shower Sunday. There may be localized flooding in areas where heavy rainfall extends over the islands. As we push into early Monday our winds will become lighter, sending us into a modified convective weather pattern…with the chance of more heavy rains, and possible thunderstorms. This rainy weather will last into Tuesday, and may trigger more flooding conditions in places. I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday Evening Film: Well, I ended up seeing another action film, as is often the case here on Maui, it’s usually that or kids films…and of course the comedies. This one was called The Equalizer, starring Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloe Grace Moretz, David Harbour and Melissa Leo…among many others. The synopsis: In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays McCall, a man who believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when McCall meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

~~~ As I thought, this was yet another heavy duty film, full of all the things that make these films popular with the theater going audiences. I guess if I had to choose one word to describe it, it would be brutal, with a vein of heart running through it in places. Denzel Washington was a super hero of sorts, while packing a violent wallop…being the good guy. It’s tough to grade these films, as they are so intense, but if I consider how it was advertised, and what it was suppose to be, it came in at B+ in my opinion. This is certainly not the type of film everyone is going to see, with most folks staying well away from it in fact. However, I thought it was very well done, and here’s the trailer…if you want to take a look.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

 

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


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: Category 1 hurricane 18E (Rachel) remains active, located about 475 miles west of the southern tip of Baja California…with sustained winds of near 80 mph. Here’s a graphical track map…along with a satellite image
 


Here's what the computer models are showing for hurricane 18E (Rachel)

 

Disorganized showers and thunderstorms extending from the coast of
southeastern Mexico southward for several hundred miles are
associated with a broad area of low pressure.  Environmental
conditions are expected to be conducive for gradual development, and
a tropical depression could form around the middle part of the week
while the system drifts west-northwestward or northwestward.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...20 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days...high...60 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: Tropical Storm 17W (Kammuri) remains active, located approximately 380 NM north-northeast of Chichi Jima…with sustained winds of near 52 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: ‘Transponders’ from Japan wash ashore along US West Coast – Northwest anglers venturing out into the Pacific Ocean in pursuit of salmon and other fish this fall may scoop up something unusual into their nets — instruments released from Japan called “transponders.”


These floating instruments are about the size of a 2-liter soda bottle and were set in the ocean from different ports off Japan in 2011-12 after the massive Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Researchers from Tattori University for Environmental Studies in Japan have been collaborating with Oregon State University, Oregon Sea Grant, and the NOAA Marine Debris Program on the project.


The researchers’ goal is to track the movement of debris via ocean currents and help determine the path and timing of the debris from the 2011 disaster. An estimated 1.5 million tons of debris was washed out to sea and it is expected to continue drifting ashore along the West Coast of the United States for several years, according to Sam Chan, a watershed health specialist with Oregon State University Extension and Oregon Sea Grant.


“These transponders only have a battery life of about 30 months and then they no longer communicate their location,” Chan said. “So the only way to find out where they end up is to physically find them and report their location. That’s why we need the help of fishermen, beachcombers and other coastal visitors.


“These bottles contain transmitters and they are not a hazardous device,” Chan added. “If you find something that looks like an orange soda bottle with a short antenna, we’d certainly like your help in turning it in.”


One of the first transponders discovered in the Northwest washed ashore near Arch Cape, Oregon, in March 2013, about 19 months after it was set adrift. The persons who found it reported it to Chan, who began collaborating with researchers in Japan.


Another transponder was found near the Haida Heritage Site, formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands — the same location where a Harley-Davidson motorcycle floated up on a beach in a shipping container long after being swept out to sea in Japan by the tsunami.


“These transponders have recorded a lot of important data that will help us better understand the movement of tsunami and marine debris throughout the Pacific Ocean,” Chan said. “Everyone’s help in recovering these instruments is greatly appreciated.”