Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / October 8-9, 2014

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

87  Lihue, Kauai
91  Honolulu, Oahu – record high temperature for Wednesday 92 degrees…in 1984, 2004
87  Molokai
90  Kahului, Maui – record high temperature for Wednesday 92 degrees…in 1979, 1997, 2004
88  Kailua Kona
83  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.88  Puu Opae, Kauai
0.06  Niu Valley, Oahu
0.05  Molokai 1, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.05  Kahoolawe
1.10  Ulupalakua, Maui
0.68  Pahoa, Big Island

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

10  Poipu, Kauai
20  Makua Range, Oahu
21  Molokai
29  Lanai
31  Kahoolawe
16  Kaupo Gap, Maui
23  Upolu AP, 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

We find clear to partly cloudy skies, with some cloudy areas
over the islands, along with a streak of high cirrus clouds
over the Big Island

The trade winds will become stronger Thursday-Friday…
into the weekend and beyond

The returning trades will bring back windward showers
through the weekend…with a chance of heavier rains
arriving early next week – with possible thunderstorms

High Surf Advisory…north and west shores of Kauai, Oahu,
Molokai, and north shores of Maui – from 6pm this evening
through 6am Saturday

Small Craft Wind Advisory…for large seas and stronger
trade winds – from 6pm this evening through 6pm Saturday

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

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

Disorganized showers and thunderstorms located several hundred
miles northeast of the northern Leeward Islands are associated with
a broad surface low pressure area and an upper-level low.
Environmental conditions could become a little more conducive for
gradual development of this system as a tropical or subtropical
cyclone during the next few days while the surface low moves
northwestward or north-northwestward at about 10 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...medium...30 percent 

* Formation chance through 5 days...medium...40 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.

>>> Eastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

An area of low pressure located near the Pacific coast of
Nicaragua is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms.
Gradual development of this system is possible through the weekend
while it drifts west-northwestward.  Regardless of development,
this system will produce locally heavy rains over portions of
Central America during the next couple of days.

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

* Formation chance through 5 days...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.

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

>>> Central Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:  Super Typhoon 19W (Vongfong) remains active, located approximately 384 NM south-southeast of Kadena AB…with sustained winds of near 150 mph…with gusts to near 184 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: Tropical Cyclone 03B (Hudhud)  remains active, located approximately 516 NM south of Kolkata, India, Bangladesh…with sustained winds of near 69 mph…with higher gusts. Here’s a graphical track map…along with a satellite image

Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)

Interesting:  Sea Turtles in Hawaii getting tumors and we are the cause – Hawai’i’s sea turtles are afflicted with chronic and often lethal tumors caused by consuming non-native algae, “superweeds,” along coastlines where nutrient pollution is unchecked. The disease that causes these tumors is considered the leading cause of death in endangered green sea turtles. The new research was just published in the scientific journal PeerJ.

Turtles that graze on blooms of invasive seaweeds end up with a diet that is rich in a particular amino acid, arginine, which promotes the virus that creates the tumors. Scientists at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and their NOAA colleague estimate that adult turtles foraging at high-nutrient grazing sites increase their arginine intake 17—26 g daily, up to 14 times the background level.

“For years, local ocean lovers have known that our green turtles have had awful tumors on their heads, eyes and front flippers,” said UH Manoa Marine Biology Professor Celia Smith, who worked with Kyle S. Van Houton of NOAA’s Turtle Research Program on this study. “Many hypotheses were offered to explain the tumors, but we kept coming back to the observation that urban reefs – those near dense populations – are the sites with greater numbers of sick turtles. We had no mechanism for this disease.”

More than 60 percent of turtles in Kane’ohe Bay have been observed to bear tumors. Kihei, Maui, has been called a “ground zero” for fibropapillomatosis, the disease that is caused by a herpes virus and manifests as tumors in turtles. Humans appear unaffected by the disease.

Van Houtan and colleagues previously described an epidemiological link between tumors and coastal eutrophication, that is, the enrichment of coastal waters with nutrients from land-based sources of pollution such as wastewater or agricultural fertilizers. This new study analyzed the actual tissues from tumored green turtles and the amounts of arginine in the dominant algae forage species from across Hawai’i.

The analysis revealed remarkably high levels of arginine in tissues of invasive seaweeds harvested under nutrient-rich conditions, such as those affected by nitrogen from land-based pollution. These are the same conditions that promote algal blooms. The non-native algae “superweeds” grow so quickly when fertilized that some can double their weight in a period of two days.