Air Temperatures The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday…along with the minimum temperatures Saturday:

79 – 64  Lihue, Kauai
82 – 66  Honolulu, Oahu
78 71  Molokai AP
81 – 63  Kahului, Maui
84 – 69  Kailua Kona
77 – 67  Hilo, Hawaii

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


0.08  N Wailua ditch, Kauai
0.29  Kahana, Oahu
0.13  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.23  Hana AP, Maui
0.38  Waiakea Uka, Big Island


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


18  Mana, Kauai
22  Makua Range, Oahu
17  Molokai
31  Lanai
27  Kahoolawe      
10  Kaupo Gap, Maui

24  Kealakomo, 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/cpac/ir4.jpg


http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif


Our trade winds will remain active, with light showers
falling along the windward sides locally, just a couple
over the leeward sides…nice weather this weekend for
the most part

The computer models are suggesting much lighter winds
Monday and Tuesday…until the trade winds return
with their associated windward showers…around
Wednesday onwards – possible cold front next weekend

High Surf Advisory…north and west shores of the main
Hawaiian Islands – except the Big Island / Small Craft
Wind Advisory…for large northwest swell, and locally
generated wind waves


 


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative
~~~




The trade winds will remain active…with much lighter winds as we move into Monday and Tuesday. 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 high pressure systems in the areas east…and to the northwest, which continues to move in our direction. At the same time, we have low pressure systems far to the northeast, north and northwest of the state. The trade winds will continue to pass over the islands…although gradually lose strength as we move through Sunday. These gradually lighter trade winds will then give way to much lighter breezes right after the weekend for a couple of days. The trade winds will return around next Wednesday…continuing for several days.

Skies have become mostly clear over the central islands….with just some windward clouds and showers falling elsewhere. Here’s the looping radar image showing light showers falling over the ocean, and into the windward sides in only a few places at the time of this writing. The windward sides will pick up most of our limited shower activity, although we’ll continue moving into a relatively dry period. In sum: continued trade winds becoming lighter, a few off and on passing windward showers, and nice weather along our leeward sides of the islands. We’ll find much lighter winds Monday and Tuesday, with spotty afternoon upcountry showers, followed by the trade winds and windward showers at times by mid-week. We may see a cold front bring showers to our islands, especially the windward sides next weekend…stay tuned. I’ll be back with updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday Evening Film:
As usual, there were several films that looked good, and were drawing me into the theater, enough in fact that I was having a little difficulty deciding which to see. I talked to my neighbor Jeff, and another lady friend of ours, and we came up with one called Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Michael Papajohn and Riz Ahmed…among many others. The synopsis: Nightcrawlers is a pulse-pounding thriller set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Lou Bloom, a driven young man desperate for work who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling — where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Rene Russo as Nina, a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou thrives. In the breakneck, ceaseless search for footage, he becomes the star of his own story.

The critics are giving this film a top notch 95% rating, while the viewers are coming in a little lower at 87%. As the film ended, everyone in our group seemed to let out a little gasp, perhaps with relief that this intense film was over? Personally, I loved the film, and immediately, although a little under my breath perhaps, gave a B+. Our lady friend was a little disgusted, and spat out a C-, while Jeff was barely able to give it a B-. We all went out for a beer afterwards, and as we let the film sink in and talked it over, the grades gradually rose a little. I was almost ready to lift my rating to A-, while others finally came up more towards a soft B grade.  This film is not a light weight piece of work, full of crime scenes and car crashes…painting a pretty grim picture of modern society. As one critic put it: “Glides out of the darkness and seizes you by the throat.”
I liked every part of it, keeping me on the edge of my seat throughout, just where I like to be while watching a hard core film like this. This trailer is not for everyone, its got a couple of rather gnarly parts, although it’s not all that bad…it certainly gives you an inside peek at the flavor of this film.
 

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


>>>
Atlantic Ocean:
The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.


Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea:
The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.


>>> Gulf of Mexico:
The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.


Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico.

>>> Eastern Pacific: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 North Pacific hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on May 15, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.


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
: The central north Pacific hurricane season has officially ended. Routine issuance of the tropical weather outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, special tropical weather outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.


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


>>>
Northwest Pacific Ocean:
Typhoon 22W (Hagupit) remains active, soon moving through the Philippine Islands. Here’s a JTWC graphical track map…along with a NOAA 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: Arabian Sea Humpback Whales Isolated for 70,000 Years – Scientists from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), the Environment Society of Oman, and other organizations have made a fascinating discovery in the northern Indian Ocean: humpback whales inhabiting the Arabian Sea are the most genetically distinct humpback whales in the world and may be the most isolated whale population on earth. The results suggest they have remained separate from other humpback whale populations for perhaps 70,000 years, extremely unusual in a species famed for long distance migrations.


Known for its haunting songs and acrobatics, the humpback whale holds the record for the world’s longest mammal migration; individuals have been tracked over a distance of more than 9,000 kilometers between polar feeding areas and tropical breeding areas.


“The epic seasonal migrations of humpbacks elsewhere are well known, so this small, non-migratory population presents a wonderful and intriguing enigma,” said WCS researcher and study co-author Tim Collins. “They also beg many questions: how and why did the population originate, how does it persist, and how do their behaviors differ from other humpback whales?”


Previous studies on humpback whales, including several published by WCS, have revealed a great deal of population structure among humpback whales of the Northern Hemisphere and many areas of the Southern Hemisphere, particularly on breeding grounds. At the ocean basin scale, scientists are gaining an understanding of humpback whale gene flow, including in the Southern Indian Ocean. The dynamics and movements of animals in the Arabian Sea, however, are poorly understood.


“We have invested lots of energy working to clarify the population structure of several large whale species around the world,” said Dr. Howard Rosenbaum, Director of WCS’s Ocean Giants Program and senior author on the study. “The levels of genetic differences for Arabian Sea humpback whales are particularly striking; they are the world’s most distinct population of humpback whales and might even shed some light on the environmental factors that shape cetacean populations.”