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

83 – 67  Lihue, Kauai
81 – 67  Honolulu, Oahu
80 61  Molokai AP
84 – 64  Kahului, Maui
83 – 67  Kailua Kona
83 – 62  Hilo, Hawaii

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


0.01  Lihue, Kauai
0.01  Waianae Valley, Oahu
0.02  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Maui
0.01  Honaunau, Big Island


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


23  Lihue, Kauai – SW
21  Wheeler AAF, Oahu – SE
15  Molokai – SE
15  Lanai – SSW
08  Kahoolawe – SW
17  Kaupo Gap, Maui – SE

16  Kohala Ranch, Big Island – SW


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
Mostly clear across the state…with a
cold front approaching Kauai


http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Patches of low clouds, mostly over the offshore waters…
although Kauai will see clouds arriving tonight


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

A few showers although still mostly dry weather…
for the time being



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative
~~~


High Surf Warning
…north and west shores of Kauai,
Oahu, Molokai, and north shore of Maui, west
shores of the Big Island

High Surf Advisory…west shores of Maui, Lanai and
Kahoolawe, and for south shores of Oahu

Small Craft Advisory…for all waters except Maalaea Bay


Increasing south to southwest kona winds into Friday.
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 northeast, with a ridge extending southwest…to the south of the state now. At the same time, we have low pressure systems far to the north, with a cold front approaching Kauai.
The volcanic haze (vog) is coming up from the south of the islands, covering much of the state at the time of this writing. This cold front will move down into the state, bringing gusty southwest kona winds ahead of it into Saturday. The cold front will usher in a brief period of cooler north to northeasterly winds in its wake, followed by stronger trade winds through the middle of next week.

Rainfall will be sparse for the time being, with just a few showers here and there, followed by increasing showers early Friday into Saturday…first on Kauai and Oahu. Here’s the looping radar image showing very few showers across our area. Generally dry weather conditions should prevail into the night. This front is anticipated to arrive early Friday into Saturday, bringing an area of showers with it, most notably over Kauai and Oahu. It will weaken as it slides down through the rest of the state, bringing fewer showers into Sunday. The trade winds behind the front will bring showers to our windward sides into early next week…especially over the Big Island and Maui. Then drier weather will take over statewide after Monday…for several days into the new work week ahead.

Very large surf will continue to pound our north and west facing shores…although is now on the decline. The more westerly aspect of this swell will cause shadowing in places…while other areas will be more exposed, such as the west facing shores of the Big Island. Some south facing shores will also experience larger than normal waves. This swell is expected to diminish slowly into Friday. A reinforcement to this first swell is expected late Friday into Sunday, then surf will subside into next Monday. Tides will be running on the high side during this time, so run-up along our beaches may be higher than normal. Please be very careful when getting near the ocean in these areas! I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Thursday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here in Kula, Maui: It’s still too dark to see what kind of clouds exist on this Thursday morning, and if there’s volcanic haze in our air as well. The air temperature near its minimal reading, was 48.9 degrees, while at the same time down near the ocean in Kahului…it was a warmer 65 degrees. ~~~ It’s now light enough for me to take a look around, and I see mostly clear skies, although with some low clouds to the west from here. In addition, there’s lots of thick volcanic haze that’s moved over the island again this morning. The air temperature at 705am was 49.5 degrees, while it was 66 degrees near sea level at the Hana airport at the same time. ~~~ Now its a bit later in the morning, and I see that south to southerly winds are now beginning to blow. At the same time, they are carrying cumulus clouds through the central valley, from Maalaea Bay over towards Kahului and Paia. The air temperature has risen under the suns influence to 60.1 degrees. And yes, the vog is still thick and heavy, blocking our usual good views around the island. ~~~ We’re into the the mid-afternoon period, under partly cloudy skies, light Kona breezes, and thick volcanic haze. The air temperature was 70.9 degrees at near 250pm here at the 3,100 foot elevation in Kula…while the Kahului AP down near sea level was a warmer 84 degrees. ~~~ As we push quickly towards the sunset, our skies have become mostly clear again. The kona winds (southwest) aren’t all that impressive, although they have gotten breezy at times early today. The volcanic haze is still with us, although it may be tad thinner at the moment. The air temperature at near 6pm was 62.9 degrees.

>>> Here’s a weather product that I produced for the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) this morning


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:
There are no active tropical cyclones


>>> South Pacific Ocean: Tropical cyclone 07P (Niko) remains active, here’s the JTWC graphical track map for this strengthening tropical storm. Here’s the NOAA satellite image of this system…to the southeast of Papeete, Tahiti.

>>> North and South Indian Oceans:
There are no active tropical cyclones

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

 

Interesting:  India’s Tiger Population on the Rise – India’s tiger population has significantly increased according to the 2014-15 India tiger estimation report released today. Recent years have seen a dramatic rise in numbers– from 1,411 in 2006 to 2,226 in 2014.


The increase in the tiger population can be largely attributed to better management and improved protection within tiger reserves and other tiger bearing protected areas. Poaching remains the greatest threat to wild tigers today with tiger parts in high demand throughout Asia.


“These results confirm that more than half of the world’s tigers are in India, and thus, an up-to-date and precise estimation becomes imperative for assessing the success of future conservation efforts. This demonstrates that species conservation works, especially when it brings together political will, strong science and dedicated field efforts,” said Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF-India.


The report, Status of Tigers in India, 2014, published by the National Tiger Conservation Authority of the Government of India, highlights that the future of tigers in India depends on maintaining undisturbed core habitats for breeding tiger populations, habitat connectivity and protection from poaching of tigers and their prey.


“At a time when the global tiger population is under threat, it is heartening that India’s tiger numbers are increasing. This was not the situation a decade ago and I am proud that we have risen to the challenge and turned the situation around,” said Prakash Javadekar, Indian Minister for Environment and Forests, at an event marking the release of the figures.


Since 2010, all tiger countries have been working to double global tiger numbers, a goal known as Tx2. This new result from India coupled with the increase from the last census demonstrates that even in densely populated and economically booming Asia, ambitious targets for species recovery can be achieved. India’s tiger population in 2010 was estimated to be 1,706.


An essential part of Tx2 is for countries to count their tigers. India’s 2014 tiger estimation is the largest and most thorough tiger census ever undertaken; covering 18 states with more than 300,000 sq km surveyed including areas outside tiger reserves.