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

80 – 70  Lihue, Kauai
81 – 64  Honolulu, Oahu
80 – 62  Molokai AP
81 – 64  Kahului, Maui
81 – 73  Kailua Kona
79 – 64  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.31  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.08  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.01  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.48  Mahinahina, Maui
0.58  Kainaliu, Big Island


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


23  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
20  Bellows, Oahu – NE
25  Molokai – E
27  Lanai – NE
30  Kahoolawe – NE
28  Kapalua, Maui – NE
30  Kealakomo, Big Island – ENE


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

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
An approaching cold front to the northwest

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Low clouds along the windward sides and around the
mountains…generally clear to partly cloudy along
the leeward beaches


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
A few windward showers here and there



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 


High Surf Advisory…north and west shores of Kauai,
Oahu, and north shores of Molokai and Maui


Gradually lighter trade winds…turning south and southeast into Thursday. 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 to the northeast of the state, with a ridge of high pressure extending southwest…to the north of Hawaii. At the same time, we have low pressure systems to the north, with a very long cold front over the waters to the northwest of the island chain. The winds will become lighter from the south to southeast by mid-week, which may bring volcanic haze (vog) back over our area briefly. The  cold front to our northwest will move over the state Thursday into Friday, with generally light northwest winds accompanying it. Looking further ahead, light trade winds will fill back into the state by the weekend, before our winds veer to the south and southwest again…ahead of another stronger cold front approaching the state early next week. 

Generally nice weather…especially along the leeward beaches. Here’s the looping radar image showing just a few light showers…which are being carried our way on the trade winds. The weakening trades will continue to bring a few light showers to our windward sides…although not many. Then drier weather will take over statewide through mid-week. The light winds will limit shower activity along the windward sections, as they gravitate towards the upcountry interior areas during the afternoon hours…although nothing very generous. The latest computer model output continues to show another weak cold front approaching Kauai Thursday…which should bring a a modest increase in light showers into Friday. As the trade winds return by the weekend, showers will shift back over to the windward sides. A more robust cold front will likely bring more widespread rainfall early next week. I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Tuesday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here in Kula, Maui: It’s mostly clear overhead on this Tuesday morning, at least here on the leeward slopes of the Haleakala Crater. The air temperature near its minimal reading this morning was 46.2 degrees, while at the same time down near the ocean in Kahului…it was a warmer 65 degrees. ~~~ It’s now 1220pm, under partly cloudy skies, light breezes…and an air temperature of 68 degrees. ~~~ We’re now into the early evening hours, with not much change compared to the afternoon. Most of the clouds are generally over and around the mountains, and along the windward sides too. The leeward beaches have the most favorably inclined weather conditions as we head into the night. The air temperature, as we head towards the sunset hour, was 66.2 here in Kula, while it was warmer as usual down at the ocean near the Kahului airport…which was 77 degrees at about the same time. The Haleakala Crater temperature was a cooler 55 degrees, while out in Hana it was 73…and finally Kapalua was running 75 degrees. ~~~ It’s now well after dark, with clear skies, lots of stars, and completely calm winds. The air temperature has dropped down to 53.6 degrees…on its way down into the 40F’s again by Wednesday 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: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> North and South Indian Oceans: Tropical cyclone 08S (Diamondra) remains active, here’s the JTWC graphical track map for this strengthening tropical storm. Here’s the Navy satellite image of this system…to the south-southeast of Diego Garcia in the South Indian Ocean.

Tropical cyclone 09S (Eunice) 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 southwest of Diego Garcia in the South Indian Ocean.

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

 

Interesting: Electric range-extended trucks can double fuel economy – When it comes to electric vehicles, we hear plenty about electric cars being launched into the consumer market but not too much about commercial vehicles. Maybe that’s because not too many people have to concern themselves with what type of delivery or garbage truck they are going to buy next. Nevertheless, such considerations matter, since the electrification of commercial fleets promises considerably larger efficiency gains than cars.


Four-year-old California company Wrightspeed, started by Tesla co-founder Ian Wright, has developed a technology that zeros in on a specific niche of the commercial fleet market, bringing both fuel savings and emissions mitigation for commercial fleet operators.


Coming from his background at Tesla, Wright remains convinced of the benefits of going electric, but he recognizes that EVs can be perceived as expensive in some markets. In starting Wrightspeed, he says the mission was to figure out, “How do you get more bang for your buck?” And the answer was to just focus on building power-trains for trucks.


Staying true to vehicle electrification, Wrightspeed’s power train combines powerful electric motors and batteries, but in order to cover the distances commercial trucks run, the power-train incorporates a gas-turbine range extender; the whole package is then retrofitted into vehicles from truck OEMs. While the company sources the gas-turbine extender and batteries from outside, the electric motors, inverters, transmission and control electronics are all of the company’s own design.


The nearest automobile equivalent using range extending technology is the Chevrolet Volt, and Wrightspeed’s solution shares a similar concept whereby the range-extending motor (although of an entirely different design) acts as an electricity generator for the vehicle batteries, rather than driving the wheels directly.


Of course, since Wrightspeed’s power-trains are going into trucks, the whole thing is on a much beefier scale. Wright told me, “Our motors have four times the power-to-weight ratio than anything else available.” Additionally, like most EVs, their technology uses regenerative braking — which puts energy back into the batteries every time the brakes are applied.


Consequently, Wrightspeed’s technology lends itself particularly well to commercial vehicle applications where frequent start-stop cycles occur — a feature common with a typical package delivery or garbage truck. “A thousand horsepower easily goes into the brakes of a commercial truck,” when such vehicles are brought to a stop, says Wright. In a conventional truck, that energy is wasted, but when you consider 1,000 horsepower is the equivalent of about fives times the peak horsepower of most family cars, that’s worth capturing.


The energy captured by regenerative braking is fed back into the lithium-ion phosphate batteries Wrightspeed uses — a battery chemistry particularly suitable for developing the high power necessary for their electric-drive motors. When the batteries are depleted, the range extender kicks in which is calibrated to run constantly at the most efficient speed to generate the most power. A benefit of using a gas-turbine range extender is that it runs very quietly — considerably quieter than a diesel engine, Wright said, which is a worthy attribute when trundling through residential areas.


So, what does all this add up to in terms of efficiency? Wright told me the average garbage truck travels about 130 miles a day with around 1,000 hard stops, gulping down around 14,000 gallons of diesel a year in the process. Wrightspeed’s power-trains use less than half that amount of fuel, with the added benefit of very significant emissions reductions.


This last point is very important. California’s strict standards on vehicle emissions means that a truck purchased as recently as 2006 is likely no longer compliant with emissions regulations today. By comparison, Wright says their range extending power-trains achieve a 3.5 times improvement over what California currently demands.


This allows the company to potentially tap into a lucrative market of retrofitting older existing vehicles. Wright explained to me that retrofitting commercial vehicles for emissions compliance is a $5 billion industry. And while their power-trains are expensive up front, retrofitting that 2006 truck, say, works out to be about half as expensive as upgrading to a brand new one. On top of that are the ongoing fuel savings: Wright says their technology is cost-effective for vehicles using 4,000 gallons or more of fuel per year.


Wrightspeed’s first customer was Fed-Ex, which began purchasing power-trains for some of its vehicles about a year ago. Additionally, the company is working with a north Bay Area garbage collection company, which approached Wrightspeed after recognizing its power-trains would be an optimal fit for the company’s fleet.