Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / March 16-17, 2015

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

78 – 63  Lihue, Kauai
79 – 64  Honolulu, Oahu
77 – 60  Molokai AP
80 – 60  Kahului, Maui
82 – 68  Kailua Kona
81 – 66  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.07  Lihue, Kauai
0.13  Bellows, Oahu
0.02  Kamalo, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.15  Kaupo Gap, Maui
0.08  Kulani NWR, Big Island

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

12  Waimea Heights, Kauai – SW
13  Waianae Valley – SSW
09  Molokai – E
15  Lanai – NNE
16  Kahoolawe – NW
16  Maalaea Bay, Maui – NNE
22  Kohala Ranch, Big Island – NW

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



Stable low clouds locally across the islands…
low pressure systems to the north & northeast


Patchy low clouds…with large clear areas, and a
thin strip of high clouds just to our north

Scattered showers…over the northern waters

Here’s the looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

The Mauna Kea Summit…on the Big Island of Hawaii

Winds remaining relatively light during this first half of the new week…with localized volcanic haze.  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 and northwest. At the same time, we have low pressure systems well to the north through northeast of the islands. As a result of this pressure pattern, our winds will be lighter through Wednesday, this will allow some vog to build up over some parts of the state. At the same time, the light winds will prompt cool early morning temperatures through Wednesday. During the second part of this week, we’ll find easterly trade winds returning, strongest during the weekend time frame.

Clear to partly cloudy skies in general, although cloudy in the upcountry areas during the late mornings through early evenings…with just a few light showers into mid-week. Relatively dry conditions will prevail, with not many showers falling for the time being. Meanwhile, late season storms will pass by well to the north of the state, with an associated cold front approaching the state later Wednesday into Thursday. This will set the stage for an increase in showers along the windward sides as we move into the weekend. I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Monday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui: The skies are clear to partly cloudy over Maui early this morning. The low temperature was 44.4 degrees here at my Kula weather tower at 540am, while it was a warmer 62 degrees down at the Kahului airport, 68 at the Hana airport, and 43 degrees atop the Haleakala Crater at the same time. The warmest low temperature around the state was 73 degrees at Kailua-Kona. / It’s now a bit later in the morning, at 1050am, under cloudy skies up here in Kula, while it’s still sunny at lower elevations.

~~~ It’s now the middle of the afternoon at around 3pm, with clouds over both the Haleakala Crater, and the West Maui Mountains. Looking down towards the central valley, I’m beginning to see quite a bit of volcanic haze, and still lots of sunshine beaming down along the beaches. Here in Kula, it’s cloudy, a little breezy and cool, with an air temperature of 68 degrees.

~~~ We’re into the early evening hours now at 610pm, with quickly clearing skies, light breezes, and yes…quite a bit of volcanic haze (vog). Here at my upcountry Kula weather tower, the temperature rose nicely into the lower 70’s this afternoon, although is falling quickly…ready to sink into the upper 50’s as the sun sets…it’s already down to 58 just before an orange sunset, due to the haze in the air. It clouded up early today here at my place, and even had me wondering for a little while whether we might actually have a light shower, although it became apparent that that wasn’t going to happen. I anticipate that the low temperatures will be cool again Tuesday morning, and likely plunge into the 40’s again here at my place. / It’s now 840pm, and the temperature has fallen to 49.8 degrees already this evening!

>>> 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: Tropical Cyclone 03W (Bavi) remains active in the Northwest Indian Ocean, here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with the NOAA satellite image

>>> South Pacific Ocean: Tropical Cyclone 18P (Nathan) remains active in the Coral Sea, near Australia, here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with the NOAA satellite image

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

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

Interesting:  Invasive Carp Look for Love in all the Right Places – If you’re looking for love and there are ten bars in town, your chance of meeting someone is 10 per cent.  In a town with only one bar, your odds are 100 per cent.

The same thing happens in nature and is called landmarking. Butterflies and other species find mates by gathering at easily identifiable locations such as the tallest tree or mountain.

When invasive species like Asian carp engage in this highly efficient mating practice, the results can be disastrous, says Kim Cuddington, an ecology professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Waterloo. “For species like Asian carp, precautionary measures have to be extraordinary to prevent their establishment in the Great Lakes,” says Cuddington.

Landmarking affects endangered and invasive species

In a recent paper published in the journal Theoretical Ecology, Cuddington demonstrates how landmarking works and how it should play a key role in the way we approach population control – for both conserving endangered species and controlling invasive ones.

Cuddington turned to a branch of math called combinatorics, the most famous example of which is the birthday problem – how many people do you need before you have two people with the same birthday (the answer is 23).

Cuddington shows landmarking works the same way: What is the probability of a male finding a female at a fixed number of sites? The more prominent and rare the location is, the greater the chance a male will meet a female.

Only 10 Asian carp need to establish population in Great Lakes

This highly efficient mate-finding strategy allows species to reproduce even when population densities are impossibly low. In 2013, Cuddington showed that only ten Asian carp are needed to establish a population in the Great Lakes.

Perhaps most importantly, her research highlights how landmarking cannot be managed intuitively.

For example with an endangered species, if the number of landmarked sites is increased, the individuals will have a lower chance of finding a mate. In contrast, decreasing the number of landmarked sites, in an effort to keep invasive species from reproducing, has the opposite effect, and ensures individuals have a near certain chance of finding a mate.

In the case of the Asian carp, these species use river water quality and flow rate as landmarks and can therefore find a mate more easily than originally thought.