Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / May 3-4, 2015

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

82 – 73  Lihue, Kauai
83 – 69  Honolulu, Oahu
81 – 66  Molokai AP
83 – 70  Kahului, Maui
85 – 72  Kona Intl AP, Hawaii
81 – 66  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.22  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.04  Kii, Oahu
0.00  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.64  Puu Kukui, Maui
1.76  Glenwood, Big Island

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

35  Port Allen, Kauai – ENE
33  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
30  Molokai – E
30  Lanai – NE
35  Kahoolawe – NE
30  Kahului AP, Maui – NE
31  South Point, Big Island – NE

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



Lots of high cirrus clouds moving by to our south

Patches of low clouds being carried our way on the trade winds…
along with the bright, icy cirrus to our south

A few showers are falling over the nearby ocean…spreading
onto the windward sides at times

Here’s the looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands

Small Craft Advisory…locally strong trade winds
over the windiest coastal and channel waters
around Maui County and the Big Island

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Moderately strong trade winds continue…right on into the new week ahead. 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 located to the north-northeast of the state, with associated ridges extending to our north from their centers. As a result of these high pressure features, and low pressure well to the south, our winds will come in from the trade wind direction. These trade winds will still be gusty in our exposed locations, especially around Maui County and the Big Island. The outlook shows no definite end to this long lasting trade wind episode… continuing at the moderately strong levels through the next week at least.

A few showers will continue here and there…although nothing unusual. The windward sides will see the most notable shower activity. Most of the incoming showers will arrive during the cooler night and early morning hours. As we get into the new work week, and the trade winds increase a touch, we’ll likely find a modest increase in windward showers at times. The overlying atmosphere is forecast to remain stable however, which will limit shower activity from becoming heavy. I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday Evening Film: There were the usual available films down in Kahului, although none of them were looking all that interesting. Jeff had a look to see if any interested him, and he found nothing much. I gave a second look, and came up with the same results. However, we both wanted to see a film, I mean it was Friday after all. We came up with one called Insurgent, starring Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet, Theo James, Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, Ray Stevenson, Suki Waterhouse…among many others. The synopsis: Insurgent raises the stakes for Tris as she searches for allies and answers in the ruins of a futuristic Chicago. Tris (Woodley) and Four (James) are now fugitives on the run, hunted by Jeanine (Winslet), the leader of the power-hungry Erudite elite. Racing against time, they must find out what Tris’s family sacrificed their lives to protect, and why the Erudite leaders will do anything to stop them. Haunted by her past choices, but desperate to protect the ones she loves,Tris with Four at her side, faces one impossible challenge after another, as they unlock the truth about the past and ultimately the future of their world.

I’ve known about this film for quite some time, and saw the first film in this trilogy. As it often turns out, Jeff and I enjoyed this film, not greatly mind you, but certainly well enough…I more so than Jeff to be true. This is one more example of a major film series, starring a strong female lead. As I scan my brain for positive things to say about this film, I’m not coming up with much, on the other hand…there wasn’t much wrong with it either. It was just a film that we sat through, watched with fairly mild interest, and then walked away from. Sure, there were lots of special effects and stuff, and even some pretty cool scenes, although nothing had me jumping out of my seat. When we got out of the theater, and were discussing the film as usual, the subject of grading came up. This is one of those films that’s tough to rate, and as a matter of fact, neither one of us could come up with a fitting grade…so we’re both going with N/R. Am I sorry I saw the film, no, am I happy to have seen the film, mostly. Would I heartily recommend this film to you folks, no, I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that. Here’s the trailer in cause you’re interested in taking a quick look.

Saturday Evening Film: I had no plans to see another film this weekend, although it just sort of happened. Jeff invited my neighbors and I up to his new place to see yet another film. This one was called The River Why, starring Zach Gilford, Amber Heard, William Hurt, Kathleen Quinlan, William Devane and Dallas Roberts…among others. The synopsis: Matt Leutwyler directs this adaptation of David James Duncan’s novel surrounding a young man’s (Zach Gilford) search for a rainbow trout. William Hurt co-stars as the man’s father, while Amber Heard fills the role of the character’s tomboy love interest. This was a nice film, although very slow paced to say the least. If one were looking for some sort of very interesting story, or a major plot…you wouldn’t find it in this film. I liked the actors, and the scenery was beautiful, although it wasn’t enough to give me much enthusiasm for the story line. I must admit that Amber Heard is very attractive, which offered some of the high points of the film. There were a couple of our group that fell asleep, and it wasn’t just because they were in very comfortable chairs. Nonetheless, I liked this film…it carried me along sufficiently. As for a grade, I would give it a B, although not a particularly strong B I’m afraid. Here’s the trailer, take a look if you have an extra few moments.

>>> 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 Storm 06W (Noul) remains active, and expected to strengthen further as it potentially takes aim on the northern Philippine Islands later in the new week ahead. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a satellite image. Here’s what the global models are showing for this developing tropical cyclone

>>> 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: Declining ‘large herbivore’ populations may lead to an ’empty landscape’ – The decline of the world’s large herbivores, especially in Africa and parts of Asia, is raising the specter of an “empty landscape” in some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, according to a newly published study.

Many populations of animals such as rhinoceroses, zebras, camels, elephants and tapirs are diminishing or threatened with extinction in grasslands, savannahs, deserts and forests, scientists say.

An international team of wildlife ecologists led by William Ripple, Oregon State University distinguished professor in the College of Forestry, conducted a comprehensive analysis of data on the world’s largest herbivores (more than 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds, on average), including endangerment status, key threats and ecological consequences of population decline. They published their observations today in Science Advances, the open-access online journal of Science magazine.

The authors focused on 74 large herbivore species – animals that subsist on vegetation – and concluded that “without radical intervention, large herbivores (and many smaller ones) will continue to disappear from numerous regions with enormous ecological, social, and economic costs.” Ripple initiated the study after conducting a global analysis of large-carnivore decline, which goes hand-in-hand, he said, with the loss of their herbivore prey.

“I expected that habitat change would be the main factor causing the endangerment of large herbivores,” Ripple said. “But surprisingly, the results show that the two main factors in herbivore declines are hunting by humans and habitat change. They are twin threats.”

The scientists refer to an analysis of the decline of animals in tropical forests published in the journal BioScience in 1992. The author, Kent H. Redford, then a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Florida, first used the term “empty forest.” While soaring trees and other vegetation may exist, he wrote, the loss of forest fauna posed a long-term threat to those ecosystems.

Ripple and his colleagues went a step further. “Our analysis shows that it goes well beyond forest landscapes,” he said, “to savannahs and grasslands and deserts. So we coin a new term, the empty landscape.” As a group, terrestrial herbivores encompass about 4,000 known species and live in many types of ecosystems on every continent except Antarctica.

The highest numbers of threatened large herbivores live in developing countries, especially Southeast Asia, India and Africa, the scientists report. Only one endangered large herbivore lives in Europe (the European bison), and none are in North America, which, the authors add, has “already lost most of its large mammals” through prehistoric hunting and habitat changes.