Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / May 5-6, 2015

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

83 – 72  Lihue, Kauai
82 – 70  Honolulu, Oahu
81 – 67  Molokai AP
83 – 66  Kahului, Maui
84 – 70  Kona Intl AP, Hawaii
75 – 67  Hilo, Hawaii

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

2.92  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.58  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.30  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.00  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.84  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

27  Lihue, Kauai – ENE
29  Honolulu AP, Oahu – ENE
32  Molokai – ENE
38  Lanai – NE
35  Kahoolawe – NE
35  Kapalua, 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 in the deeper tropics…low pressure
system and cold front to the north of the islands

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 locally

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

High Surf Advisory…in effect early Wednesday morning
through Thursday morning – all south facing shores

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Gusty trade winds will continue…likely picking up a notch Friday into the weekend. 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 large high pressure system located to the northeast of the state, with an associated ridge extending to our north from its center. 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 remain strong and gusty in our most exposed locations, especially around Maui County and the Big Island. The outlook shows no definite end to this long lasting trade wind episode, continuing more or less in the moderately strong realms through Thursday…then bucking-up some into early next week.

Showers will continue in an off and on manner…mostly along the windward coasts and slopes. 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 the trade winds continue unabated, we’ll find off and on windward showers well into the future. The overlying atmosphere is somewhat shower prone, which will prompt light to moderately heavy showers for the most part. There may be some showers carried over into the leeward sides at times, and a few falling in the upcountry areas during the afternoon hours on the Big Island. As the trade winds become stronger during the weekend, we’ll see some increase in our windward shower activity. 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 on Maui...Tuesday afternoon, a small cup of espresso in hand, or actually on the cup warmer beside this keyboard…here in Paradise. There are the usual scattered clouds around the mountains and places, although as I glance over towards the north shore, it looks almost totally cloud free. This is rather unusual as the trade winds are blowing 17 mph…with gusts of 27. According to the IR satellite image above, there does seem to be a small break in the incoming clouds, with the next patch not far offshore to the east. / As usual, as we slip into the early evening hours, the temperature up here on the slopes of the Haleakala Crater, is cooler than down near the beaches. Case in point, it was 73F here in Kula at 545pm…compared to 78 at the Kahului AP at the same time.

>>> 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 06W (Noul) remains active, and expected to strengthen further as it swings by offshore the northern Philippine Islands later in the week. 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: “Living shoreline” can enhance coastal resilience – The resilience of U.S. coastal communities to storms, flooding, erosion and other threats can be strengthened when they are protected by natural infrastructure such as marshes, reefs, and beaches, or with hybrid approaches, such as a “living shoreline” — a combination of natural habitat and built infrastructure, according to a new NOAA study.

The study, published in Environmental Science and Policy, assesses reports and peer-reviewed studies on the strengths and weaknesses of using built infrastructure, such as seawalls or dikes, natural infrastructure, or approaches which combine both. The study focuses on how these approaches help coastal communities reduce their risk of flooding and erosion, as well as additional benefits, and the tradeoffs when decision makers choose one type over another.

“When making coastal protection decisions, it’s important to recognize that built infrastructure only provides benefits when storms are approaching, but natural and hybrid systems provide additional benefits, including opportunities for fishing and recreation, all the time,” said Ariana Sutton-Grier, Ph.D., the study’s lead author, member of the research faculty at University of Maryland and NOAA’s National Ocean Service ecosystem science adviser. “Natural and hybrid systems can also improve water quality, provide habitat for many important species, and mitigate carbon going into our atmosphere.”

Threats like coastal erosion, storms and flooding can reshape the shoreline and threaten coastal property. With approximately 350,000 houses, business, bridges and other structures located within 500 feet of the nation’s shoreline, erosion is a problem many U.S. coastal communities are addressing.

Coastal flooding caused by extreme weather events and sea level rise is of growing global concern. As noted in this study, in 2012 there were 11 weather and climate billion-dollar disaster events across the United States, including superstorm Sandy, causing 377 deaths and more than $110 billion in damages. While only two of those were coastal events, Sandy alone was responsible for nearly sixty percent of the damages, at $65 billion (the other, Hurricane Isaac, caused $3 billion in damage). Nationally, these made 2012 the second costliest year on record for weather disasters. Only 2005, which incurred $160 billion in damages due in part to four devastating coastal hurricanes, saw more.

“Coastal resiliency and disaster risk reduction have become a national priority, and healthy coastal ecosystems play an important role in building resilient communities,” said Holly Bamford, Ph.D., acting assistant secretary of commerce for conservation and management at NOAA, and co-author of the study. “We know that sea levels are rising and that coastal communities are becoming more vulnerable to extreme weather- and climate-related events. Now is the time to invest in protection to secure our coasts, but we need to make those investments wisely and with a full understanding of the costs and benefits of different approaches.”

The study points out that there is still a need for built approaches in some locations. However, natural or hybrid approaches can be used in many cases.

Some natural ecosystems can maintain themselves, recovering after storm events and reducing the cost of upkeep. Natural habitats such as coral reefs, marshes and dunes can act as buffers for waves, storms and floods. Natural ecosystems also can, in many cases, keep pace with sea level rise, while built infrastructure does not adapt to changing conditions.

“There is a lot of potential innovation with hybrid approaches,” said Katya Wowk, Ph.D., NOAA senior social scientist, and the third co-author of the study. “Hybrid approaches, using both built and natural infrastructure, often provide more cost-effective flood risk reduction options and alternatives for communities when there is not enough space to use natural coastal protection alone.”

Hybrid approaches, such as combining some habitat restoration with openable flood gates or removable flood walls, provide benefits while also providing more storm and erosion protection than natural approaches alone. The study highlights hybrid approaches in the New York City metro area and in Seoul, South Korea, to deal with their monsoon flooding events.

“One of the challenging aspects is that these approaches are very new, so we are still learning what works best in which situations and under what circumstances,” said Wowk.

The authors suggest that every location where hybrid and natural approaches are being implemented provide opportunities for monitoring so we can learn as much as possible about each approach, including longer-term cost effectiveness.

“There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution when it comes to what is best for a community in providing coastal protection from flooding,” said Bamford. “We all have to work to innovate, test, monitor, and develop a better suite of options that includes more natural and hybrid infrastructure alternatives for providing coastal protection to communities around the world.”