Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / May 7-8, 2015

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

82 – 72  Lihue, Kauai
83 – 70  Honolulu, Oahu
80 – 68  Molokai AP
83 – 70  Kahului, Maui
84 – 72  Kona Intl AP, Hawaii
84 – 65  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.73  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.61  Schofield East, Oahu
0.40  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.01  Kahoolawe
0.16  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.45  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

29  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
32  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
32  Molokai – NE
33  Lanai – NE
45  Kahoolawe – NE
37  Maalaea Bay, Maui – NNW
32  Kohala Ranch, Big Island – SE

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



Low pressure system and a cold front well to the north of the islands…
large area of high cirrus clouds to our south and southwest

Showery low clouds being carried our way on the trade winds…along
with high cirrus moving by to our south

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…strong trade winds all coastal and
channel waters

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Gusty trade winds will continue…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 large high pressure systems located to the northeast and northwest of the state, with an associated ridge extending to our north. At the same time, there’s a low pressure well to the north, with its associated cold front draping down into the area northwest of Kauai. As a result of these high and low 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, blowing in the more or less in the moderately strong realms today…then increasing a notch Friday into the weekend onwards.

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, we’ll find off and on windward showers well into the future. The overlying atmosphere is relatively dry and stable, which will keep our showers in the light to moderately heavy range. There may be a couple of showers carried over into the leeward sides at times, and a few falling in the upcountry area during the afternoon hours on the Big Island and Maui. As the trade winds become stronger into the weekend, we’ll see a corresponding increase in windward showers Sunday into early next week. 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 on Maui...early Thursday morning before sunrise, skies are mostly clear, with just a few patches of clouds over the island. It’s another cool morning up here in Kula, with my outdoor temperature sensor reading 49.3F degrees. Since Kula is out of range of the incoming trade wind flow, blocked by the Haleakala Crater for the most part, our winds are light down slope breezes. Those high cirrus clouds that gave us a colorful sunset last evening are now gone, having slipped down over the Big Island and eastward.

– We’ve just shifted over into the early afternoon hours, with partly cloudy conditions covering most of the island. It’s cloudy here in Kula, and I can see lots of low clouds cover the West Maui Mountains too. The trade winds are active, although not as quick paced as they were earlier this week. I expect these trades to strengthen some Friday, and then perhaps more so during the weekend…and hold steady into next week. As for temperatures here at my place, it was a pleasant 75.7 degrees, while down at the Kahului AP, it was a warm 82 degrees. / Now at mid-afternoon, I see absolutely no clouds over along the windward side, at least from my perspective, while it’s still cloudy here in the upcountry area…and a few light drops falling.

– We’re now into the early evening hours, after a nice, very light shower here in Kula earlier in the afternoon. Looking around the rest of the island now, I see clear to partly cloudy conditions. Glancing at the satellite imagery above, it appears that the windward sides will be on the receiving end of some incoming showers tonight into early Friday morning. It was a nice day overall, although pretty cloudy in the upcountry areas, with the sun finally breaking out just before sunset. The air temperature here at my place was 68.2 degrees at around 620pm, while a warmer 77 degrees at the Kahului airport.

>>> 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

Sub-tropical Storm Ana has formed offshore from the southeast coast of the United States. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a NOAA satellite image. Here’s what the computer models are showing for this storm

>>> 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

Tropical Depression 07W is now active, and expected to gradually strengthen further…becoming a typhoon as it heads towards Pohnpei and then Guam. 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: How forests can end global hunger – Forests and forestry are essential to achieve global food security as the limits of boosting agricultural production are becoming increasingly clear, a new study published today reveals.

The findings are included in the most comprehensive scientific analysis to date on the relationship among forests, food and nutrition launched today in New York at a side event of the United Nations Forum on Forests.

The new report released by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), the world’s largest network of forest scientists, also underlines the need for the most vulnerable groups of society to have secure access to forest foods.

More than 60 renowned scientists from around the world collaborated on the peer-reviewed publication “Forests, Trees and Landscapes for Food Security and Nutrition. A Global Assessment Report”, which was coordinated by IUFRO on behalf of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF).

“This report reminds us of the vital role of forests in building food security. It makes a convincing case for multi-functional and integrated landscape approaches and calls for community level engagement to re-imagine forestry and agriculture systems”, says Thomas Gass, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

“Large-scale crop production is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, which may occur more frequently under climate change. Science shows that tree-based farming can adapt far better to such calamities.” says Christoph Wildburger, the coordinator of IUFRO’s Global Forest Expert Panels (GFEP) initiative. “We know that forests already play a key role in mitigating the effects of climate change. This report makes it very clear that they also play a key role in alleviating hunger and improving nutrition.”

“Forest foods often provide a safety net during periods of food shortages,” says Bhaskar Vira, University of Cambridge, and the chair of the Global Forest Expert Panel on Forests and Food Security, which compiled the report. “In the study, we reveal impressive examples which show how forests and trees can complement agricultural production and contribute to the income of local people, especially in the most vulnerable regions of the world.”

The benefits of forests and trees to nutrition are manifold:

* Tree foods are often rich in vitamins, proteins, and other nutrients and are associated with more diverse diets. For example, the iron content of dried seeds of the African locust bean and raw cashew nut are comparable with, or even higher than, that of chicken meat.

* Wild meat, fish, and insects are also important forest food sources. Insects are an especially cheap, abundant source of protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. Particularly in Southeast Asia, many forests and agroforests (tree-based farms) are managed by local communities specifically to enhance edible insect supply.

* Forests are also essential for firewood and charcoal. In developing countries, 2.4 billion households use these renewable biofuels for cooking and heating. In India and Nepal, for example, even better-off rural households depend on woodfuels.

* Trees offer a multitude of ecological services. For instance, they support bees and other pollinators, which are essential for crop production including on farmland. They also provide animal fodder that enables communities to produce meat and milk, and protect streams and watersheds as habitat for fish.

According to the report, close to one out of six persons directly depend on forests for their food and income. In the Sahel region, for example, trees contribute 80% on average to household incomes, especially through shea nut production. Evidence also shows that worldwide the lower the level of prosperity, the higher the share of forests in household incomes.

The report documents efforts currently underway in Africa and elsewhere to develop new tree commodities to supply the poor with sustainable incomes. For example, poor producers in Tanzania are engaged in a global effort to produce the seeds of the Allanblackia crop, which yield an edible oil with potential for the global food market. A private-public partnership known as Novella Africa is developing a sustainable Allanblackia oil business that they believe could be worth USD hundreds of millions annually for local farmers.

“What keeps people hungry is often not the lack of food, but the lack of access to that food and control over its production. We need to recognize claims over food sovereignty which give local people greater control over their food,” notes Bhaskar Vira. “Improved tenure rights and stronger rights for women who are becoming more and more responsible for food production from agricultural and forest lands are key to ensure the success of sustainable poverty reduction efforts.”

Although forests are not a panacea for global hunger, the report emphasizes that they play a vital role in complementing crops produced on farms. This is especially important when the staple food supply is impaired by droughts, volatile prices, armed conflicts, or other crises. This forest-farm link also means that the loss and degradation of forests exacerbate the problem of food insecurity. Indeed, the report points out that the expansion of agricultural land accounts for 73 per cent of forest loss worldwide.

The study comes in the lead up to the United Nations’ finalization of the Sustainable Development Goals, designed to address, among other global challenges, poverty and hunger. The report also provides useful insight into how the UN can respond to the “Zero Hunger Challenge,” which aims to eliminate global hunger by 2025.