Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / June 19-20, 2015

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

85 – 75  Lihue, Kauai
88 – 76  Honolulu, Oahu
84 – 72  Molokai AP
86 – 73  Kahului, Maui
87 – 75  Kailua Kona
84 – 72  Hilo, Hawaii

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

1.06  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.93  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
1.00  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.81  Haiku, Maui
1.15  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

25  Poipu, Kauai – NE
27  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
25  Molokai – NE
30  Lanai – NE
23  Kahoolawe – NE
29  Maalaea Bay, Maui – NE
29  Waikoloa, 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

Low pressure system well north with a cold front,
along with high cirrus south and west of the state

Lower level clouds…high clouds south through west –
Looping version of this image

Showers…along our windward sides and
over the nearby ocean

Here’s the looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands

Small Craft Advisory…windiest coasts and channels around
Maui County and the Big Island

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

The trade winds will prevail…with a slight weakening early Sunday into next week. 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 systems to the northwest, north and northeast of the state. At the same time, there’s a low pressure system, with an associated cold front to the north of Hawaii. The forecast calls for the trade winds continuing through these last few hours of spring, into the beginning of summer on Sunday. There’s a chance that our trade winds will ease up a notch in strength later this weekend into the new week.

Trade wind weather conditions will prevail through Saturday. The windward sides will see a few showers, mostly at night…which will get carried our way on the gusty trade wind flow. We have a fairly normal, well established late spring weather pattern going, with nothing out of the ordinary expected. Interestingly enough, the models continue showing the trade winds slowing down a little Sunday into Monday, as the tail-end of a very late season cold front moves over Kauai and perhaps Oahu…with an increase in windward biased showers Sunday. Thereafter, fairly typical trade wind weather conditions should resume. I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui...it’s 530am, with partly to mostly cloudy conditions over Maui, consisting of low clouds for the most part. Some of those clouds along the windward coasts and slopes are dropping light showers at times. The air temperature here in Kula, at my upcountry weather tower, was 57.4 degrees, while it was 74 down at the Kahului airport, 72 out in Hana…and 50 up at the summit of the Haleakala Crater at near the same time.

– We’re into the mid-afternoon time frame now near 3pm, until mostly clear to partly cloudy skies, with moderately strong trade winds blowing. The air temperature down at the Kahului AP was 85 degrees, while it was a cooler 77 out in Hana, 81 on the upper west side at Kapalua…and 61 up at the summit of the Haleakala Crater. It’s a lovely day, looking about as much like summer as it could be, as we reach very close towards the beginning of summer officially on Sunday.

Friday Evening Film: my movie going friend Jeff is out of the state, and my other regular film buff friend is on Oahu, so I’m on my own for this new film. As I was writing here last evening, I know many of you will be rolling your eyes over the one I’m going to see next. Despite this, I’m going to see one called Mad Max: Fury Road, starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Rosie Huntington-whiteley, Nicholas Hoult, Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keough, and Adelaide Clemens…among many others. The synopsis: filmmaker George Miller gears up for another post-apocalyptic action adventure with Fury Road, the fourth outing in the Mad Max film series. Charlize Theron stars alongside Tom Hardy (Bronson), with Zoe Kravitz, Adelaide Clemens, and Rosie Huntington Whiteley heading up the supporting cast, which contains action adventure and horror. I’m reluctant to provide a trailer, although consider yourself forewarned. Interestingly enough, the critics are giving this film a very high 98% rating, so perhaps I’m not so out of line in falling for this film?

>>> Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days over the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean

>>> Gulf of Mexico:

Tropical Depression Bill is located about 20 miles northwest of Lexington, Kentucky, with sustained winds of 20 mph, moving east-northeast at 20 mph. Here’s a NHC graphical track map, and a looping satellite image 

RAINFALL:  BILL IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN UP ALONG THE OHIO VALLEY INTO WEST VIRGINIA WHILE 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE EXPECTED FARTHER EAST INTO THE NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC REGION. THESE RAINS WILL CONTINUE TO ENHANCE THE THREAT FOR FLASH FLOODING…PARTICULARLY IN REGIONS WHICH ARE ALREADY SATURATED FROM PREVIOUS HEAVY RAINFALL.

Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico

>>> Eastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

No tropical cyclones are expected through the next five days

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: There are no active tropical cyclones

No tropical cyclones are expected through the next two days

Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: Tropical Depression 08W is active in the South China Sea, here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image…and what the GFS model shows of its movement

>>> 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:  US has more oil spills than you think – The US has more oil spills than we thought and the number doubled after production increased six years ago.

8,000 “Significant” Incidents

Richard Stover, PhD, and the Center for Biological Diversity counted nearly 8,000 significant incidents, between 1986 and 2014, in records of the pipeline safety administration. By “significant” they mean causing injury, death, damages exceeding $50,000 in value, a loss of 5 barrels of highly volatile substances, 50 barrels of other liquids or there was an explosion. There have been more than 500 human deaths and 2,300 injuries through-out that period. The number of plant and animal casualties is much higher.

Though most pipeline failures occur where there is a long history of development, they occur through-out the Lower 48. Texas is the worst offender, with 1657 incidents. California had 621 and 48 deaths.

The leading causes of incidents are excavation damages (24.3%), corrosion (18.2%) and equipment failure (17.1%).

After A Pipeline is 20 Years Old

Kristen Monsell, from the Center for Biological Diversity said the possibility of a spill “doubles after a pipeline is 20 years old.” In the case of the recent Santa Barbara spill, for example, “the pipeline was 28 years old” and had corroded to the point the wall was only 1/16 of a inch thick.

“Scientists tell us that we will never know how many animals have been killed (by the Santa Barbara spill) … (Many animals) will sink to the bottom of the ocean. We’ll likely be seeing the impact for years and years to come,” said Monsell.

Animal Casualties

“The day after the oil spill, a report came out that dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico are still dying as a result of the Deep Horizon spill (in 2010). When dolphins swim through oil soaked waters, they breath in toxic fumes from the hydro-carbons. That cause lesions on their lungs and these animals were dying from lung disease.”

The statistics for Deep Horizon are numbing: 128 dead or affected dolphins and whales, 1,146 sea turtles and more than 8,200 birds were collected. There is no tally fish or plant life. Scientists believe these statistics are only a small fraction of the actual casualties.

Monsell wonders about some of the aging infrastructure off California’s coast.

The Center for Biological Diversity calculated the real figures are probably closer to:

– 82,000 birds
– 6,000 sea turtles
– 25,900 marine animals
– much larger quantities of fish, shrimp, crabs and other sea life

There were much fewer known casualties at Santa Barbara. As of June 17, close to 400 birds and animals have been taken in. This included 186 dead birds and 95 dead mammals. Multiplying these figures by a factor of ten, there may have been close to 4,000 dead and injured animals.

If this formula for calculating animal casualties is accurate, the number of dead and injured animals from all 8,000 spills is most likely millions.

Off California’s Coast

Monsell wonders about some of the aging infrastructure off California’s coast.

She added, “The pipeline associated with platform Holly, is in the state waters of California, is 42 years old. When it was constructed they expected to decommission the pipeline and the platform in 2015, or 2020. So we are getting to the end of the lifespan of a lot of these pipelines and associated infrastructure. If we’ve learned anything from the Santa Barbara spill, it’s that all of this infrastructure needs to be decommissioned and we need to move towards clean and sustainable sources of energy.”