Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / June 2-3, 2015

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

84 – 75 Lihue, Kauai
88 – 75 Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 70 Molokai AP
83 – 72 Kahului, Maui
88 – 77 Kailua Kona
82 – 70 Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.19  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.18  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.04  Kamalo, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.02  Kula Branch Station, Maui
0.80  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

18  Poipu, Kauai – NE
35  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
29  Molokai – ENE
31  Lanai – NE
27  Kahoolawe – NNE
30  Maalaea Bay, Maui – NNE
33  Kealakomo, Big Island – NNE

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

Tropical Storm 01E (Andres) and category 4 Hurricane 02E (Blanca) are
churning the waters of the eastern Pacific…there is no threat to
the Hawaiian Islands from either – more information below

Clear to partly cloudy, with an area of showers
approaching the Big Island and Maui County –
looping version of this image

Showers are falling over the nearby ocean…especially around
the Big Island this morning

Here’s the looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands

High Surf Advisory…south shores of all the islands –
through 4pm this afternoon

Small Craft Advisory…for winds and seas across the
windiest coasts and channels around Maui County
and the Big Island – through 6pm this evening

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

The trade winds will remain active in varying strengths…through this 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 a large high pressure system to the northeast of the state. At the same time, there’s a low pressure system, with its associated troughs in the deeper tropics…well to the southeast of the islands. As a result of these weather features, we’ll find moderately strong trade winds over the islands, which will ease up a touch Wednesday and Thursday. A very late season cold front approaching the state later this week, will weaken our trade winds further Friday into the weekend. This time of year, as we’ve moved into the month of June, these lighter than normal trade wind episodes…are unusual!

A fairly normal trade wind weather pattern, mostly windward showers…increasing over the eastern islands today into Thursday. The windward sides will receive most of the showers that get carried our way on the moderate trade wind flow. Satellite imagery shows an area of showery clouds to the east and northeast of the Big Island and Maui, which will bring an increase in moisture to their windward sides tonight into Thursday. An incredibly late season cold front, which will stall northwest of the state before arriving, may push a pre-frontal area of showers into the state over the upcoming weekend. 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...early Tuesday morning near sunrise, skies are almost totally clear across the island. There’s some smoke in the central valley from the earlier sugar cane burn, and some minor clouds as well. The air temperature here in Kula at 530am was 54.9 degrees, 74 down at the Kahului AP, 72 at the Hana AP, and a cooler 43 degrees atop the Haleakala Crater.

– It’s now a little after 2pm this afternoon, and here in upcountry Kula, it’s been rather heavily raining the last 10-15 minutes. It looks much sunnier down along the leeward beaches, while the windward sides look cloudy. A friend let me know that it’s pretty windy down near the Kahului AP.

– We’re into the early evening now, and skies across almost all of Maui have cleared, or at least certainly over the Haleakala Crater, and the West Maui Mountains.  Those afternoon clouds here in Kula, brought a quick, although rather heavy shower, which has been the case many of the last several days or longer…although today’s shower was a bit heavier than the others. As we get into the overnight hours, that just past full moon will be beaming down on us again tonight.

>>> 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

>>> Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

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

>>> Eastern Pacific: Tropical Storm 01E (Andres)

1.) The National Hurricane Center continues issuing advisories on 
Tropical Storm 01E (Andres), located about 1015 miles west of
of the southern tip of Baja California. Here's the NHC graphical track map.

Maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph with higher gusts...with a

continued weakening going forward
 

Here's a looping satellite image of this system - and what the

hurricane models are showing for Tropical Storm Andres

2.) The National Hurricane Center continues issuing advisories on 
Hurricane 02E (Blanca), located about 420 miles south-southwest of
of Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Here's the NHC graphical track map.

Maximum sustained winds are near 130 mph with higher gusts...with further

strengthening going forward

Here's a looping satellite image of this system - and what the

hurricane models are showing for Hurricane Blanca

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

1.)  An area of low pressure is 1050 miles southeast of the Big Island moving west at 7 mph. There is no deep convection within 120 miles of its center. Due to unfavorable upper level winds, development into a tropical system is not likely.

 
A satellite image of this area

* Formation chance through 48 hours, low…near 0 percent – elsewhere, no tropical cyclones are expected through 48 hours

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> 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: EPA Approves New Clean Water Protections – Drinking unclean water seems like a problem you’d hear about it in the developing world, not the United States. Believe it or not, though, one-third of Americans receive water that is unregulated by the Clean Water Act. That’s a lot of people who are potentially drinking tainted water.

Fortunately, all that is about to change with the EPA’s new Waters of the United States rule, which was announced on Wednesday. Altogether, the EPA now has the authority to safeguard 20 million acres of wetlands and two million miles of streams (that accounts for 60 percent of America’s streams) that were previously discounted by the Clean Water Act.

Until now, one of the biggest problems has been that while the main sources of drinking water are protected, their tributaries were not included in these protections. In other words, water flowing into the rivers and lakes was not held to the safety standards.

“[For] drinking water to be clean, the streams and wetlands that feed them need to be clean, too,” said EPA official Gina McCarthy. Although that’s a rather obvious sentiment, that’s precisely why finally taking this step is so important.

The change in policy will not only expand how much water is covered, it will also more specifically define which waterways are protected under the rules. By more clearly spelling out the terms, the EPA should be able to cut down on costly and lengthy lawsuits that were frequently popping up due to previous ambiguities.

The EPA’s decision is not without its critics, mainly from industries that frequently are found responsible for polluting – intentionally or otherwise – bodies of water. By implementing these new protections, farmers, land developers and the oil and natural gas industries will have to be that much more responsible for ensuring their businesses don’t leak hazardous materials into water.

Friends of these industries, namely Republican congressmen, have also criticized the EPA’s move. Per usual, these federal legislators are unhappy with federal regulation. “The administration’s decree to unilaterally expand federal authority is a raw and tyrannical power grab,” said Speaker of the House John Boehner. As everyone knows, providing clean, safe water equals tyranny.