Hawaiian Islands Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs / July 12-13, 2015

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

83 – 77  Lihue, Kauai
87 – 79  Honolulu, Oahu
87 – 74  Molokai
90 – 74  Kahului, Maui
88 – 80  Kailua Kona
90 – 73  Hilo, Hawaii – broke the all time record for Sunday…which was 88 back in 1965

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

2.36  N Wailua ditch, Kauai
1.51  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.02  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.15  Kula Branch Station, Maui
1.88  Kapapala Ranch, Big Island

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

13  Poipu, Kauai – NE
20  Kahuku, Oahu – NE
24  Molokai – NE
20  Lanai – NE
27  Kahoolawe – ENE
30  Kahului AP, Maui – NE
28  Upolu AP, 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

We have tropical depression Iune here in the central Pacific –
there’s tropical depression 06E to our east-southeast…and
tropical storm Dolores close to Mexico – in the eastern Pacific
more information below

The Central Pacific Ocean
Looping version

Rainy clouds offshore…reaching over the islands locally
Looping version

Showers over the nearby ocean, reaching over
the islands…locally generous
looping radar image

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

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Rebounding trade winds…lasting all 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 moderately strong, near 1029 millibar high pressure system to the north of the state. Meanwhile, there are tropical cyclones south, southwest and east-southeast of Hawaii…moving more or less westward. The remnants of former tropical cyclone Ela, moved across our islands…which will move away to the west. The trade winds will return now, becoming quite strong in a day or two…acting to sweep away the recent very muggy conditions from our islands.

Typical trade wind weather pattern…with showers favoring the windward sides. There will be more showers arriving late tonight, in the wake of the dissipating systems passage…which would keep the windward sides off and on wet into Monday. The computer models continue to suggest we could see another increase in tropical showers towards the end of the new work week, into early next weekend. This would be associated with what will then be the remnant moisture associated with former tropical storm Enrique, now being referred to as tropical depression 06E…stay tuned. I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui…it’s 545am Sunday morning, with mostly clear to partly cloudy conditions over the the island. The upper level cirrus clouds over part of the island lit up a beautiful orange and pink at sunrise again today!  The air temperature here in Kula, at my upcountry weather tower was a relatively warm 61.9 degrees, while it was 76 down at the Kahului airport, 73 out in Hana…and 50 up at the summit of the Haleakala Crater at near the same time. / It’s now 1030am and the clouds are quickly gathering here in upcountry Maui, and down into the lower elevations in places too. It certainly seems that some showers are in the offing soon, I’ll let you know.

– It’s now early afternoon, and the first showers arrived at 1130am. We have clouds lowering enough, that it gets briefly foggy, and it’s definitely more comfortable today, at least up here at the 3,100 foot elevation. I can look down into the central valley, and it looks totally sunny down there…and very likely hot and muggy too! / I just spoke with a friend over on the windward side of east Maui, and she said that the trade winds are back…and it was feeling SO much more comfortable today! / It’s now 305pm, with cloudy skies with showers…with a 78.1 degree air temperature. It’s still very humid, although not as bad as yesterday up here in Kula. It looks much sunnier down in the lowlands near the beaches, especially over towards the north shore.

– We’re into the early evening hours now, under cloudy skies here in Kula, and I can’t see down towards the beaches below. It showered off and on through the afternoon hours, although now at 535pm, there’s only a light mist falling. The air temperature is 77. 4 degrees, while down at the Kahului AP at about the same time, it was 82 degrees, with 59 degrees up at the summit of the Haleakala Crater.

Friday Evening Film: I went to see a film that I was originally going to skip, although changed my mind for a couple of reasons, which I won’t go into. My friend Jeff Kuhn and I went to see Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, Allison Janney, Jude Law, and Morena Baccarin…among many others. The synopsis: Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) is an unassuming, deskbound CIA analyst, and the unsung hero behind the Agency’s most dangerous missions. But when her partner (Jude Law) falls off the grid and another top agent (Jason Statham) is compromised, she volunteers to go deep undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent a global disaster.

First of all, let me say that I enjoyed this film a bit more than I thought I would, and had several laughs along the way. Melissa McCarthy became someone I am now aware of, and thought she was very good in her part. This was a pretty funny film, at least at times…which turned out to be an espionage spoof. Typically these kinds of films are ultra-masculine, so it was interesting to see this large woman “taking care of business” in no uncertain terms. It wasn’t a great film, although both Jeff and I enjoyed it enough to hand over a strong B grade. In case you’re interested in checking it out, here’s the trailer, which isn’t anything too radical. I was glad I saw it, and might even be tempted to see what will likely be a sequel.

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

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

1. (Invest 92L)  Shower and thunderstorm activity associated with a small non- tropical area of low pressure located about 350 miles east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, has become better organized overnight. Environmental conditions could allow for some additional development today before becoming unfavorable on Tuesday while the low accelerates northeastward away from the United States.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…medium…40 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…medium…40 percent

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

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

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

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

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days over the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea or Atlantic Ocean

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

>>> Eastern Pacific:

Tropical Storm 05E (Dolores) remains active in the eastern Pacific Ocean, located 170 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. Here’s a graphical track map of strengthening system.

Here’s what the hurricane models are showing for this tropical storm…along with a satellite image

Tropical Storm 06E (Enrique) remains active in the eastern Pacific Ocean, located 1190 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Here’s a graphical track map of strengthening system.

Here’s what the hurricane models are showing for this tropical storm…along with a satellite image

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:

Post-tropical cyclone 2C (Iune) is dissipating, and poses no threat to the Hawaiian Islands…located about 610 miles south-southwest of Lihue, Hawaii – Final Advisory

Here’s the CPHC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this post-tropical cyclone.

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Typhoon 11W (Nangka) remains active in the northwest Pacific…located about 317 NM southwest of Iwo To. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image. Here’s what the computer model is showing.

Tropical Storm 1C (Halola) remains active…located about 694 NM east-southeast of Wake Island

Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this strengthening 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:  California towns getting water by truck…as drought continues and wells run dry – Rural Tulare County, California is now being called the epicenter of this drought.

That’s because at least 1,300 residential wells have run dry, affecting at least 7,000 people. When your taps start spitting out air here, Paul Boyer and his team are who you call.

Under a punishing mid-afternoon sun, Boyer helps muscle down five of these hefty 400-pound water tanks from a semi-truck flatbed. He helps run a local nonprofit that’s in charge of distributing these 2,500-gallon water tanks to drought victims.

These are the kinds of tanks you see attached to homes in many parts of the developing world. In Tulare County, it’s an urgent matter, since only about 150 have been distributed so far.

“That means, actually, there’s more than 1,100 homes that don’t have this,” Boyer says.

If you’re without water, these tanks are definitely a lifeline. They can supply a typical family for about two weeks.

“This should only be a temporary solution, because hauled water is very expensive,” Boyer says. “But without this, it’s difficult for people to stay in their homes, because you need that water for flushing your toilet, taking a bath, washing your dishes.”

That’s why Boyer is trying to keep an eye on the long term.

One plan is to try to get people in rural areas hooked onto municipal water systems, like what’s happening outside the small town of Farmersville.

Farmersville is a largely poor neighborhood just outside the Visalia city limits, home to mostly farmworkers. Some residents raise chickens and goats under improvised, backyard shelters.

In Frank Zamora’s dusty front yard, even the cactus looks wilted. Next to it, he has dug an open trench leading out to the street.

Thanks to a $1 million grant, he and his neighbors are about to hook on to city water.

That’s good news for Zamora, who figures his taps will run completely dry any day now.

“When I water, maybe let’s say for 10, 15 minutes, then it’ll start throwing air, already, so I gotta stop, wait for the well to go back up, and then I can use the water again,” he says.

The idea is that by hooking people like Zamora onto a municipal water system, the risk is spread out. And cities are in a better position to regulate and control what water is left. They also have more money and could possibly afford to drill new, deeper wells.

At least that’s the thinking.

“I feel a little bit of security,” Zamora says. “We’re all hoping for some rain, so, if not, we’re going to be in a big jam.”

And that’s just it. Just because you’re hooked up to a city system doesn’t necessarily mean there will always be water.

This drought is so bad that if it goes on much longer, the worry is that cities in the Central Valley will also start running out of water.

Most cities here are already completely dependent on underground aquifers. And groundwater is getting depleted at a record pace.

Porterville, an agricultural hub of the Central Valley, has been distributing water to about 7,000 people in a neighborhood just outside the city limits where most of the wells have run dry.

The city has set up water distribution centers where people can fill up jugs and barrels for free and also take a shower.

But Porterville Mayor Milt Stowe is trying to figure out how much longer his city can reasonably do this.

“It’s a big concern, because it’s going to put our city in jeopardy,” he says. “We weren’t counting on using the water for the incorporated areas, but, you know, we can’t let ’em go without water.”

Stowe says the city has enough water to supply its people through this summer. But even this fall? That’s an open question.

“It’s very stressful,” he says. “It has come to a point where, we’re getting close to like figure out something else to do. You know, getting water from other places, or whatever the case may be, but it’s getting to a point where we’re gonna have to start begging.”

People here are worried. And some are considering packing up and leaving altogether.

At one of Porterville’s volunteer-run aid stations, Humberto Hernandez is loading up his Chevy Suburban with donated cases of bottled water.

He’s grateful for the help, since his taps ran dry six months ago. He and his wife have three kids at home, including a 6-month-old baby.

Hernandez, who has lived in Porterville for 30 years, says it has been tough and the family can’t live like this much longer. They’ll wait another month.

He says he has relatives in Colorado. The drought isn’t as bad there and there are farm jobs.