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

84 – 71  Lihue, Kauai
91 – 79  Honolulu, Oahu – the record high for Sunday of 93…set back in 1979
87 – 75  Molokai
90 – 75  Kahului AP, Maui – the record high for Sunday of 93…set back in 1951
89 – 80  Kailua Kona AP
88 – 76  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.02  Kilohana, Kauai
1.06  Kahana, Oahu
0.17  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.27  Lanai
0.27  Kahoolawe
1.94  Puu Kukui, Maui
2.96  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

17  Poipu, Kauai – NE
28  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
18  Molokai – NNE
10  Lanai – NE
27  Kahoolawe – NE
08  Hana, Maui – SE
21  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

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
Tropical Storm 18E (Nora) continues spinning to the
east-southeast of Hawaii – becoming a hurricane soon…
with a cold front to our north and northwest

Here’s a wind profile…of the offshore waters
around the islands – with a closer view

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/tc_graphics/2015/graphics/EP182015W.gif
Here’s the latest track map of this tropical storm

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/18E/imagery/vis0-lalo.gif
Here’s a close-up look at Tropical Storm Nora…which is
moving across our central Pacific

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
There’s a trough of low pressure over the central islands, which
will keep localized showers active into Monday…plus there’s
a large area of thunderstorms southwest of our islands – and
Tropical Storm Nora east-southeast – and finally, a cold front
approaching the islands to the north and northwest

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Clear to partly cloudy…with a weak trough of low pressure over
the central islands…keeping the chance of heavy showers or
thunderstorms high in our area…over the next couple of days


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers falling over the islands locally…some
are heavy – looping radar image


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Our winds will remain quite light in most areas…keeping muggy conditions in place into Monday or Tuesday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a wind profiler of the central Pacific. We find high pressure systems well to the northwest and well east-northeast of the state. At the same time, we find a deep storm low pressure system far to our northeast, with an associated cold front draping back to the southwest from its center. Our winds will come in from the east, remaining quite light through Tuesday.  We’ll find cool north to northeast winds returning by mid-week in the wake of the cold front for a day or two. These winds will weaken again later Thursday, as another cold front approaches the state Friday into the weekend.

We’ll find showers falling, which will increase at times locally through Monday…especially during the afternoons and early evenings. A trough of low pressure is now located over the state, keeping our atmosphere shower prone for another couple of days. At the same time, the lighter winds will prompt showers locally during the afternoons in the upcountry areas, some of which will become heavy, with the continued chance of thunderstorms locally. The longer range outlook shows moisture from a couple of cold fronts being carried towards our islands. The first of these intrusions will arrive from the northwest Tuesday into Wednesday…with the second Friday night into next weekend. These showers will focus their efforts best over the windward coasts and slopes.

Tropical Storm 18E (Nora)…remains active here in our central Pacific…now to the southeast. Here’s a satellite image of this tropical storm, with the Central Pacific Hurricane Center’s (CPHC) graphical track map…along with what the computer models are showing. The good thing about this tropical cyclone, which we see by looking at the forecast track, is that it takes an abrupt turn towards the north and then northeast, well to our east…taking it away from our island chain. If this pans out as expected, our Hawaiian Islands would see no direct influence in terms of clouds, rain and wind. We may eventually see some rise in our surf along the east or southeast shores with time.

Friday Evening Film: This is one of those films that will have some you rolling your eyes, on the other hand, some of you will be thinking…I gotta see this one right away! It’s called Sicario, starring Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Donovan, Daniel Kaluuya…among many others. The synopsis: In the lawless border area stretching between the U.S. and Mexico, an idealistic FBI agent [Emily Blunt] is enlisted by an elite government task force official [Josh Brolin] to aid in the escalating war against drugs. Led by an enigmatic consultant with a questionable past [Benicio Del Toro], the team sets out on a clandestine journey forcing Kate to question everything that she believes in order to survive. / If you have ah hankering to see this rather hard core trailer…go ahead and click on the link (otherwise, maybe just leave well enough alone). It’s not actually all that bad, although, it’s certainly no walk in the park either!

Sicario was one heavy weight film, no two ways about it! The three main actors, Blunt, Brolin, and Del Toro, were all incredible, just over the top great. The story centered around the drug war in Mexico, with riveting performances. This film had a constant sense of urgency and tension, with the music grounding it to earth…providing serious gravity! By the way, Sicario is slang for hitman in Mexico, and Benicio Del Toro played this role to the hilt! As one critic said: “Smart enough to challenge your views, yet not too cerebral to alienate the mainstream, Sicario is a thoroughly engrossing watch that dazzles visually and connects emotionally.” I had high expectations going in, and coming out, they had all been met…and then some! As for a grade, there’s only one that applies, this film hits the top of the chart, one of my favorites of the year so far!

Here on Maui…It’s 615am Sunday morning with mostly clear to partly cloudy skies in general. There’s a mix of high, middle and lower level clouds, some of which lit up a nice orange color at sunrise. I can see some towering cumulus clouds or perhaps even a small thunderstorm, over the West Maui Mountains early this morning as well. / It’s now 920am, and here in Kula it has become off and on foggy, although I can still see some sunshine at times down in the central valley. / It’s just before noon, under cloudy skies, and some haze…we have our first light sprinkle of the day falling here in Kula. It looks partly sunny with some light haze down in the central valley at the same time.

– 1240pm, cloudy and a light shower…still partly sunny down near the beaches. / Now at 130pm, the rain has just started in more earnestly, and I think I just heard my first clap of thunder of the day, up the mountain from here. Now at 1245pm there was the second bigger clap of thunder, and it sounds like the thunderstorm is over towards Kihei, or over the ocean offshore from there – I’ve heard a couple of other smaller claps…and it’s tough to know where the sound is coming from exactly. There is definitely a pretty major thunderstorm cell somewhere close enough for me to see lightning, and to hear loud thunder too. / Now at almost 4pm, after being foggy and just an occasional mist, the rain just abruptly started up again now. / 435pm…fog is thick as a brick, with light rain falling, which just turned heavy again, with an air temperature of 71 degrees – meanwhile it was mostly sunny and 85F degrees down at the Kahului airport in contrast!

– It’s now 6pm, and its totally foggy up here in Kula, and I haven’t been able to see down the mountain all afternoon. It’s been raining off and on most of the afternoon, some of it has been very heavy, with a river of water coming down the road out in front of this property!

I’ll be back with many 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.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> 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

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

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

1.)   Shower activity associated with a low pressure system located about 675 miles south of Manzanillo, Mexico, has decreased since yesterday and remains disorganized. However, environmental conditions are conducive for slow development of this system, and a tropical depression is still likely to form by late this week while the low moves westward at 10 to 15 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low 10 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high 80 percent

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:

Tropical Storm 18E (Nora) remains active in the central Pacific Ocean, located 795 miles southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, with sustained winds of 65 mph. Here’s the CPHC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and what the computer models are showing

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 / Arabian Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)


Interesting:  Ecotourism can put wild animals at risk – Ecotourism, in which travelers visit natural environments with an eye toward funding conservation efforts or boosting local economies, has become increasingly popular in recent years. In many cases it involves close observation of or interaction with wildlife, such as when tourists swim with marine animals.  

Now, life scientists have analyzed more than 100 research studies on how ecotourism affects wild animals and concluded that such trips can be harmful to the animals, whose behaviors may be altered in ways that put them at risk.

The research is published October 9th in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

Protected areas around the globe receive a total of more than 8 billion visits each year. “This massive amount of nature-based and ecotourism can be added to the long list of drivers of human-induced rapid environmental change,” said Daniel Blumstein, the study’s senior author and professor and chair of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA.

The presence of humans changes the way animals behave, and those changes may make them more vulnerable — to poachers, for one, but also in less obvious ways, said Blumstein, who is also a professor in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability in the UCLA College. 

When animals interact in seemingly benign ways with humans, they may let down their guard, Blumstein said. As animals learn to relax in the presence of humans, they may become bolder in other situations; if this transfers to their interactions with predators, they are more likely to be injured or killed.

The presence of humans can also discourage natural predators, creating a kind of safe haven for smaller animals that may make them bolder. For example, when humans are nearby, vervet monkeys have fewer run-ins with predatory leopards. And in Grand Teton National Park, elk and pronghorns in areas with more tourists are less alert and spend more time eating, Blumstein and his colleagues report.

Interacting with people can cause significant change in the characteristics of various species over time. “If individuals selectively habituate to humans — particularly tourists — and if invasive tourism practices enhance this habituation, we might be selecting for or creating traits or syndromes that have unintended consequences, such as increased predation risk,” the researchers write. “Even a small human-induced perturbation could affect the behavior or population biology of a species and influence the species’ function in its community.”

Ecotourism has effects similar to those of animal domestication and urbanization, the researchers argue. In all three cases, regular interactions between people and animals may lead to habituation — a kind of taming. Research has shown that domesticated silver foxes become more docile and less fearful, a process that results from evolutionary changes, but also from regular interactions with humans, Blumstein said. Domesticated fish are less responsive to simulated predatory attacks. Fox squirrels and birds that live in urbanized areas are slower to flee from danger.

Blumstein hopes the new analysis will encourage more research into the interactions between people and wildlife. It is essential, he said, to develop a more comprehensive understanding of how various species in various situations respond to human interaction and under what conditions human exposure may place them at risk.