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

84 – 73  Lihue, Kauai
86 – 75  Honolulu, Oahu
84 – 74  Molokai
85 – 78  Kahului AP, Maui 
88 – 75  Kailua Kona AP
86 – 69  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.37  Kilohana, Kauai
5.18  Hawaii Kai Golf Course, Oahu
0.22  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.07  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.02  Puu Kukui, Maui
1.30  Honaunau, Big Island

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

24  Mana, Kauai – NNW
27  Kuaokala, Oahu – N
17  Molokai – NE
21  Lanai – NE
25  Kahoolawe – NE
20  Maalaea Bay, Maui – NNE 
20  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 Depression 18E (Nora) remains active to the southeast of
Hawaii…with a fragmenting cold front over the state

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 depression – slow
weakening from here on out

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/18E/imagery/vis0-lalo.gif
Here’s a close-up look at Tropical Depression Nora

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Tropical Depression Nora remains southeast – along with
a ragged cold front moving through the islands

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Clear along with cloudy areas…with a weak cold front
over the islands…with localized showers


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


High Surf Advisory…east shores of the Big Island


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Our winds will be slightly cooler…from the north into mid-week. 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 northeast of the state. At the same time, we find a low pressure system to our north-northeast, with an associated cold front draping back to the southwest from its center…moving into the state soon. Our winds will come from the north to northeast into mid-week…in the wake of the weak cold front. These slightly cool northerly winds will gradually become more northeast to easterly into the weekend.

We’ll find a few showers falling locally…as a weak cold front moves through the state.  The forecast shows the cold front’s associated shower falling generally over the windward sides, although not that many will be active. This shower band will slowly move down through the state from the northwest and north into Wednesday. A second somewhat more abundant area of showers may arrive by the weekend into early next week, being drawn up over the state from the southeast. This air mass will be warmer and more humid then, compared to the slightly cool and drier north to northeasterly breezes over the next few days. We may end up seeing some volcanic haze in our skies then too.

Tropical Depression 18E (Nora)…remains active here in the central Pacific…to the southeast of the islands. 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 latest forecast track shows this depression continuing on a path towards the northwest, and then taking a turn towards the west and southwest. As this shift in direction occurs, southeast and south of the Big Island, it will run out of steam quickly. As a matter of fact it should dissipate offshore from the islands by the early part of the weekend. If this turns out as expected, the Hawaiian Islands probably wouldn’t see any direct influence in terms of clouds, rain and wind, although this system has generated high surf which will impact the south shore of the Big Island. There is also the possibility that the northern fringe of Nora may clip the Big Island with its showers this weekend.

Here on Maui…It’s 545am Tuesday morning with clear to partly cloudy skies.  It’s another beautiful day here on Maui, the kind of day that one is drawn outside to be in nature…if at all possible! I’m heading down to my friend Paul Eisenberg’s Pacific Motor Works, here in Kula for a few hours this morning. I bought my current car, a BMW M3 from him several years ago, and it’s been a very good vehicle. I’ve stuck with his garage, as he’s done good work for me. I’m just doing some routine maintenance work, and his prices are better than going to the BMW dealer down in Kahului.

– The afternoon is a lovely continuation of the beautiful morning we had. Skies are mostly sunny, with some cloudy areas around the mountains…nothing much though.

– There are areas of clear skies, mixed with areas of partly to mostly cloudy skies…as we head deeper into the evening hours. The cold front hasn’t reached Maui yet, although looks like it might have almost moved over Molokai. It certainly isn’t causing much fuss, in terms of its shower production. There are a few showers according to radar, although less than I had suspected. Those slightly cooler northerly breezes haven’t reached here in Kula yet, although I hope they do. 

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Tuesday 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.)   A broad area of low pressure located about 900 miles south- southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for gradual development during the next several days, and a tropical depression is expected to form later this week or this weekend while the system moves westward at 10 to 15 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…medium 50 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high 90 percent

2.)   An area of low pressure area is expected to form a few hundred miles south-southeast of the Gulf of Tehuantepec over the weekend. Some gradual development of this system is possible early next week while it moves slowly northwestward.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low 20 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 Depression 18E (Nora) remains active in the central Pacific Ocean, located 425 miles southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, with sustained winds of 35 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:


Tropical Storm 24W (Koppu) remains active in the northwest Pacific Ocean, located 727 NM south-southeast of Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan, with sustained winds of 52 mph. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and what the computer models are showing

Tropical Storm 25W (Champi) remains active in the northwest Pacific Ocean, located 539 NM east of Saipan, CNMI, with sustained winds of 46 mph. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and what the computer models are showing

>>> 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.