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

83 – 71  Lihue, Kauai
90 – 75  Honolulu, Oahu – record high for Friday was 92…set back in 1995
83 – 72  Molokai
88 – 73  Kahului AP, Maui
89 – 79  Kailua Kona AP
85 – 75  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.13  Kilohana, Kauai
0.77  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
1.22  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.16  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
3.10  Puu Kukui, Maui
6.02  Waiakea Uka, Big Island

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

17  Poipu, Kauai – NE
33  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
18  Molokai – SE
25  Lanai – NE
25  Kahoolawe – NE
27  Maalaea Bay, Maui – NNE
25  South Point, 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 19E (Olaf) spinning far to the east-southeast

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

http://www.usno.navy.mil/NOOC/nmfc-ph/RSS/jtwc/warnings/ep1915.gif

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
We have a couple of fragmented cold fronts over
or near the islands

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Clear to partly cloudy with cloudy areas, windward showers remain
active…with the leeward sides getting wet locally – there are
large thunderstorms around some parts of the state tonight 


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Localized showers falling…most active over Oahu
down through the Maui County and the Big Island –
some are heavy – looping radar image

 

Small Craft Wind Advisory…Maalaea Bay, Pailolo Channel,
and Alenuihaha Channel – until 6pm this evening

High Surf Advisory…south facing shores all islands


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Our trade winds will be moderately strong in general…through the weekend into the new 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 to the north-northwest and east-northeast of the state. At the same time, we find a whole host of low pressure systems far northwest through northeast, with associated cold fronts draping back to the southwest from their centers, the closest of which is nearing the islands. Meanwhile, former tropical depression Nora is now showing up as a low pressure trough of low pressure over the eastern islands. Our winds will come from the northeast to east-northeast…with no definite end in sight well into the new week.

We’ll find windward showers falling, and into the leeward areas locally…through the weekend. A new area of showers have arrived, although should exit the state right after the weekend. The source of these showers is the leftover moisture from now retired tropical depression Nora…mixed in with a couple of old cold fronts. Satellite imagery shows some towering cumulus clouds in our general area, so some of these showers will be locally heavy. As a matter of fact, there have been reports of a few thunderstorms on the Big Island Friday…which could pop up again Saturday. In addition to the clouds and showers that will be falling over the state…our atmosphere will turn a bit more humid over the next several days as well. Conditions should improve starting Monday, with most of the showers hugging the windward coasts and slopes then.

Friday Evening Film – My usual movie seeing friends are both out of the state now, and so I’m on my own again this Friday to see a new one. I wanted to see The Martian, although it starts so late, and is a 2 1/2 hour film, and with my near 1/2 drive home afterwards, I just didn’t feel like being out that late…with such an early rise again on Saturday. At any rate, in its place I’ll be seeing one called Bridge of Spies, directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Matt Charman, Ethan Coen, and Joel Coen.   This new film stars Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, John Scott Shephard, Domenick Lombardozzi, Eve Hewson, Alan Alda…among many others. The synopsis:  Tom Hanks stars as the American attorney tasked with negotiating the release of a U-2 spy plane pilot who was shot down over Russia at the height of the Cold War in this historical drama from DreamWorks Studios. Steven Spielberg and Mark E. Platt produce a film written by Matt Charman.   

What’s going on here? Every film I see these days turns out to be an A piece of work…and this one definitely qualified! In this day and age, with all the terrible stuff going on in the world at large, or at least what the media feeds us most days, this film brings back hope that good things can happen…or at least used to. I saw this film being masterfully done, from the directorial side, along with the story, and of course the acting. This film was a solid cold war drama, with talent literally coming out of the woodwork in almost every scene. Tom Hanks, once again, as so many times before…gave a brilliant performance. This film has been receiving high ratings, and who could lose with Steven Spielberg working with Tom Hanks and company!  Here’s the trailer in case you have an interest in seeing it.

Here on Maui…It’s 545am Friday morning with partly cloudy skies. Clouds are more extensive along our windward sides…stretching over the West Maui Mountains…dropping showers. 

– It’s mid-afternoon under mostly cloudy skies, with showers falling locally. Looking at the radar image from above, it appears that some of this precipitation is very generous is some areas.

– We’re into the early evening now, with still lots of clouds over our area…many of which are raining. Here in upcountry Kula, I could see all the precipitation falling elsewhere around the island, although it hasn’t been able to reach me thus far, not more than a few sprinkles that is. The windward sides seem to be on the receiving end of most of these showers, some of which have been quite frequent…and generous too. Looking over towards the West Maui Mountains, I see at least one towering cumulus cloud over the summit, or is it a small thunderstorm?

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

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

1.)   An area of showers and thunderstorms extending from the northwestern Caribbean Sea through the southern Yucatan peninsula is associated with an area of low pressure located over central Belize. Land interaction is expected to preclude significant development of this system during the next day or so while it moves slowly west- northwestward across the southern Yucatan peninsula. However, some limited development is possible on Sunday or Monday if the low emerges into the southern Bay of Campeche. Regardless of tropical cyclone formation, this system will likely produce heavy rainfall across portions of Honduras, Belize, northern Guatemala, and the Yucatan Peninsula through Monday.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent

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:

Tropical Storm 19E (Olaf) remains active in the northeast Pacific Ocean, located 1595 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja, California, with sustained winds of 60 mph. Here’s the NHC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and what the computer models are showing

1.)   A large area of disorganized cloudiness and thunderstorms, extending from Central America westward to several hundred miles south of southeastern Mexico, is associated with a broad area of low pressure. Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for gradual development of this system, and a tropical depression is likely to form during the early or middle part of next week while the low moves west-northwestward or northwestward.

* 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: There are no active tropical cyclones

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:


Super Typhoon 24W (Koppu) remains active in the northwest Pacific Ocean, located 149 NM east-northeast of Manila, Philippines, with sustained winds of 150 mph. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and what the computer models are showing

Typhoon 25W (Champi) remains active in the northwest Pacific Ocean, located 368 NM south of Iwo To, Japan, with sustained winds of 104 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: 

Tropical cyclone 02P is active in the southwest Pacific Ocean, located 321 NM west-northwest of Suva, Fiji, with sustained winds of 40 mph. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and what the computer models are showing


>>> 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:  Is tattoo ink safe? – Tattoos really are more than skin deep—and that raises questions about their safety.

Many people enjoy the aesthetic beauty of tattoos. But the brightly colored inks that make tattoos so vibrant and striking also carry health concerns, report authors of a new paper related to tattoo safety.

According to the Pew Research Center, 45 million Americans have at least one tattoo; roughly $1.65 billion is spent on tattoos each year in the U.S.

Little is known, however about the safety and long-term effects of the inks used to create tattoos.

“Tattooing is perhaps the largest ongoing human experiment on the injection of particles and pigments with a complex chemistry into the skin,” said Lars Krutak, research associate in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

Krutak is co-author of a paper in the The Lancet based on a conference on tattoo safety held in Berlin in 2013 by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment.

In the paper, “A medical-toxicological view of tattooing,” the authors discuss the composition and application of tattoo inks, their toxicology and removal, what happens to the pigments and the potential risks from the ingredients in newly developed tattoo ink colors.

Basically, the scientists determine that very little is known regarding toxicity and biokinetics (movement within an organism) of tattoo inks and whether they eventually convert into toxic substances in the human body. A 2010 survey in Germany found that 68 percent of people with tattoos reported a complication, mostly involving colored tattoos. Although modern tattoo inks contain mostly organic pigments, they also contain heavy metals, which may metabolize into toxic substances.

“There are no regulatory requirements concerning the production and sterility of colorants, which can carry multi-resistant bacteria and carcinogens and trigger serious allergic reactions and viral infections,” Krutak adds. “New research is needed to contribute to the future development of safe tattooing, and this article is a first step in the right direction.”

Tattoo removal is also an issue. What happens to the pigments after they are removed, usually by laser, is unknown. Laser removal involves several sessions yet sometimes a tattoo is still partially visible, as inorganic pigments remain in the skin.

Because tattoo inks are classified as cosmetics in the U.S., they are not required to be reviewed or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. With an increasing number of people experiencing adverse reactions from tattoo inks, the FDA is reconsidering this approach.

The article’s authors argue for greater consumer protection— implementing national and international standards, more stringent regulation and establishing legal frameworks to control the use of toxic inks.

A lifetime of internal exposure to a mixture of untested and unregulated pigments necessitates much closer scrutiny, the researchers conclude.