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

78 – 64  Lihue, Kauai
81 – 67  Honolulu, Oahu

78 – 68  Molokai AP
78 – 69  Kahului AP, Maui

77 – 70  Kona AP
77 – 66  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.05  Kilohana, Kauai
0.33  Poamoho RG 1,
Oahu
1.36  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.88  Kahakuloa, Maui
0.59  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

18  Port Allen, Kauai – WNW
24  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
18  Molokai – N
21  Lanai – NE

20  Kahoolawe – NE
27  Kapalua, Maui – N 

27  Kealakomo, Big Island – NE

Hawaii’s MountainsHere’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
Winter storm systems remain well to our north

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

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
A weak cold front is slowing down and stalling near the Big Island

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
The frontal cloud band has passed down through the state…
leaving windward clouds over the eastern islands

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
The front’s showers for the most part…are over parts
of the eastern islands –
looping radar image

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Cool northeast breezes…before lighter winds arrive this weekend. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system just to our north, moving eastward. Meanwhile, there’s an area of low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska, which has a dissipating cold front…extending south and southwest to near the Big Island. The forecast has a period of cool northeasterly breezes over the state into Friday, in the wake of this now retiring cold front. Our winds will diminish again by the weekend, as a high pressure ridge gets pushed down over us…bringing back localized volcanic haze into early next week. Our winds will veer around to the southeast to southwest, keeping volcanic haze in the extended outlook period.

A cold front is dissipating near the Big Island now. This front will keep a few showers around, especially over the northeastern slopes on Maui and the Big Island. Chilly northerly breezes arrived with the front, which are in the process of becoming light to moderate trade winds into Saturday morning…along with a few windward biased showers. We’ll see another weak cold front approaching the state this weekend into early next week, which will likely bring showers to the state again…similar to the one having just passed through last night into today. Looking further ahead, the models show the chance of yet another weak cold front approaching the state later next week.

Here in Maui CountyWe have a mix of clear and cloudy areas, with some light showers along the windward sides and in the Central Valley…early Thursday morning before sunrise. Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 48.3 F degrees at 555am. The temperature was 70 degrees down near sea level in Kahului, with 68 out in Hana, 68 at Maalaea Bay…and 48 atop the Haleakala Crater at the same time. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe’s coolest temperature was 64 degrees, with 65 degrees at Lanai City, and 69 at the Molokai airport. 

We’re into the mid-afternoon time frame now, with cloudy and foggy conditions here in Kula, and thus I can’t see down into the valley, or over along the north and south shore beaches.

Early evening, with still considerable low clouds over the County, at least locally. Now just before sunset, I can see lots of sunshine beaming down over along the Wailea and Kihei coast towards Maalaea Bay. The air is becoming dry and stable quickly, and in conjunction with the somewhat cool northerly wind flow, will keep a chill in the air…tropically speaking that is.

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


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> Atlantic Ocean: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

>>> Gulf of Mexico: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

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: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 North Pacific hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on May 15, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

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
: The central north Pacific hurricane season has officially ended. Routine issuance of the tropical weather outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, special tropical weather outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

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

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

>>>
South Pacific Ocean:

Tropical Cyclone 07P (Victor)
remains active, located about 473 NM east-southeast of Suva, Fiji. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image...and finally what the computer models are showing.


>>>
North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea:

Tropical Cyclone 08S (Corentin) remains active, located about 758 miles south of Diego Garcia. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image…and finally what the computer models are showing.

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


Interesting: 
Majority of meals at restaurants tip the calorie scale
– Meals consumed at fast-food restaurants are often seen as one of the biggest contributors to the obesity epidemic. But according to a new study in the Journal of the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 92 percent of 364 measured restaurant meals from both large-chain and non-chain (local) restaurants exceeded recommended calorie requirements for a single meal. In 123 restaurants in three cities across America, the research team found that a single meal serving, without beverages, appetizers, or desserts sometimes exceeded the caloric requirements for an entire day.

“These findings make it clear that making healthy choices while eating out is difficult because the combination of tempting options and excessive portions often overwhelm our self-control,” said senior author Susan B. Roberts, Ph.D., director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University in Boston.

“Although fast-food restaurants are often the easiest targets for criticism because they provide information on their portion sizes and calories, small restaurants typically provide just as many calories, and sometimes more. Favorite meals often contain three or even four times the amount of calories a person needs, and although in theory we don’t have to eat the whole lot in practice most of us don’t have enough willpower to stop eating when we have had enough,” Roberts continued.

The study was conducted by researchers at the HNRCA and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and colleagues, who analyzed the calorie content of frequently ordered meals in both local restaurants and their large-chain equivalents in three separate locations: Boston, San Francisco and Little Rock, Ark. The data were collected between 2011 and 2014 by comparing the meals against human calorie requirements and USDA food database values. The cuisine studied by researchers included American, Chinese, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Thai and Vietnamese fare.

The study also found that American, Chinese and Italian had the highest calorie counts with a mean of 1,495 calories per meal.

“Oversize servings lead a lot of dieters to avoid most restaurants entirely, or stick to items like salads that they know are served in reasonable portions,” said co-author William Masters, Ph.D., professor of food economics at the Friedman School. “Standard meals are sized for the hungriest customers, so most people need superhuman self-control to avoid overeating. There is a gender dimension here that is really important: women typically have a lower caloric requirement than men, so on average need to eat less. Women, while dining out, typically have to be more vigilant.”