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

81 – 68  Lihue, Kauai
80 – 66  Honolulu, Oahu

8059  Molokai
82 – 59  Kahului AP, Maui

84 – 63  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.15  Anahola, Kauai
0.01  Lualualei,
Oahu
0.00  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.05  Hana AP, Maui
0.26  Kapapala RAWS, Big Island

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

20  Lihue, Kauai – NNE
18  Makua Range, Oahu – SW
09  Molokai – SW
12  Lanai – SW

20  Kahoolawe – SW
13  Maalaea Bay, Maui – NNE

13  South Point, Big Island – SE

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
We see a cold front approaching to the northwest
/ along
with lots of high cirrus clouds south of the islands

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
Tropical storm 01C (Pali) not a threat to Hawaii southwest /
along with an east-west band of high cirrus to our south – and
that fast moving cold front to our northwest…bearing down
on the state Saturday

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Partly to mostly cloudy…although with clear skies locally


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif

A few s
howers…mostly around Kauai – looping radar image


High Surf Warning
…rising surf along the north and
west shores of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai and north shore
of Maui

Small Craft Advisory…most coastal and channel waters

High Wind Warning…summits on the Big Island

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Light breezes prevailing into the weekend…volcanic haze locally. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure systems to our west-northwest, and east-northeast. At the same time, we find storm and gale low pressure systems to our north and northwest. We see the tail-end of a dissipating cold front near Kauai. Our winds will be light this weekend, with daytime sea breezes. Generally light winds are expected next week, as a high pressure ridge remains over or close to the state. This light wind situation will keep lots of vog over the islands…at least at times locally.

We see scattered clouds over the islands locally…although mostly over the offshore waters. We’ll see a cold front finally moving into the islands this weekend, which should have a decent chance of bringing showers our way…at least from Kauai down to Maui County. This front will likely stall over the central islands, limiting the Big Island from much shower activity. These periodic cold fronts are expected to continue moving by just to our north, with the slight chance of sliding down through the state with showers next week…as is common during an El Nino winter. We should probably get used to this relatively dry pattern, with the occasional wet period punctuating the upcoming drought.

Here in Maui CountyIt’s mostly clear on this early Friday morning before sunrise…along with some light volcanic haze. Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 47.9 F degrees at 550am. The temperature was 62 degrees down near sea level in Kahului, with 70 out in Hana, 61 at Maalaea Bay…and 48 atop the Haleakala Crater at the same time. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe’s highest elevation was reporting 64 degrees, with 63 degrees at Lanai City, and 61 at the Molokai airport.

We’re into the middle of the afternoon now, with clouds having packed up over the interior sections of the islands…leaving the beaches mostly cloud free and sunny. The air temperature at 315pm here in Kula was 72.1 degrees, while down in Kahului at the same time, it was 83 warm degrees…with a cooler 57 atop the Haleakala Crater. Oh yeah, there’s moderately thick volcanic haze over all of Maui County this afternoon.

We’ve pushed into the early evening now, with voggy skies and lots of clouds. The atmosphere remains dry and stable however, so these clouds aren’t producing showers. We’re actually getting some southeast to southwest Kona winds for a change…ahead of this approaching cold front scheduled for Saturday.

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

Friday Evening Film:  This time I’ll see one that looks good, called The Danish Girl, starring Alicia Vikander, Eddie Redmayne, Emerald Fennell, Ben Whishaw, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Amber Heard…among many others. The synopis: the remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener (portrayed by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne [“The Theory of Everything”] and Alicia Vikander [“Ex Machina”]), directed by Academy Award winner Tom Hooper (“The King’s Speech,” “Les Misérables”). Lili and Gerda’s marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.

This film was very touching, with all the actors giving excellent performances! As noted above, this was the story of the first man to undergo gender-reassignment surgery. I’m starting to see that Eddie Redmayne is one of our great talents, with this film…after his recent Oscar win in the Stephen Hawking film. Alicia Vikander too, besides being so lovely, played an exceptional role as his wife…after being the robot in last year’s Ex Machina. Some critics complain that this film was too simplistic, and that too many of the sharp edges have been shorn from this gut-wrenching story. I can see their points, nonetheless, I was taken with the film, and feel very comfortable giving it a grade falling somewhere between an A- and a B+. Here’s the trailer if you have an interest in seeing what this film looks like.  


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

Out of season Tropical Storm 01C (Pali) remains active, located about 1400 miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. Here’s the CPHC graphical track map, along with a satellite image...and finally 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:

Tropical Cyclone 06P (Ula)
remains active near Fiji…in the southwest Pacific. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and finally 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: 
How competition for sunlight shapes forest structure
– Despite their diversity, the structure of most tropical rainforests is highly predictable. Scientists have described the various sizes of the trees by a simple mathematical relationship called a power law.

In a new study using data from a rainforest in Panama, researchers determined that competition for sunlight is the underlying cause of this common structure, which is observed in rainforests around the globe despite differences in plant species and geography. The new finding can be used in climate simulations to predict how rainforests absorb excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The study, conducted by researchers at Princeton University, the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and collaborating institutions, was published Jan. 8 in the journal Science. The investigation was supported in large part by the National Science Foundation.

The researchers found that the rainforest structure stems from what happens after a tall tree falls and creates a gap in the canopy. The gap enables sunlight to reach the forest floor and fuel the rapid growth of small trees. Over time, the trees’ crowns grow to fill the gap until the point where not all of the trees can fit in the sunlit patch. Some will be left behind in the shade of their competitors.

“This process of moving from fast growth in the sun to slow growth in the shade sets up this characteristic size structure that is common across tropical rainforests, despite the differences in their environments,” said Caroline Farrior, first author of the study and who is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis and is soon to be an assistant professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas-Austin.

Farrior, who earned her Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Princeton University in 2012, completed most of the work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Princeton Environmental Institute with co-author Stephen Pacala, Princeton’s Frederick D. Petrie Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

“Rainforests store about twice as much carbon as other forests,” Pacala said. “About half of that is due to huge trees, but the other half is all that stuff in the middle. It is not possible to build an accurate climate model without getting that right.”

To gain an understanding of how rainforests grow, Farrior and colleagues analyzed decades of tree census data from a 50-hectare plot on Barro Colorado Island in the Panama Canal. From these data, they identified the mechanism most important in driving the observed size structure in tropical rainforests.

“With this new understanding of tropical forests, we can go on to build better models, we can make more accurate estimates of the carbon storage that’s currently in tropical forests, and we can go on to more accurately predict the pace of climate change in the future,” Farrior said.