Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday…along with the minimums Wednesday:
81 – 73 Lihue, Kauai
85 – 70 Honolulu, Oahu
84 – 62 Molokai AP
84 – 63 Kahului AP, Maui
82 – 71 Kona AP
84 – 65 Hilo, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands, as of Wednesday evening:
0.45 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.45 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.06 Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.05 Kahoolawe
0.01 Ulupalakua, Maui
0.44 Piihonua, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Wednesday evening:
17 Port Allen, Kauai – SE
17 Kuaokala, Oahu – SSW
23 Molokai – ESE
23 Lanai – NE
31 Kahoolawe – NE
20 Maalaea Bay, Maui – N
27 Pali 2, Big Island – SSW
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
Active Pacific storm track moving west to east…
well to the north of the Hawaiian Islands
A cold front is moving by north of Hawaii…with
thunderstorms in the deeper tropics to our south
Generally clear to partly cloudy, a few cloudy areas…
a few windward showers are heading our way
Just a few showers locally over the islands
looping radar image
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Trade winds into Friday…with blustery and cool north winds later Saturday into early next Monday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system northeast, moving eastward quickly…with a ridge of high pressure extending southwestward from its center. At the same time, there’s the tail-end of a cold front over the offshore waters to the northeast, extending southward from a storm far north of Hawaii…in the Gulf of Alaska. The trade winds will continue into the weekend, ahead of a robust cold front arriving later Saturday into Sunday. In the wake of this frontal passage, we’ll find gusty and chilly northerly winds, tropically speaking, in the wake of this strong cold front Sunday. It looks like light trades will blow Monday and Tuesday of next week, then another short period of light breezes…ahead of another cold front around next Wednesday.
Here’s a wind profile…of the offshore waters around the islands – with a closer view
A cold front is moving by well north of the state now…with the next front scheduled to push into the state this weekend. The computer models continue to suggest that we’ll see an uneventful period of calm weather over the state for the time being, at least through Saturday morning. As we get into Saturday evening, we’ll see a rather dramatic change in weather conditions. A strong cold front will influence the state during the weekend, bringing a period of cool winter weather…which should extend into the first day or two of next week. This will necessitate bringing out that extra blanket for your bed during this period! Unfortunately, it appears that this frontal passage (fropa) won’t bring us all that much rain, as most of the precipitation will remain over the ocean to the north and northeast of Hawaii. Looking into next week, I’m seeing the chance that another cold front will pass down through the island chain around next Wednesday.
Special Weather Statement…gusty winds with a cold front are expected this weekend here in Hawaii. A fast moving cold front will sweep down through the island chain, bringing a brief period of showers. The cold front is expected to reach Kauai later Saturday, then move quickly down through the rest of the islands by Saturday night into Sunday morning. Very cool, dry and gusty north winds are expected Saturday night and Sunday…in the wake of the frontal passage (fropa). It will be locally windy, with strong wind gusts possible downwind of higher terrain. If you have loose outdoor objects, you may want to consider securing them before the winds increase.
Here in Maui County…It’s mostly clear early Wednesday morning, although with windward clouds and a couple of light showers. Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 49.4F degrees. The temperature at near the same time was 65 degrees down in Kahului, 70 out in Hana…and 45 atop the Haleakala Crater. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe was 66 degrees, with 65 at the Molokai airport.
– I had planned on going skateboarding again this morning although instead, decided to keep driving up into the Haleakala National Park at 7,000 feet…near the Hosmer’s Grove area. This area is well known, especially when you get into the rainforest, to hear and sometimes see native birds like the I’iwi. I ended up walking very slowly, and just being with the environment in a quiet way. This is in contrast to the fast walks I take in the earlier morning hours around my area in Kula. Slowing myself way down gets me into a whole different frame of mind, more like when I do my meditations each morning at around 430am. I must say that I’m getting into a routine of heading up the mountain most weekdays, which is great, between my earlier morning working, and my afternoon early evening work routine.
– Mid-afternoon, under clear to partly cloudy skies, with cloudy areas around the mountains. The trade winds are blowing, as they’re now forecast to hang on for a few more days…until the weekend cold front arrives, followed by those blustery winter winds Saturday night into next Monday morning. Meanwhile, I can see sunny weather this afternoon along both the leeward and windward sides, at least at the time of this writing.
– Early evening, still clear to partly cloudy, with the trade winds blowing.
I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Wednesday 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)
>>> 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: How Modular Construction is Keeping Waste Out of U.S. Landfills – When we think about the overflow of our nation’s landfills, we probably picture limiting our food waste; recycling plastics, glass and paper; and keeping out potentially harmful hazardous waste. What we probably don’t consider is one of the largest sources of waste generation, construction and demolition (C&D) waste. It is estimated that anywhere from 25 to 40 percent of the national solid waste stream is building-related waste, with only 20 percent of C&D waste being recycled.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated, in 2003, that 164 million tons of building-related waste was generated in the United States annually. Those are pretty staggering numbers. But, how can we scale these down to understand the amount of construction and demolition waste generated in a typical building project?
A standard new building project produces an average of 3.9 pounds of waste per square foot. To put this in perspective, a mid-sized 50,000 sq. ft. office building will produce 195,000 pounds of waste. That’s almost 100 tons! If that project first includes building demolition, then these figures increase dramatically. This same 50,000 sq. ft. building will now be responsible for creating 4,000 tons of waste, or a staggering 155 pounds per square foot.
The modular environmental advantage
With the rise of modular construction as an affordable and efficient alternative to traditional construction, there is now a sustainable option for keeping tons of waste out of our nation’s landfills with each new build.
Modular buildings are designed and constructed as individual sections, called “modules.” The individual modules are fabricated off-site in a manufacturing plant using traditional assembly-line methods. Once the modules are built they are individually transported over the road to your construction site, and fitted together in a pre-planned order creating a finished building of any size.
The unique advantage of modular construction is that site preparation occurs simultaneous with building production at the factory. Conventional site-built construction is often constrained by having to wait for site preparation before erection of the building can begin. This allows for a significant reduction in time to completion and occupancy.
Less material waste
In contrast to the excessive amounts of waste produced using traditional construction methods, the basic concepts behind modular construction promote efficient use of building materials. Recent reporting from the Waste & Resources Action Program (WRAP) shows that a 90-percent waste reduction can be achieved by increasing the use of off-site construction.
With off-site construction, module units are assembled in a controlled manufacturing environment. This reduces material waste associated with poor weather conditions and construction site theft. Furthermore, excess materials from one project can be re-purposed or used on other buildings coming through the manufacturing plant, instead of being discarded at the end of a project, as they may be on a conventional construction site.
Following the off-site manufacturing process, the modular units are delivered to the construction site up to 90 percent complete. Reducing the work performed on-site significantly limits construction waste that may be generated on the project site where it often is difficult to gather, retain, protect and re-purpose building materials.
Built for deconstruction, not demolition
Prefabricated buildings all but eliminate waste generated from demolition. Modular building systems are a prime example of recycle, re-purpose and reuse. They are flexible, adaptable and essentially built to be un-built.
While a growing segment of modular construction is geared toward permanent construction (modular constructed structures not intended for relocation, just like a conventional building), many businesses still rely on temporary use of modular buildings. Relocatable buildings are brought on-site when expansion space is needed quickly, or as swing space to house students, patients or employees during a remodel or emergency situation. When extra space is no longer needed, the modular building is removed from the grounds and re-purposed for reuse.
Unlike traditional construction tactics, the modules are not demolished and materials are not tossed into local landfills following a single use. Instead the used modules are refreshed, so they can be reworked and used in future projects, further decreasing the need for additional raw materials and energy to create something new from scratch.
When greener, sustainable building practices are a priority for a company, they are turning to modular construction over conventional construction for their expansion or new building.
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