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

77 – 71  Lihue, Kauai
85 – 71  Honolulu, Oahu

8171  Molokai AP
8470  Kahului AP, Maui
86 72  Kailua Kona
83 – 67  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

3.64  Kilohana, Kauai
0.39  Pupukea Road,
Oahu
0.05  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.63  West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.49  Kealakekua, Big Island

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

18  Poipu, Kauai – NNE
28  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
24
 
Molokai – N
28  Lanai – NE

28  Kahoolawe – NE
28  Kapalua, Maui – N 

30  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
Low pressure systems over the ocean far to the north…along
with their trailing cold fronts – high clouds southern islands

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
Scattered clouds locally, thunderstorms well south…sending
high cirrus clouds coming up from the southwest

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Clear to partly cloudy, a few cloudy areas locally, and
those high clouds moving over the southern islands

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Just a few showers falling locally –
looping radar image



Small Craft Advisory…coasts and channels around Kauai,
Oahu, Maui County, and southeast of the Big Island

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Gusty trades slightly lighter…strengthening again Sunday onward. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find high pressure systems offshore to the north-northwest and northeast of the islands.
At the same time, we see low pressure systems far north, along with the tail-end of an associated cold front north of the islands. The trade winds will continue, with a slight reduction in strength for the time being, as this cold front moves by just to our north…before they strengthen again Sunday. It looks like moderately strong trade winds will be blowing throughout the new week, with minor fluctuations along the way.

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

Here’s the Hawaiian Islands Sulfate Aerosol animated graphic showing vog forecast

A few windward sides…then moisture from a dissipating cold front bringing increased showers through Monday. The trade winds will keep a few showers focused along the windward sides for the most part, although stretching over into the leeward sides at times. The remnant moisture from a cold front will move over the state tonight into Sunday…first on Kauai and Oahu. It will ride down over the rest of the island chain Sunday night into Monday, bringing localized showers at times. This shower activity will arrive generally along our windward sides, although not exclusively. A drier trade wind weather pattern will move into place, with most showers landing on the windward coasts and slopes…beginning Tuesday onward.

Marine environment detailsThe current northwest swell is continuing to produce surf above advisory levels…so the high surf advisory has been extended through Saturday night. The downward trend will continue, with surf expected to be below advisory levels well before daybreak Sunday.

A new long period west-northwest is expected to arrive Tuesday and peak Wednesday, and will bring peak surf heights near advisory levels along exposed north and west facing shores…before gradually diminishing Thursday and Friday. A small south swell is possible around Friday.

A small craft advisory has been posted for several areas due to seas and/or winds. The high pressure system building north of the area tonight and Sunday, will bring increasing trade winds. Latest guidance indicates that advisory level winds are possible in the windier areas around Maui County and the Big Island for much of the upcoming week.

 

  https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/9a/38/8f/9a388f9774c33b67ab09943c6625c777.jpg
Lowering surf along north and
west shores…gusty trades


Here on Maui
– At sunrise we find generally clear skies, with some clouds along the windward sides, and stretching up over the West Maui Mountains as usual. The trade winds are blowing, although generally on the light side in most areas. Here in upcountry Kula, it’s clear and calm, with an air temperature at my weather tower of 48.9F degrees at 620am. At near the same time, the Kahului AP was registering 71 degrees under partly cloudy skies, while it was 73 at Maalaea Bay, 59 at Kaupo Gap, 72 out in Hana, and 43 atop the Haleakala Crater.

Early afternoon, with breezy trade winds blowing, and mostly clear skies. I just got back from my weekly food shopping trip down to Paia, and on the drive back upcountry to Kula…I was impressed with what a nice looking day it is! The winds are more out of a northerly direction today than they have been, thus it’s windier than usual in those areas exposed to this new direction. One of these areas is here in Kula, where it’s definitely on the windy side!

Early evening, still amazingly clear with excellent visibility in all directions. The clouds stayed away from Maui County today, although got into Kauai and parts of Oahu in contrast. The gusty winds that we had here locally on Maui, have died down…at least up here in Kula. I thought we might have a decent sunset this evening, although the high cirrus have retreated over the Big Island for the most part. / Now at 825pm here in Kula, the air temperature is 54.8 degrees, while at near the same time…it was 75 degrees down at the Kahului AP.

Friday Evening Film: My film buff friend Jeff is in Germany this week, visiting and working with his friend Svetlana. So I’ll be heading down to Kahului this evening to catch one of the new films. This time I’ll see one called Criminal, starring a rather impressive cast, including Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones, Ryan Reynolds, Jordi Molla, and Gal Gadot…among many others. The synopsis: the memories and skills of a CIA agent are implanted into the brain of a dangerous criminal, in order to stop an international terrorist. The critics aren’t very enthused about this film, despite the top notch caste, as a matter of fact…they are rather negative about it across the board. Oh well, I saw it anyway, and can’t give such a dreadful review. It was full of action, and I guess because of its R rating, it allowed Kevin Costner to really bear down with some pretty heavy violence. As far as a grade goes, I’ll give it a strong B, although not as far as a B+ I’m afraid. Here’s the trailer in case you want to take a quick peek at what I sat through.

 

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: No active tropical cyclones

>>>
South Pacific Ocean:
No active tropical cyclones


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

Tropical Cyclone 19S (Fantala) remains active in the South Indian Ocean…here’s the JTWC graphical track map, a satellite image, and what the computer forecast models are showing

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


Interesting:
 Clear cutting forests and its influence on carbon storage
Clear-cutting loosens up carbon stored in forest soils, increasing the chances it will return to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide and contribute to climate change, a Dartmouth College study shows.

The findings appear in the journal Soil Science.

Soil is the world’s largest terrestrial carbon pool. In northern hardwood forests in the United States, mineral soil pools store up to 50 percent of total ecosystem carbon. Logging and other land-use changes are a major cause of soil carbon release, but there has been recent interest to further understand soil carbon dynamics in forested ecosystems after logging. This is of particular importance in the northeastern U.S. because of the great potential for the use of biomass as part of a diversified renewable energy portfolio.

The Dartmouth researchers explored whether clear-cutting changes the strength of the chemical bonds of carbon stored in mineral soils in hardwood forests in the northeastern United States. Clear-cutting involves harvesting all timber from a site at once rather than selectively culling mature trees. Carbon is stored in soil by binding only to certain soil structures.

The researchers collected soils from recently clear-cut forests and from older forests, and pulled carbon from the soil in a sequence of gentle to stronger extractions. The results showed that mature forest stands stored significantly more soil organic carbon in strongly mineral-bound and stable carbon pools than did soils from cut stands.

“Clear-cutting forests has an effect of mobilizing the carbon, making it more likely to leave the soil and end up in the atmosphere,” says senior author Andrew Friedland, a professor of environmental studies. “These findings are important because differences in the relative distribution of carbon in organo-mineral pools in mature and cut forests may inform our understanding of soil organic matter stability and bio-availability, microbial decomposition and carbon dioxide production in ecosystems after clear-cutting.”