Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday…along with the minimums Monday:
77 – 67 Lihue, Kauai
82 – 70 Honolulu, Oahu
78 – 67 Molokai AP
81 – 68 Kahului AP, Maui
85 – 71 Kailua Kona
76 – 70 Hilo AP, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Monday evening:
0.76 Kilohana, Kauai
3.72 Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
2.55 Puu Alii, Molokai
0.17 Lanai
0.07 Kahoolawe
6.73 West Wailuaiki, Maui
4.06 Kawainui Stream, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Monday evening:
22 Port Allen, Kauai – NE
35 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – SSW
29 Molokai – N
32 Lanai – NE
35 Kahoolawe – NNE
30 Kapalua, Maui – NNE
35 Waikoloa, 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
Low pressure systems over the ocean far to the north and
northeast…along with their trailing cold fronts
Clear to partly cloudy, some cloudy areas…high
cirrus clouds well southeast through southwest
Dissipating frontal cloud band over the Big Island…
trailing back over parts of Maui County
Showers falling around the Big Island…and offshore
looping radar image – (Kauai radar not working)
Small Craft Advisory…coasts and channels around parts of
Maui County and the Big Island
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Trades winds continuing through the work week…lighter by the weekend. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find high pressure systems far offshore to the northwest and northeast of the islands. At the same time, we see a gale low pressure system northeast, along with the tail-end of its associated cold front offshore to the east of the Big Island. It looks like moderately strong trade winds will be blowing throughout this week, with minor fluctuations in strength along the way. A cold front moving by the state by the weekend, will cause our long lasting trade wind flow…to weaken a touch temporarily.
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
Moisture from a recent cold front…will be losing its influenced. The trade winds will keep showers focused along the windward sides for the most part, although with a few stretching over into the leeward sides at times. The moisture from a recent cold front provided plenty of moisture, although will be drying up soon. The bulk of this shower activity will arrive generally along our windward sides. A drier trade wind weather pattern will move into place, with most showers arriving during the night and early morning hours…Tuesday through Friday. As a cold front moves by to the north of the islands by the upcoming weekend, we’ll see some increase in localized showers then.
Marine environment details: A small craft advisory /SCA/ is posted for the typically windy areas around Maui County and the Big Island island, and has been extended through Tuesday. An east-west oriented ridge of high pressure is developing along 30°N, which will support moderate trade winds this week, that may be strong enough to warrant an extension of the SCA for these areas…or possibly only for Alenuihaha channel.
A new long-period west-northwest swell is expected to arrive Tuesday and peak Wednesday, with peak surf heights approaching advisory levels along exposed north and west facing shores. This swell will gradually diminish through the weekend. As this swell peaks near 7 feet, combined seas will approach 10 feet for a short time, which could lead to an expansion of the SCA Wednesday. Still the potential for a small south swell Friday and Saturday.
Lowering surf along north and
west shores…gusty trades winds
Here on Maui – Well before sunrise on this Monday morning, we find partly to mostly cloudy skies (although locally clear to partly cloudy on the leeward sides), with showers falling along the windward coasts and slopes…stretching up over the West Maui Mountains. Here in upcountry Kula, it’s clear to partly cloudy with a light mist falling, and an air temperature at my weather tower of 56.3F degrees. At near the same time, the Kahului AP was registering 68 degrees with light rain, while it was 73 out in Hana, and 39 atop the Haleakala Crater.
– Partly cloudy in general later this afternoon, although not many showers, with the trade winds blowing. Middle level altocumulus clouds are lighting up a very nice orange pink at sunset!
– Maui Counties windward sides remain quite cloudy as we head into the night, while the leeward sides are mostly clear. I expect this trend to continue into early Tuesday morning.
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: 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: Microbots Could Play Key Role in Cleaning Up Our Water Systems – What if we could not only clean up the heavy metals in our water systems, but also recycle those metals and reuse them?
A new study from the Institute for Intelligent Systems in Germany and the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia in Spain suggests that, soon, we might be doing just that.
Scientists have developed microbots with the ability to clean up 95 percent of heavy metal waste from water systems within an hour.
Microbots, essentially tiny robots, are designed for specific purposes. Most — like the ones in this study — are smaller in diameter than a strand of human hair.
Made of three layers, the microbots propel themselves around polluted waterways, picking up lead along the way. They can be rounded up using a magnetic pull, and once back on dry land, the lead ions can be taken from the microbot and re-purposed.
“This work is a step toward the development of smart remediation system where we can target and remove traces of pollutant without producing an additional contamination,” coauthor Samuel Sanchez told Phys.org.
The team’s tests showed that microbots reduced lead counts from 1,000 parts per billion (ppb) to just 50 ppb within an hour.
And keep in mind that these microbots can then shed this lead safely and be reused within the same ecosystem.
For a real life application, we can look at the city of Flint, Michigan. Flint suffered one of the worst water crises in modern American history. By EPA standards there shouldn’t be any more than five ppb of lead in our water systems. In Flint, however, the numbers were extraordinarily high.
According to the Washington Post, when Virginia Tech researchers took 30 flow readings, “more than half of the readings came in at more than 1,000 ppb. Some came in above 5,000 — the level at which EPA considers the water to be “toxic waste.””
In disbelief, scientists attempted the readings from the same sources again — and the results that came back unchanged. The highest reading measured 13,000 ppb.
Both state and national entities have funneled millions of dollars into the city to address the crisis. However, as of today, the water has not been declared safe to consume.
When lead levels create a toxic waste environment, microbots could become a lifesaver.
Researchers eventually hope to extend the project to include different types of contaminants and heavy metals. Microbots with the ability to clean up petroleum spills, for example, could have put a halt to the continuing environmental issues plaguing Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico.
Sanchez says that reducing the production costs on microbots will be an important for widespread industrial application.
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