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

83 – 68  Lihue, Kauai
84 – 71  Honolulu, Oahu

8268  Molokai AP
8669  Kahului AP, Maui
85 72  Kailua Kona
82 – 68  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

1.47  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.44  Poamoho RG 1,
Oahu
0.09  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.72  West Wailuaiki, Maui
1.00  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

18  Port Allen, Kauai – E
30  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – SSW
27 
Molokai – NE
27  Lanai – NE

37  Kahoolawe – NNE
15  Hana, Maui – SE

30  Upolu AP, 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
through northeast…along with their trailing cold fronts

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
Clear to partly cloudy, windward cloudy areas locally,
high cirrus clouds southeast through southwest

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Partly cloudy windward…mostly clear to partly cloudy
leeward areas

 

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A few showers…mostly windward and over the nearby ocean
Looping radar image

Small Craft Advisory…coasts and channels
around Maui County and the Big Island

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Trades winds continuing…into next week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system not far offshore to the northwest…with an associated ridge extending to the north of the state.
At the same time, we see a gale low pressure systems north, along with their trailing cold fronts. Moderately strong trade winds will continue well into the future, with minor fluctuations in strength 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

Trade wind weather pattern holding firm…well into the future. The trade winds will keep most showers focused along the windward sides. A relatively dry trade wind weather pattern will prevail, with most showers arriving during the night and early morning hours. Otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary expected…with pleasant April weather conditions prevailing. The one caveat would be that an upper level trough of low pressure, which may be in our area during the weekend…may lead to increased showers locally.

Marine environment details: A small craft advisory /SCA/ is in effect for the typically windy areas around Maui County and the Big Island, and has been expanded to include Big Island southeast waters…to account for the acceleration of the flow around South Point. With little significant change in the low level pressure gradient anticipated over the next several days, the SCA is likely to remain in place into early next week. 

A northwest swell has declined from it’s peak yesterday, with little decline in swell height expected Friday before diminishing Saturday and Sunday. Resultant surf heights remain elevated, but below advisory levels, along exposed north and west facing shores. A small northwest swell is possible early next week, with a small south swell continuing into Saturday.

 

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Still a big…just past full moon beaming down tonight


I’m honoring my memories of the music that
recently deceased Prince left behind for the world. I wasn’t a huge fan of his music, although I certainly enjoyed listening to it over the years. Here’s a short list of several of his popular songs that I’ve picked out to share with those of you that may be interested: Little Red Corvette, Let’s Go Crazy, and Purple Rain – by the way…I recommend turning up the volume!


Here on Maui
– Well before sunrise on this Thursday morning, we find partly to mostly cloudy skies along the windward coasts and slopes…stretching up over the West Maui Mountains. These clouds are dropping a few showers, although nothing unusual. Elsewhere around the island, skies were mostly clear, setting the stage for another nice day coming up. Here in upcountry Kula, it’s clear and calm, with an air temperature at my weather tower of 47.4F degrees. At near the same time, the Kahului AP was registering 70 degrees, while it was 73 out in Hana, and 45 atop the Haleakala Crater.

Middle of the afternoon, with clear to partly cloudy skies in general, with cloudy areas over and around the mountains. Like it was yesterday, it’s another great day here in Paradise! It’s kind of interesting, there are no clouds, at the time of this writing…along the windward sides.

Early evening, lots of low cumulus clouds have developed this afternoon, and will stay around into the night. However, I anticipate that Friday morning will open up in a mostly clear way…at least along the leeward sides.

 

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:


Tropical Cyclone 20P (Amos)
remains active, heading more or less towards American Samoa, in the South Pacific Ocean…here’s the JTWC graphical track map, a satellite image, and what the computer forecast models are showing


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

Tropical Cyclone 19S (Fantala) remains active near Madagascar 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:
 Mystery Solved: Traits Identified for Why Certain Chemicals Reach Toxic Levels in Food Webs
Researchers have figured out what makes certain chemicals accumulate to toxic levels in aquatic food webs. And, scientists have developed a screening technique to determine which chemicals pose the greatest risk to the environment.

According to the study led by the U.S. Geological Survey, two traits were identified that indicate how chemicals can build up and reach toxic levels:  how easily a chemical is broken down or metabolized by an organism and the chemical’s ability to dissolve in water.

These traits account for how most chemicals concentrate, or biomagnify, in ever-higher levels as one goes up the food chain from its base to its top predators, such as fish, people, or polar bears. Chemicals that have the ability to biomagnify, such as DDT, can have adverse effects on human and wildlife health and the environment. 

“Chemical manufacturers and regulators can use this information to reduce the risks of harmful chemical exposures to ecosystems and the fish, wildlife and people who live in them,” said David Walters, a USGS research ecologist and lead author of the study. “By screening for these two characteristics, we can identify chemicals that pose the greatest risk of the thousands that are on the market and for new ones being developed.”

The study found that poorly metabolized compounds tend to remain in animal tissues and are passed up the food chain in higher, more toxic amounts as one animal is eaten by another and so on.  Likewise, compounds that don’t dissolve well in water accumulate in animal fats, ultimately exponentially increasing in top predators.

Beyond these chemical properties, the researchers found that certain ecosystems and food webs are more vulnerable to biomagnification than others. For example, extremely high biomagnification occurred in ocean food webs that include birds and mammals. The authors noted this may be in part due to longer food chains in these ecosystems  that is, many levels and kinds of predators – and because warm-blooded animals need to consume more food than do cold-blooded animals like fish. 

Building upon these results, the researchers developed a model of biomagnification based upon how chemicals metabolize and dissolve in water. The likelihood that a chemical would biomagnify was highest – nearly 100 percent — for slowly metabolized compounds such as chlorinated flame retardants and PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, regardless of their solubility in water.

We need to learn from our previous mistakes and have more informed and responsible design and use of chemicals in the environment,” said Karen Kidd, a Canada Research Chair at University of New Brunswick Saint John and co-author of the study. “Our global review provides a straightforward approach for reducing the use of chemicals with the properties to concentrate through food webs.  This is a critical step for decreasing risks for humans and wildlife from potentially harmful chemical exposures in foods.”

Since the emergence of DDT as a global problem for wildlife in the 1950s and 60s, science has kept a close watch on the behavior of persistent organic pollutants, especially chemicals that may concentrate through food webs to potentially toxic levels in wildlife and humans. Many are resistant to environmental degradation and remain in the environment for decades. While biomagnification can be measured in the laboratory, said Walters, it is best determined by measuring how much the chemical increases with each step in the food chain in wild animal populations.