Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday…along with the minimums Saturday:
86 – 75 Lihue, Kauai
82 – 71 Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 70 Molokai AP
84 – 70 Kahului AP, Maui
85 – 71 Kailua Kona
80 – 69 Hilo AP, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Saturday evening:
1.65 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.31 Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.40 Puu Alii, Molokai
0.07 Lanai
0.10 Kahoolawe
2.26 West Wailuaiki, Maui
2.56 Saddle Quarry, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Saturday evening:
17 Port Allen, Kauai – ENE
31 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – SW
28 Molokai – E
25 Lanai – NE
38 Kahoolawe – NE
21 Kahului AP, Maui – NNE
29 Kealakomo, Big Island – NNE
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
A couple of low pressure systems over the ocean far to the north
and northeast…along with their trailing cold fronts
Clear to partly cloudy, windward cloudy areas locally,
thunderstorm cells southeast through southwest
Partly to mostly cloudy
Showers falling locally – Looping radar image
Small Craft Advisory…windiest coasts and channels
around Maui County and the Big Island
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Trades winds continuing…well into the future. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system offshore to the north-northeast…with associated ridge extending from its center to the northwest of the state. At the same time, we see gale low pressure systems far northwest through north, along with their trailing cold fronts. Moderately strong trade winds will continue through the next week…with minor fluctuations in strength and direction on a day to day basis.
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
The trade winds will keep most showers focused along the windward sides…arriving generally during the night and early morning hours. The leeward sides should remain mostly dry, with only a few exceptions here and there at times. Otherwise, there are no unusual weather conditions expected to influence our weather for the time being…and likely well into the new week ahead.
Marine environment details: Surf is expected to remain below advisory levels on all shores through next weekend. The current northwest swell will continue to lower through Monday.
A small craft advisory remains posted for waters around Maui County and the Big Island.
Ahhh…enough said
Here on Maui – Well before sunrise on this Saturday 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, generally on the light side. Elsewhere around the island, skies were mostly clear to partly cloudy. Here in upcountry Kula, it’s calm, with an air temperature at my weather tower of 52.3F degrees. At near the same time, the Kahului AP was registering 71 degrees under mostly cloudy skies, while it was 73 out in Hana, and 41 atop the Haleakala Crater.
– Afternoon clouds have done nothing but increase steadily, along with some haze too. I was down in Paia this morning, doing my food shopping for the week, and it lightly rained on me a couple of times…as I drove back upcountry to Kula. It’s got that look and feel of rain, although here in Kula, it hasn’t begun yet. Oops, I just turned around in the chair, here in my weather tower, and I can see that my ping pong table, out on the weather deck, is now wet. It’s a very light and near silent shower, although it’s begun nonetheless. / Now at 315pm, it’s totally cloudy with a nice light shower falling. The air temperature is a relatively cool 69.8 degrees here at my place in Kula, compared to a warmer 84 at the same time…down in Kahului. Interesting, I see sunshine in many areas down the mountain from here, or at least partly sunny conditions. / 325pm, this light shower gained a little intensity…we need the water.
– Early evening, the considerable clouds of the earlier afternoon hours, seem to already be backing off already. I expect this trend to continue, with Sunday morning opening up nicely to clear to partly cloudy skies…although with some cloudy areas and a few showers locally windward locations.
Friday Evening Film: My film viewing buddy Jeff is back from Germany and the mainland, so we went down to see a new one in Kahului. It was called Midnight Special, starring Michael Shannon, Adam Driver, Kirsten Dunst, Joel Edgerton, Sam Shepard, Jaeden Lieberher...among many others. The synopsis: Midnight Special’s intriguing mysteries may not resolve themselves to every viewer’s liking, but the journey is ambitious, entertaining, and terrifically acted. A drama about a father and his eight-year-old son, who go on the lam upon discovering that the boy possesses mysterious powers. The critics are being rather generous with this film, and for the most part…I could see why. I liked the way this film opened up, and this liking kept up until close to the end, when it slipped. This doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a special film, which both Jeff and I agreed upon. This was a very interesting science fiction piece of work, although my critical remarks generally center around how Hollywood had to show its face too many times along the way, and especially near the end. Jeff and I both came down just below a straight A grade…giving it an A- rating. If you have any interest, here’s the trailer for this very entertaining film.
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:
Tropical Cyclone 20P (Amos) remains active, heading towards Samoa and 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: Australian river on fire with fracked coal seam gas – So much methane is bubbling into a river surrounded by hundreds of fracking wells that it’s a fire hazard! Local campaigners blame the coal seam gas industry for the gas releases which are spreading along Queensland’s river Condamine and gaining in intensity.
So much methane gas is now bubbling up through the Condamine River in Queensland, Australia that it exploded with fire and held a large flame.
Gas seeping into the river began shortly after coal seam gas operations started nearby and is growing in volume and the stretch of river affected is expanding in length.
Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham traveled to Chinchilla in South Western Queensland to investigate the impact of the coal seam gas industry on the environment as part of the Greens’ campaign to ban fracking and unconventional gas in Australia.
“I was shocked by the force of the explosion when I tested whether gas boiling through the Condamine River, Queensland was flammable. So much gas is bubbling through the river that it held a huge flame for over an hour”, said Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.
Methane was first discovered bubbling through the Condamine River near Chinchilla in 2012 where coal seam gas wells had been drilled by Origin Energy nearby. There are hundreds of wells in the immediate area, with three companies, Origin Energy, QGC and Arrow Energy all operating coal seam gas fields nearby.
Could gas drilling possibly be to blame?
Locals say the river has never bubbled like this historically. Government investigations found (p19) that the source of the gas was “consistent with gas originating from Surat Basin geological formations.”
The concern is that depressurizing the coal seams for gas extraction has caused methane gas to flow up other cracks, fissures, bores, to the surface – such as through the Condamine River. This is directly polluting the river and the air, but also methane is a potent greenhouse gas and these fugitive emissions are a major concern.
Not only is the gas bubbling becoming more intense recently, but it is spreading to a greater length of the river. Origin Energy which operates has wells in close proximity to the gas seep, has installed some monitoring pipework, and the Queensland Government has put stakes on the river bank to mark each visible seep.
Mr Buckingham said: “Explosive gas boiling through a river shows just how damaging fracking and unconventional gas extraction can be. We should be going with clean renewable energy and banning fracking and unconventional gas in Australia. The era of fossil fuels is over.”
“I do not want to see this happen to the Namoi River, or any other river in New South Wales, or anywhere else, which is why unconventional gas should be stopped. The fact that this is happening in the Murray Darling Basin is a national disgrace.”
‘We are all deeply concerned’
Chinchilla local resident, John Jenkyn who lives next door to the QGC Kenya gas field and gas processing facility said: “Anything that contaminates the underground water is a terrible thing. Depressurising the aquifers to extract the coal seam gas seems to have made the gas flow out beneath the Condamine River and it’s now spreading further.
“Over the last few years there more and more patches of bubbles have appeared on the river and the pressure of the gas has increased to the point where it is like an over-sized spa bath. It’s a river, it shouldn’t be doing that.”
Karen Auty, Chinchilla resident and activist against unconventional gas said: “It’s deeply troubling to see contaminated water ways and to see water bores blow out with gas or fail and ground water levels drop. We’re all deeply concerned about the water.”
“As local residents we want to know whether it is safe to live among all these gas wells and infrastructure, what are the impacts on our health?”
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