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

85 – 75  Lihue, Kauai
85 – 73  Honolulu, Oahu
82 – 70  Molokai AP
86 – 72  Kahului AP, Maui
85 – 73  Kailua Kona
82 – 70  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

0.31  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.50  Moanalua RG, Oahu
0.10  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.50  West Wailuaiki, Maui
1.15  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

30  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
35  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – SSW
27  Molokai – NNE
30  Lanai – ENE
37  Kahoolawe – NE
33  Kahului AP, Maui – NNE
35  Puu Mali, 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

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
A low pressure system over the ocean far to the northeast…
along with its trailing cold front

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
A cold front north of Hawaii…high clouds south

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Clear to partly cloudy, a few cloudy areas locally…high cirrus
clouds just south of the state

 

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A few showers falling locally – Looping radar image

Small Craft Advisory…for the Kaiwi Channel, Maalaea Bay,
Pailolo Channel,  Alenuihaha Channel, Big Island leeward
waters, and waters southeast of the Big Island

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Trades winds continuing…with a possible break beginning Thursday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system well offshore to the north of the state. At the same time, we see a low pressure system far northeast, along with its trailing cold front not too far offshore to the north of the islands. Trade winds will continue, increasing a notch into the new work week ahead. It looks like we may see a late season cold front approaching the state later the week. If this happens, we could see our winds become more easterly and lighter, or even southeasterly Friday and Saturday temporarily. As we know, if the winds swing around to the southeast…we could see increased volcanic haze arriving over the smaller islands. The trade winds should return by the weekend, ventilating the vog away then.

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 off and on showers…focused along the windward sides. The leeward beaches will remain less showery, with a few exceptions here and there at times on the smaller islands. There will be possible afternoon and early evening showers along the leeward slopes of the larger islands. This will be most pronounced above the Kona area as usual. Otherwise, there are no unusual circumstances expected in our weather for the time being. A generally pleasant trade wind weather pattern is well established, with no plans to lose its influence on our area. There’s a chance for some increase in windward showers around Wednesday, which might spill over into the leeward areas locally. The models go on to suggest a late season cold front approaching the islands by Thursday-Friday, keeping windward showers around into the weekend…stay tuned.

Marine environment details: A small craft advisory /SCA/ remains in effect for the typically windy waters near Maui County and the Big Island. SCA conditions will continue for these waters through Wednesday.

A small northwest swell will remain into Tuesday. A new small west-northwest swell is expected Wednesday and Thursday. Elsewhere, expect a noticeable bump in surf heights along south facing shores during the next few days. Trade winds will produce short period surf along east facing shores.

 

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Green Sea Turtles…in the blue waters of Maui


Here on Maui – Not long before sunrise on this Sunday morning, we find partly cloudy skies along the windward coasts and slopes…stretching up over the mountains locally. These clouds are dropping a few showers, as the trades carry moisture ashore. Elsewhere around the island, skies were mostly clear to partly cloudy. Here in upcountry Kula, it was calm and clear to partly cloudy, with an air temperature at my weather tower of 52.1F degrees. At near the same time, the Kahului AP was reporting 73 degrees under partly cloudy skies, while it was 75 out in Hana, 73 at Maalaea Bay…with 45 atop the Haleakala Crater.

– Late afternoon Sunday, and yet another very lovely spring day…in terms of near perfect weather!

– Early Sunday evening, the end of a great day, with nothing less than that expected Monday.

Saturday Evening Film: My friend Jeff called, with an idea to head downtown to see a film. We went to see the new one called A Hologram for the King, starring Tom Hanks, Alexander Black, Sarita Choudhury, David Menkin, Tom Skerritt, Ben Whishaw, and Sidse Babett Knudsen…among many others. The synopsis: cultures collide when an American businessman (Tom Hanks) is sent to Saudi Arabia to close what he hopes will be the deal of a lifetime. Baffled by local customs and stymied by an opaque bureaucracy, he eventually finds his footing with the help of a wise-cracking taxi driver (Alexander Black), and a beautiful Saudi doctor (Sarita Choudhury).

Let’s face it, when you know Tom Hanks will be acting in a film, how could it be anything but good! Mr. Hanks definitely gave this film its strong bearing, and as usual…another effortless performance. As one critic wrote about this film: “Always pleasant, occasionally funny, surprisingly touching, and yet another reason to worship Tom Hanks.” I found it to be a little choppy at times, with some disconnects, although they didn’t really take away too much for me personally. Jeff was slightly more enamored than I, although we were both taken by the film indeed. As for grades, Jeff gave it an enthusiastic A-, while I came in a little below that, with a B+ rating…here’s the trailer.

 

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: No active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting: Why aren’t hybrid car owners showing more loyalty to hybrids? – Hybrid cars have come a long way since the first frumpy Toyota Prius debuted in Japan almost 20 years ago. The same can be said for electric cars since GM rolled out its EV1 in the late 1990s, only to backtrack, repossess and destroy all of them, infuriating its fans in the process. There are now dozens of hybrid models, and they enjoyed a surge in sales when gasoline prices spiked in 2007 and again in 2012. But more recently, their sales overall have been on the decline. Meanwhile electric vehicles are becoming more sophisticated, are improving their range and have seen sales on the uptick while the automakers have become more competitive in their advertising.

As expected, hybrid cars’ sluggish sales numbers have much to do with the fact that oil prices have been in a two-year slump while conventional gasoline engines keep getting cleaner and more fuel efficient. When hybrids started becoming more popular a decade ago, it was often assumed that when it came time for a new upgrade, owners would stay loyal and trade in one hybrid car for another.

But as an Edmunds survey has revealed, that is increasingly not the case. In fact, more hybrid cars have been traded in for an SUV than ever before. And that hybrid loyalty rate has fallen to below 50 percent for the first time ever.

Cheap gas, however, is not telling the entire story. Even SUVs, most of which were monstrous fuel guzzlers a generation ago, have become far more fuel efficient. And the Edmunds report also indicates that many car buyers still value fuel efficiency—but are not convinced the purchase of a hybrid car is an absolute must. After all, a recent University of Michigan survey shows that newly sold cars have an efficiency rate of 25.3 miles per gallon (MPG): compare that figure to 2007, when all new cars on average posted an average 20.8 MPG. Going from a hybrid to a conventional internal combustion engine is not a rejection of fuel efficiency. Rather, technological improvements have given us more choices.

It is also worth noting that for the very savvy and socially conscious automobile customer, just because one buys a hybrid (or fully electric vehicle) does not necessarily mean one scores the “green” stamp of approval. The rare earth metals that are required in these cars’ batteries often come from dubious sources. These materials are not necessarily rare—it is just that they come in trace amounts, which means a lot of materials must be scoured in order to glean and procure these elements. Hence while that new hybrid car may be efficient, their batteries’ supply chains are not necessarily environmentally and socially responsible.

Furthermore, the rise and fall of hybrid sales demonstrate that they are now a mature product. That early adopter who bought that cute Prius 10 or 15 years ago has seen his or her life change. Once infatuated with new products and technology, he or she may now have a family, a different job that requires them to haul around more stuff, or quite simply, may even drive less than in a previous life.

The recent fall in sales notwithstanding, the automakers at large are still bullish on hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles. In some markets, such as South Korea, hybrid cars are still rising, in part because gasoline fuel is still expensive despite the plunge in petroleum prices. And Volvo is one example of a car manufacturer that says it is still bullish on next-generation cars.

True, we see the growing trend in divestment from fossil fuels as some observers, including the extended Rockefeller family, believe it will not be long before the fossil fuels sector is irrelevant. But watch for long term sales of hybrids, and those of their even more fuel-efficient cousins’, to look like a roller coaster on a year-to-year graph. After all, the only thing true about predicting future oil prices is that they prove to be unpredictable.