Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday…and the low temperatures Friday:
82 – 67 Lihue, Kauai
84 – 70 Honolulu, Oahu
81 – 70 Molokai AP
85 – 70 Kahului AP, Maui
84 – 73 Kailua Kona
81 – 71 Hilo AP, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Friday evening:
0.12 Anahola, Kauai
0.01 Olomana, Oahu
0.05 Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.44 Kahoolawe
1.10 Kahakuloa, Maui
1.23 Lower Kahuku, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Friday evening:
23 Port Allen, Kauai – SE
24 Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
18 Molokai – N
13 Lanai – ENE
18 Kahoolawe – E
25 Kapalua, Maui – N
16 Kaupulehu, Big Island – W
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, northeast and
northwest…along with their frontal cloud bands draping southwest
A large area of high and middle level clouds over the state
A mix of multi-level clouds…and clear skies
Showers falling locally over the islands – Looping radar image
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Winds light into the weekend…then stronger Monday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing high pressure systems to the northwest and far east-northeast. At the same time, there’s low pressure systems far to the northeast, north and northwest…with the tail-ends of cold fronts draping south and southwest from their centers. The air flow over the state will be generally on the light side from the east to southeast into the weekend…prompting the return of volcanic haze to the smaller islands. Early in the new week, the trades will strengthen, settling back into the moderately strong realms…quickly eliminating the vog 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
Localized showers through the weekend, which will become locally heavy…enough to prompt flood advisories. The models indicate an upper level low pressure system passing over the islands this weekend, which will prompt a surface trough over the state. As a result, our winds will shift to the southeast, and move additional lower level moisture over the state. A light wind flow then would allow for daytime sea breezes, bringing showers to the leeward upcountry areas during the afternoons…perhaps locally quite heavy in some locations. There’s even the chance that we’ll see some unusual thunderstorms forming over and around the islands at times! We may also see some of this shower activity become more widespread, and not just during the afternoon hours. The trade winds will pick up early in the new week ahead, carrying passing showers to the windward sides then.
Marine environment details: A small craft advisory (SCA) will probably be needed for the typically windy waters around Maui County and the Big Island by late Sunday, and for most of next week as trade winds strengthen. Until then, winds and seas will stay below SCA levels.
A small northwest swell will peak early Saturday, before diminishing Sunday and Monday, with peak surf heights well below advisory levels. South facing shores will continue to see small swells through most of the next week, with the potential for a small increase from the south-southwest around mid-week. Worth noting that the source of this swell is a low pressure system in the Tasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand, which typically reduces confidence in the swell’s arrival in Hawaii…due to the reduction in swell energy as it passes through numerous island groups along the way. Otherwise, wind waves will increase as trade winds strengthen early next week, bringing an increase in wave heights along east facing shores.
Here on Maui – Before sunrise on this Friday morning, we find partly cloudy skies. Here at my place in Kula, it’s clear and calm, with an air temperature of 54.5F degrees at 520am. At about the same time, at the Kahului AP was reporting 72 degrees, while Hana was reporting 66 degrees…and 41 degrees atop the Haleakala Crater.The high clouds that in our skies this morning will light up a nice pink and orange at sunrise. / 1130am, here at my place in Kula, rain just began…and it’s not light!
– Early afternoon, with lots of clouds around and over the mountains, many of which are showery. I can still see plenty of sunshine down in the central valley too. Here in Kula, it has been showering off and on, some of these have been moderately heavy. Winds are much lighter today, and in combination with the daytime heating of the island…are prompting these afternoon convective showers in the upcountry areas.
– Early evening, with lots of clouds over the island, especially over and around the mountains. There have been showers falling in many locations, some have been heavy enough to cause flooding problems here and there. I anticipate that as the daytime heating ends after sunset, many of these clouds will evaporate rather quickly. I think that Saturday will dawn in good shape, with lots more clouds forming again later Saturday morning through the early evening hours…and yes, more of those locally heavy showers here and there again then too.
Friday Evening Film: As is the case many times this year so far, there is a good selection of films playing here in Kahului. This time around, I’ve chosen the action and adventure filled Captain America: Civil War, starring Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Emily VanCamp, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen…among many others. The synopsis: Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War” finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps-one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.
This film was 2 1/2 hours long, and after 10 minutes or more of trailers before the feature began, it was a long time to be sitting in that theater seat. It was a huge film, a royale battle of the sides, with countless numbers of innocent bystanders who died in this major conflict! It was Captain America fighting against Iron Man, with quite a cast of supporting characters on both sides. It was an over the top superhero film, with humor and action vying for the audiences attention. I’m not typically crazy about superhero films, although Captain America turns out to be this wholesome, level headed guy, who is pretty likeable. In sum, it was a good film, not what I’d call a great film, although certainly entertaining, and then some. As far as a grade goes, I guess I come down in the B+ category, not just a B, although far from being an A minus too. If any of this sounds interesting, and prompts you to take a quick peek…here’s the trailer – the large view is always best.
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: No active tropical cyclones
Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
Interesting: Preliminary research suggests that eddies may hold tasty surprises. – Around Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the Gulf Stream veers east, flowing away from the coastline of the United States and out into the Atlantic Ocean. Away from the stabilizing influence of the continent, the powerful current revels in its new freedom, spawning large circulating masses of water called eddies that scientists describe as the hurricanes of the ocean.
Now, in preliminary research, scientists are trying to figure out how great white sharks may use the spinning features.
Eddies are ubiquitous in the surface waters of the world’s oceans. Many form when parcels of moving water pinch off from the main body of fast-moving currents like the Gulf Stream, which carries warm water from the subtropics and tropics to regions of the North Atlantic Ocean. On average, the swirls can stretch nearly 125 miles across and typically last weeks or months.
In the new research, Peter Gaube, a biophysical oceanographer at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle, and his colleagues investigated how great white sharks may interact with the swirling pools of water. They partnered with OCEARCH, a nonprofit that tracks the movements of a number of sharks using satellite tags. Every time a tagged shark surfaces, its tracking device “pings” a satellite, creating a record of the shark’s movements over time.
The scientists paired the travel histories of two female great white sharks — named Mary Lee and Lydia — with the locations of eddies in the North Atlantic. One of the animals was also tagged with a device that recorded water temperature and depth every 15 seconds. They found for the first time that the sharks appear to prefer the cores of anticyclonic eddies — those that have centers of water warmer than the surrounding ocean — to cyclonic, or cold-core, eddies while swimming in this region of the ocean. In particular, the depth data revealed that the tagged female appeared to spend more time and dive deeper in the warm-core eddies found near the Gulf Stream.
The researchers suggest that the sharks’ need to regulate their body temperatures could explain the longer, deeper dives observed in warm-core eddies. And it’s possible that the animals are targeting those areas to feed, said Gaube, who presented the research at the 2016 Ocean Sciences Meeting in New Orleans last month.
That would be a surprising finding, said Scarla Weeks, a biophysical oceanographer at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, because “in warm-core eddies, there generally isn’t forage food.”
Instead, the animals that she’s studied — including manta rays and seabirds — all target the boundaries of cold-core eddies because that’s where the food hangs out, said Weeks, who wasn’t involved in the research.
In general, the centers of cold-core eddies have more nutrient-rich water than the warm-core ones. Those nutrients, plus sunlight, fuel the growth of tiny organisms like phytoplankton, which tend to accumulate at the periphery of the cold-core eddies. Animals higher up the food chain follow.
The marine delicacies that may lure sharks to the heart of a North Atlantic Charybdis remain, for the moment, a mystery. But Gaube has a guess.
“Atlantic pomfret. They’d be the perfect shark snack.” Anecdotal evidence from a colleague suggests the silvery fish, which can grow up to a few feet long, appear to congregate in anticyclones at depths similar to those the shark dove to, he said.
Although the researchers can’t draw firm conclusions from data comprising just two sharks, “it’s a good start . . . and quite exciting science,” said Weeks. Teasing out how animals use oceanic eddies — for foraging or for migration, for example — is important because it can “help us understand and, therefore, potentially conserve some of our species,” she said. “And it can also help us understand our oceans better and what impact climate change is having.”
Scientists are still figuring out how eddies evolve in time and space and how they transport heat, salt, dissolved carbon dioxide and other materials throughout the ocean, said Bo Qiu, a physical oceanographer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu, who wasn’t involved in the research. That movement of heat and other materials in the ocean plays an important role in regulating Earth’s climate, he said. Knowing how eddies work is crucial to understanding how climate change may be affecting them and what the effects of such changes might be.
For now, the next step for the researchers is uncovering what might lurk in the warm-core eddies. Figuring out that missing piece could help explain why the sharks seem to use the features differently than other species.
To do just that, Gaube is planning to return to the region in May.
“There’s something good here. I can feel it,” he said. “This is going to be really fun.”
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