Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday…along with the low temperatures Friday:
83 – 74 Lihue, Kauai
87 – 74 Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 72 Molokai AP
87 – 71 Kahului AP, Maui
88 – 76 Kailua Kona
83 – 71 Hilo AP, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Friday evening:
1.74 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.86 Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.28 Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.06 Kahoolawe
2.44 Puu Kukui, Maui
1.92 Saddle Quarry, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Friday evening:
30 Port Allen Kauai
35 Kuaokala, Oahu
29 Molokai
35 Lanai
35 Kahoolawe
35 Maalaea Bay, Maui
33 Pali 2, Big Island
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 system over the ocean far to the north…
with it’s frontal cloud band draping southwest
We see a ragged cold front to the northwest of the state…
with an area of thunderstorms far southwest
Clear to partly cloudy skies for the most part…some
cloudy areas locally
Showers falling locally – Looping radar image
Small Craft Advisory…windiest coasts and channels from
Kaiwi Channel through Maui County to the Big Island
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Moderately strong trade winds will pick up now, remaining locally breezy through the weekend…then ease up slightly Monday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing a strong high pressure system well to the north-northeast of Hawaii, with another far northwest. At the same time, there’s a gale low pressure system far north of the state, with its associated cold front draping south and southwest. This late season cold front will approach the state, although won’t get into our area. Our local trade winds will ramp-up a notch now, and remain on the breezy side through Sunday, with a small craft wind advisory now active over the windiest parts of the eastern Islands. Yet another late season cold front approaching the state, will help to tamp-down our trade wind speeds some on Monday.
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
Showers will continue to favor windward and mountain areas, with periodic increases in shower activity…as pockets of moisture move along in the trade wind flow. Satellite imagery shows clear to partly cloudy skies in most places across the state, on this last day of the work week. There has been some periodic enhanced cloud cover over windward and mountain areas, where radar imagery shows scattered showers moving across parts of the islands. Our atmosphere is just unstable enough, that we’ll find a few locally more generous showers at times into the weekend. It appears we can look for periodic increases in showers…again mostly windward sections.
Marine environment details: Trade winds will increase today, and small craft advisory conditions will develop across the typically windy waters around the Big Island and Maui County. Trades will increase further on Saturday, and the small craft advisory may need to be expanded to additional marine zones for the weekend. A slow decrease in winds is expected next week.
Surf will remain below advisory levels on all shores through the forecast period. The current small south and south-southwest swell will drop into the weekend. Another small southwest swell is possible later next week. Choppy surf along east facing shores will continue into next week…with the largest surf expected during the weekend.
Waipio Valley – Kaluahine Falls…Big Island
Here on Maui – Before sunrise on this Friday morning, we find partly cloudy skies. The windward sides are cloudier, with some passing showers. Here at my place in upcountry Kula, it’s calm…with an air temperature of 54.6F degrees at 530am. Meanwhile, at about the same time, the Kahului AP was reporting partly cloudy skies, with an air temperature of 73 degrees…with the same reading out in Hana as well. The summit of the Haleakala Crater was 41 degrees.
– Early afternoon on this Aloha Friday, under clear to partly cloudy skies…lovely weather indeed!
– Early evening, a very warm and sunny spring day, with little change expected through the upcoming weekend. We can begin to keep an even closer eye on our soon to be full moon over the islands.
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: No active tropical cyclones
Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.
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 01B (Roanu) remains active in the Bay of Bengal, well offshore from the east coast of India. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing.
Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
Interesting: Increased vegetation in the Arctic region may counteract global warming – Climate change creates more shrub vegetation in barren, arctic ecosystems. A study at Lund University in Sweden shows that organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, are triggered to break down particularly nutritious dead parts of shrubbery. Meanwhile, the total amount of decomposition is reducing. This could have an inhibiting effect on global warming.
A large amount of the Earth’s carbon and nitrogen is stored in arctic ecosystems where the ground is permanently frozen, known as permafrost. Climate change causes such soil to heat up. Johannes Rousk at Lund University, together with colleagues Kathrin Rousk och Anders Michelsen from the University of Copenhagen and the Center for Permafrost (CENPERM), have conducted field studies outside Abisko in the very north of Sweden, studying what happens to the decomposition of organic material as the climate gets warmer.
“As the Arctic region becomes warmer, more shrubs start to grow, rather than moss which is difficult to break down. The shrubs have leaves and roots that are easy to break down and secrete sugar. What we have shown is that decomposition organisms, such as bacteria and fungi, are triggered to look for nutrient-rich organic materials that contain more nitrogen, while decomposition as a whole is reduced”, says Johannes Rousk.
When the nutrient-rich material is decomposed, the nutrient-poor part of the organic material is enriched, probably causing the amount of carbon to increase. Current climate models do not consider the connection between increased shrub vegetation as a result of ongoing climate change, and soil becoming less nutritious.
“It will be exciting to see how this will affect the soil carbon turnover in the long term. Perhaps our results will help complement future climate models”, says Johannes Rousk.
Today no one knows what less nutritious soil in the Arctic ecosystem and an overall decreased decomposition of organic material will lead to. However, Johannes Rousk dares to venture a guess:
“I suspect it will have an inhibiting effect on global warming”, he says.
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