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

80 – 70  Lihue, Kauai
82 – 72  Honolulu, Oahu
82 – 72  Molokai AP
84 – 70  Kahului AP, Maui
84 – 74  Kailua Kona
77 – 71  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

2.92  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.68  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.48  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.04  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
2.34  West Wailuaiki, Maui
3.07  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

25  Port Allen, Kauai
35  Kuaokala, Oahu
28  Molokai
33  Lanai
27  Kahoolawe
28  Kapalua, Maui
27  Kaupulehu, 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

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
There’s a low pressure system far north of the state, with a trailing
cold front

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
Low clouds in the area of the islands, with a dissipating
cold front near the Big Island…thunderstorms south

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Partly to mostly cloudy windward…with the weak cold front
near the Big Island, extending back over Maui – high cirrus
over the state, which will give us a colorful sunrise

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers falling in the wake of the recent late season cold front
Looping radar image

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Moderate trades will prevail…although turning lighter into the weekend. Here’s the latest weather map, showing moderately strong high pressure systems north and northeast of Hawaii. A surface trough of low pressure will take over duty through the next several days. In response, look for the trade winds to get lighter Thursday and Friday, and then even lighter over the weekend into next Monday. The models show the trade winds returning next Tuesday…and continuing at least through the middle of the week.

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 along the windward sides, turning drier tonight…as a shower band shifts south and dissipates. Moisture left behind by the recent front will keep showers in the forecast, especially across windward sections of the eastern islands. In contrast, the leeward sides will be drier, although showers will move over into those areas here and there on the smaller islands at times. As the winds ease up again through the rest of this week, we should slip into a convective weather pattern, with clear mornings giving way to afternoon clouds…and localized interior showers into next Monday. As the trade winds return Tuesday, so will the windward biased showers.

Marine environment details:  A surface high north of the state will weaken through Friday. Winds will subside starting later tonight as the high weakens and a surface trough approaches from the northeast. Light to gentle winds are expected by late Friday and continuing through the weekend. Trade winds will strengthen again by Tuesday…as the trough dissipates and a new high builds north of the area.

 

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Wailua Falls…Kauai


Here on Maui – Early Wednesday morning is dawning mostly clear to partly cloudy, with a majority of the low clouds strung out along the windward coasts and channels. Here at my place in upcountry Kula, it’s calm and clear…with an air temperature of 54.6F degrees at 535am. Meanwhile, at about the same time, the Kahului AP was reporting cloudy skies, with an air temperature of 72 degrees, as was Maalaea Bay, while out in Hana it was 70…with the summit of the Haleakala Crater reporting 43 degrees.

– Early afternoon, under cloudy skies along the windward sides, and around the mountains…with showers falling. I was up the Haleakala slope this morning, hiking around Hosmer’s Grove with my visiting friend Bob. It was cloudy up there with passing light showers and drizzle. We were lucky enough to see an I’iwi up close and personal! By the way, when we drove down out of the clouds, we could see what looked like totally sunny skies down in Kihei, Lahaina, and even over towards the Kahului AP. / 240pm, under cloudy skies and barely a breeze, we have a light shower falling here at my place in upcountry Kula. It was partly sunny down in Kahului…and mostly sunny in Kapalua.

– Early evening, you might have seen the report that our friend John Decker sent yesterday, who lives in Wailuku Heights here on Maui. This is another report that he sent me today:

We got a lot of rain after I sent yesterday’s report:  the day wound up with 1.76″ and the month of May wound up with 10.75″. We got another 0.33″ since midnight today, which brought the rain for the year 2016 to 23.36″. The rainiest month of May since I’ve lived here was in 1987, when we got  22.36″ in May – and wound up with 104.40″ for the year! 

Skies are finally beginning to show more blue sky, and somewhat less clouds, although the folks on the windward sides, and on the slopes of the mountains…may not see much of it. The showers, which were active again today, at least in many locations, are backing off here at my place in upcountry Kula. / 8pm and we just had yet another shower here in Kula.

 

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> Atlantic Ocean:  Tropical Depression Bonnie (02L)

Tropical Cyclone Bonnie has redeveloped, and is located about 25 miles east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with what the computer models are showing

Here’s a satellite image of this Tropical Cyclone

HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND

WIND: Gusty winds may occur over portions of the eastern North Carolina coast this afternoon, including the Pamlico Sound.

RAINFALL: Bonnie is expected to produce additional rainfall accumulations of 1 to 3 inches over the Outer Banks of North Carolina through Thursday evening. Isolated maximum amounts of 5 inches are possible. This rain will likely produce flooding over already saturated ground.

STORM SURGE: Localized coastal flooding and dangerous surf is possible along portions of the North Carolina coast, including the Outer Banks.

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: No active tropical cyclones

>>> Gulf of Mexico: No active tropical cyclones

A broad low pressure area is expected to form over the southern Gulf of Mexico by early next week. Additional slow development of the low could occur as it subsequently moves north-northeastward.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…30 percent

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

A broad area of low pressure is located about 1000 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Although shower and thunderstorm activity is less organized than it was yesterday, environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for development, and a tropical depression is likely to form during the next couple of days as the disturbance moves west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph.

Here’s a satellite image of this disturbance…along with what the computer models are showing

* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…70 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…90 percent

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: No active tropical cyclones

No tropical cyclones expected through Saturday morning

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: How did the giraffe get its long neck? – For the first time, the genomes of the giraffe and its closest living relative, the reclusive okapi of the African rainforest, have been sequenced — revealing the first clues about the genetic changes that led to the evolution of the giraffe’s exceptionally long neck and its record-holding ranking as the world’s tallest land species. The research will be published in the scientific journal Nature Communications on May 17, 2016.

“The giraffe’s stature, dominated by its long neck and legs and an overall height that can reach 19 feet, is an extraordinary feat of evolution that has inspired awe and wonder for at least 8,000 years — as far back as the famous rock carvings at Dabous in the Republic of Niger,” said Douglas Cavener of Penn State, who led the research team with Morris Agaba of the Nelson Mandela African Institute for Science and Technology in Tanzania.

“The evolutionary changes required to build the giraffe’s imposing structure and to equip it with the necessary modifications for its high-speed sprinting and powerful cardiovascular functions have remained a source of scientific mystery since the 1800s, when Charles Darwin first puzzled over the giraffe’s evolutionary origins,” said Cavener, a professor of biology and the Verne M. Willaman Dean of the Eberly College of Science at Penn State. The giraffe’s heart, for example, must pump blood two meters straight up in order to provide an ample blood supply to its brain. This feat is possible because the giraffe’s heart has evolved to have an unusually large left ventricle, and the species also has blood pressure that is twice as high as other mammals.

To identify genetic changes likely to be responsible for the giraffe’s unique characteristics, including sprints that can reach 37 miles per hour (60 km/h), Cavener and Agaba compared the gene-coding sequences of the giraffe and the okapi to more than 40 other mammals including the cow, sheep, goat, camel, and human. “Okapi’s gene sequences are very similar to the giraffe’s because the okapi and giraffe diverged from a common ancestor only 11-to-12 million years ago — relatively recently on an evolution timescale,” Cavener said. “In spite of this close evolutionary relationship, the okapi looks more like a zebra and it lacks the giraffe’s imposing height and impressive cardiovascular capabilities. For these two reasons, Okapi’s genome sequence provides a powerful screen that we have used to identify some of the giraffe’s unique genetic changes.”

Using a battery of comparative tests to study the genome sequences of the giraffe and the okapi, the scientists discovered 70 genes that showed multiple signs of adaptations. “These adaptations include unique amino-acid-sequence substitutions that are predicted to alter protein function, protein-sequence divergence, and positive natural selection,” Cavener said. Over half of the 70 genes code for proteins that are known to regulate development and physiology of the skeletal, cardiovascular, and nervous system — just the type of genes predicted to be necessary for driving the development of the giraffe’s unique characteristics.

Among the research team’s discoveries are that several genes known to either to regulate the development of the cardiovascular system or to control blood pressure are among the genes showing multiple signs of adaptation in the giraffe. Some of these genes control both cardiovascular development and skeletal development, suggesting the intriguing possibility that the giraffe’s stature and turbocharged cardiovascular system evolved in concert through changes in a small number of genes.

The scientists also discovered genetic clues to the evolution of the giraffe’s long neck and legs, which have the same number of bones as the neck and legs of humans and other mammals. “To achieve their extraordinary length, giraffe cervical vertebrae and leg bones have evolved to be greatly extended,” Cavener said. “At least two genes are required — one gene to specify the region of the skeleton to grow more and another gene to stimulate increased growth.” Among the 70 genes that the team’s research revealed are markedly different in the giraffe, the scientists identified genes that are known to regulate both of these functions.

“The most intriguing of these genes is FGFRL1, which has a cluster of amino acid substitutions unique to giraffe that are located in the part of the protein that binds fibroblast growth factors — a family of regulators involved in regulating many processes including embryo development,” Cavener said. This fibroblast-growth-factor pathway plays a crucial role in controlling development, beginning in early development of the embryo and extending through the bone-growth phase after the giraffe is born. In humans and also in mice, severe skeletal and cardiovascular defects are associated with debilitating mutations in this gene.

The scientists also identified four homeobox genes — the kind involved in the development of body structures — which are known to specify the regions of the spine and legs. Cavener speculates, “The combination of changes in these homeobox genes and the FGFRL1 gene might provide two of the required ingredients for the evolution of the giraffe’s long neck and legs.”

Agaba first noticed a group of genes regulating metabolism and growth that were diverged in giraffe as compared to okapi. One of these genes encodes the receptor for folic acid, which is an essential B vitamin necessary for normal growth and development. Other metabolic genes that the scientists found to be significantly changed in giraffe are those involved in the metabolism of the volatile fatty acids that are generated by the fermentation of ingested plants — the major source of energy for the giraffe and other ruminants like cattle and goats. The giraffe has an unusual diet of acacia leaves and seedpods, which are highly nutritious but also are toxic to other animals. The scientists speculate that the genes responsible for metabolizing acacia leaves may have evolved in the giraffe in order to circumvent this toxicity.

Cavener and Agaba, both experimental geneticists, say they are anxious to test the function of some of the identified genes that they believe may be responsible for the giraffe’s unique characteristics. Their research team currently is testing the potential effect of the unique differences of the giraffe’s FGFRL1 gene by introducing these changes into mice using the new CRISPR gene-editing methods. Substituting the giraffe’s FGFRL1 gene into mouse is not expected to make a long-necked mouse. However, the scientists are hoping to see how the giraffe’s FGFRL1 gene may affect differential growth of the spine and legs of the mice that is predictive of the giraffe’s unique features.

“We hope that the publication of the giraffe genome and clues to its unique biology will draw attention to this species in light of the recent precipitous decline in giraffe populations,” Cavener said. “While the plight of the elephant — giraffe’s shorter companion in the African Savannah — has received the lions share of attention, giraffe populations have declined by 40 percent over the past 15 years due to poaching and habitat loss. At this rate of decline, the number of giraffes in the wild will fall below 10,000 by the end of this century. Some giraffe subspecies already are teetering on the edge of extinction.”