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

81 – 72  Lihue, Kauai
86 – 73  Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 73  Molokai AP
87 – 73  Kahului AP, Maui
88 – 76  Kailua Kona
84 – 72  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

0.57  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.28  Waihee Pump, Oahu
0.00  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.27  West Wailuaiki, Maui
1.69  Piihonua, Big Island

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

28  Port Allen, Kauai
36  Kuaokala, Oahu
27  Molokai
30  Lanai
30  Kahoolawe
31  Kapalua, Maui
31  Kealakomo, 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

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High cirrus clouds moving over us from the southwest

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Thunderstorms well offshore in several directions

 

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High cirrus clouds pushing over the islands…filtering and dimming our sunshine

 

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Showers over the islands locally – Looping radar image


Small Craft Advisory…windiest waters around Maui County and the Big Island

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Gusty trade winds remaining active into the new week ahead. Here’s the latest weather map, showing high pressure systems in the area northwest and northeast of Hawaii. These high pressure cells are forecast to maintain both their presence, and general strength for the time being. This will keep a steady supply of trade winds across our area through the next 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

There will be passing showers…primarily focused along the windward sides. Satellite imagery shows patches of clouds upstream to the northeast for the time being. The models are suggesting we could see a batch of wetter clouds arriving around Wednesday…bringing increased showers our way for a few days then. The overlying atmosphere may become unstable enough, that some of this shower activity may become locally quite heavy.

Marine environment details: A strong high pressure system far north-northwest of the area, is producing locally strong trade winds. The high will move south and weaken over the next few days, and the winds may drop below small craft advisory (SCA) strength by Tuesday. A strong new high pressure cell will build northeast of the area through the second half of the new week. The trade winds will strengthen…and could reach near gale strength by next weekend.

A swell from the southern hemisphere is expected to arrive today, peak Monday and Tuesday below the advisory threshold…then subside. As the trade winds strengthen later in the week, surf along east facing shores could reach advisory levels.

 

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Here on Maui – Early Sunday morning is dawning clear to partly cloudy, with the wispy high cirrus clouds lighting up a beautiful pink around sunrise! The air temperature was 52.8F degrees at 550am. Meanwhile, at about the same time, the Kahului airport was reporting fair skies, with a temperature of 74 degrees, while Hana was at 72, Maalaea was 75…and the summit of the Haleakala Crater was reporting 48 degrees.

– Partly cloudy on this Sunday afternoon, with a mix of both high cirrus and lower level clouds…with shower activity at a minimum.

– Still quite cloudy in most areas, with this thick deck of high cirrus clouds, not to mention the considerable lower level clouds in the area too. We may see some nice color at sunset, keep an eye out.


From my Past: I recently had a long telephone conversation with a former college teacher of mine, whose name is Leon Hunsaker. He was the meteorology professor at Sonoma State University, in northern California. This was back in the 1970’s, when he was not only teaching, but also the primary TV weatherman in San Francisco. It was so cool to be in his meteorology classes during the day, and then see him on the TV screen in the evenings. As it turned out, I was his teachers assistant (TA) at Sonoma State, which was such a thrill as well. I was so enamored by Mr. Hunsaker, and had so many in-depth conversations about the weather with him. He turned out to be my mentor, in no uncertain terms! As some of you know, I got swept off my feet by the weather…way back when I was 7 or 8 years old.

At any rate, I happened to be thinking about him the other day, and decided to see if he was still alive, and if I could get in touch with him. I was successful, and called him at his home near Grants Pass. Oregon. He’s now 92 years old, and definitely still very clear in mind, although as he mentioned, he has a few health issues that he’s dealing with. We had a good long conversation, and as you might suspect, he is a very smart man. Case in point, he graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technololgy (MIT), which is one of our better schools here in the United States.

We chatted at length about his long and successful career, and then graded into how my career in meteorology has paralleled his quite closely. He taught as a professor, was on television and the radio, and worked for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company for many years. Interestingly enough, I did live broadcast TV weather for over 18 years, and had many radio and newspaper jobs here on Maui as well. I taught at the University of Hawaii’s Maui campus for many years, and ended up working at the Pacific Disaster Center for the last 20 years, as their Senior Weather Specialist…and still work for them today. Plus, as you may know, through a NASA grant back in the mid 1990’s, I started this website, which is still going strong.

What I wanted to do, and was able to do, was to thank him for inspiring me way back when. You may have heard me speaking about my long time friend Bob Earle, who lives in the Sacramento area. It was interesting, he went to Sonoma State University as well, and ended up being the TA for another professor there. His name was Claude Minard, and Claude and Leon shared an office at the college. So, Bob and I have continued our friendship through the last 45 or so years, and we were both weather nuts, and continue to be to this day! Bob taught at San Francisco State College for many years, and is still teaching at the University of California at Davis…and many other community colleges in the general Sacramento Valley area. His main job was for the County of Sacramento, where he was a manager in the GIS field (Geographic Information System), which can be thought of as electronic mapping. He has since retired from the County, and just does his college teaching and some consulting work now.

This reminds me of when several years ago, I got in touch with my 6th grade teacher, who lives in Seal Beach, California, whose name is Andy Seymour. Out of the blue I got in touch with him via email and then the telephone, and he was still around and doing well. He and I, and several of my 6th grade classmates, who I was able to contact, had lunch together for several years there, while I visited my Mom in Long Beach. As a matter of fact, I have a week scheduled to be in Long Beach next month. I plan on calling Andy while I’m there, and hopefully have lunch together with him then. It’s so great to be able to meet with these former teachers, to be able to acknowledge them as being such important people in my life!


Friday Evening Film: Our friend Svetlana is back on Maui from Germany, so Jeff, myself and she went to see a film. Looking at what’s playing in our local theaters was a bit discouraging, as most of the films are heavy duty…and in some cases too scary. At any rate, we picked a new 0ne called Free State of Jones, starring Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Jacob Lofland, Keri Russell…among many others. The synopsis: Free State of Jones is an epic action-drama set during the Civil War, and tells the story of defiant Southern farmer, and his extraordinary armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Banding together with other small farmers and local slaves, he launched an uprising that led Jones County, Mississippi to secede from the Confederacy, creating a Free State of Jones.

The truth is that I really like Matthew McConaughey in most of his films, although when I saw the trailer for this film, I wasn’t particularly enthused. However, given the choices, this film seemed like it might be the best choice. The critics aren’t being very generous, although the critics aren’t always on the money in my opinion. It turned out to be a great film, although rather disturbing in many parts, in reference to some definitely gory special effects! The subject matter, being civil war history, isn’t my favorite thing, which I find rather depressing. In addition, it was a very long film, which ran 2 hours and 19 minutes, although that didn’t bother me. It was the brutality that was hard to take in places, which was very graphic. Jeff and Svetlana both gave it an A grade, while I came in with a strong B+ rating. Here’s the trailer, so if you are curious, you can take a quick look. As you’ll find, there’s lots of shooting guns in this action adventure drama.

 

World-wide tropical cyclone activity

>>> Atlantic Ocean: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days

>>> Gulf of Mexico: No active tropical cyclones

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

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 the next 2-days

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:

Tropical Cyclone 02A remains active in the Arabian Sea, located approximately 249 NM southwest of Karachi, Pakistan. Here’s a JTWC graphical track map, a satellite image of this system.

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


Interesting: Why the Increase in Solar-Powered Schools? – Out of the 125,000 K-12 schools in the United States, over 3,700 are running on solar power. Three-thousand of these schools installed their solar power systems within the past six years, as solar technology continues to become less expensive and more sophisticated.

This trend in powering our schools reflects the growing recognition by district and state officials that photovoltaic electrical systems offer significant financial and environmental benefits. Here are four key reasons why more schools are making this transition.

Solar-powered schools are more affordable


Each solar-powered school saves an average of $21,000 per year in utility bills, which totals $77.8 million per year nationwide. Schools can pass these savings on to the students in the form of subsidized laptops, tablets and other classroom resources, or savings can be used to provide over 2,000 teaching jobs throughout the United States.

A financial analysis notes that 450 more school districts could each save approximately $1 million in energy costs over the next 30 years if they installed a solar electric power system. Schools could realize further savings if they added solar thermal water-heating systems to their existing infrastructure.

Architecturally, most schools are well-suited to the addition of solar panels. They are frequently one-story buildings with broad, flat roof surfaces that make the installation of solar electric or water-heating systems easy. Schools can also install solar canopies in parking lots, providing the benefit of shade while producing substantial amounts of electricity on land that is already in use.

Solar power is better than other alternative energy sources


As the nation moves forward with sustainable energy, wind and hydropower are also receiving fresh attention. While these energy sources have a place in the overall long-term picture, the attributes of solar power continue to keep it at the forefront of alternative energy sources.

Hydropower: 

Unlike solar power, which can be generated on an individual site, hydropower requires a collective regional effort and a substantial expenditure on infrastructure. Furthermore, the building of dams and other waterways creates environmental disruptions that offset the effort toward sustainability.

Wind power:

While large-scale wind farms are one valuable element in our nation’s energy future, wind power tends to be impractical on a single-site basis. Wind power systems require expensive construction and maintenance, and they include many moving parts that can wear out or break. Furthermore, the tall towers are often considered unsightly and generate a push-back from neighbors who object to the disruption of the visual landscape. Additionally, the noise of the windmill’s blades impinges on people’s awareness, and they can cause a high mortality rate in the local bird population. Given these objections, school districts are unlikely to find strong support for wind-powered systems to generate electricity.

Solar power:

Solar power has few of the drawbacks of other sustainable energy sources. With no moving parts, solar electric systems require almost no maintenance. They are completely scalable, down to the smallest building or even to individual appliances. Entirely silent, photovoltaic systems don’t create a sensory distraction to people nearby, and they are free of environmental hazards to water supplies or wildlife.

Solar-powered schools help the environment


Every hour, the sun radiates enough energy onto the Earth to cover the entire planet’s energy needs for a full year. This abundant, unlimited energy supply is the power source of the future, and schools that make use of it are setting an example by reducing water pollution and greenhouse gases.

Solar-powered schools reduce water pollution


Traditional power plants require a large amount of fresh water, which is quickly becoming a scarce resource. Furthermore, 72 percent of water pollution is created by coal-fired power plants, and these water-borne toxins contaminate the environment and cause health problems in people who use the water. Hydraulic fracturing, which uses massive amounts of water to extract oil and gas from the ground, can also cause contamination of drinking water. Solar power avoids the need to use fresh water for extraction or cooling purposes and positions schools in the role of responsible guardians of shared natural resources.

Solar-powered schools reduce greenhouse gases


Scientists consider fossil fuels to be the primary cause for global climate change. Each new solar power system reduces our total dependence on fossil fuels and decreases the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Current methods of generating electricity are responsible for 31 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, and the EPA states that the electricity generation industry is the single largest source of excess carbon dioxide gas being released into the environment.

Schools have a natural role within their communities to display leadership in building a future that is environmentally sustainable. The project of installing a solar panel array at a school does more than simply save money and reduce environmental pollution. It provides an educational opportunity for students to learn about alternative energy production, become more scientifically literate and increase their awareness of our planet’s limited resources.