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

80 – 66  Lihue, Kauai
82 – 70  Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 69  Molokai AP
84 – 68  Kahului AP, Maui
83 – 73  Kailua Kona
82 – 70  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

1.34  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.97  Bellows AFS, Oahu
0.05  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.40  Hana AP, Maui
3.86  Kahua Ranch, Big Island

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

20  Mana, Kauai
25  Kuaokala, Oahu
18  Molokai
13  Lanai
20  Kahoolawe
18  Maalaea Bay, Maui
22  Upolu AP, 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 deep trough of low pressure north-northeast of the
state…with a cold front moving southward

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
Low clouds in the area of the islands, with a streak of high cirrus
clouds moving up out of the  deeper tropics far to our west,
with wisps of high clouds north…thunderstorms far south

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Clear, with some cloudy areas over the islands…high
cirrus moving over the islands from the north

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers falling mostly over the nearby ocean…
a few locally onshore – Looping radar image

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Winds will become lighter through the weekend…as a surface trough of low pressure moves closer to the state. Here’s the latest weather map, showing high pressure systems far west-northwest and northeast of Hawaii. A surface trough of low pressure to the east, will slide a little closer to the state. In response, look for the trade winds to get lighter today, and then even lighter over the weekend…at least from Oahu down through the Big Island. We’ll find daytime sea breezes, and offshore flowing land breezes at night, especially over the central and eastern part of the state. It will feel rather hot and muggy during the days, as we get into the heart of this unusual light wind regime. The models show the trade winds returning early Monday, bringing refreshing relief from this sultry reality…continuing through 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

Afternoon upcountry clouds and showers, some briefly heavy…with generally clear to partly cloudy mornings. As the winds ease up again now through the rest of this week, we’ll slip into a convective weather pattern. This will manifest as clear to partly cloudy mornings, giving way to afternoon clouds…and localized interior showers through Sunday. The best chance for heavier showers over the interior sections from Oahu down through Maui to the Big Island will occur Saturday. As the trade winds return early Monday, so will the windward biased showers. Leftover moisture, associated with the trough of low pressure near the state this weekend…will keep some passing showers along the windward coasts and slopes next week.

Marine environment details:  No marine advisories are expected through the weekend. Gentle to moderate north to northeast winds will prevail over the western end of the island chain, while variable winds develop over the eastern end. Trades will rebuild later Sunday and Monday, with small craft advisory level winds possible over the typical areas around Maui County and the Big Island by midweek.

Small swells from the south and northwest are due through the weekend. A south-southwest swell building on Wednesday could push south shore surf to around the advisory level later in the week.

 

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Here on Maui – Early Friday morning is dawning mostly clear to partly cloudy. There’s still a few wisps of high cirrus clouds, which are lighting up a pretty pink color. Here at my place in upcountry Kula, the air temperature was 54.5F degrees at 530am. Meanwhile, at about the same time, the Kahului AP was reporting cloudy skies, with an air temperature of 68 degrees, while out in Hana it was 70…with the summit of the Haleakala Crater reporting 48 degrees.

– Early afternoon, it’s gotten more and more cloudy over and around the mountains…what else is new! Now at 105pm, we just started to have large raindrops falling here at my place in Kula. In distinct contrast, I can see that the beaches in all directions…remain sunny and dry! BTW, I can see some high cirrus clouds trying to sneak into our area from the north. / 240pm, here in upper Kula, a light rain shower just arrived, and it still looks way sunny down towards the central valley and the beaches.

– Early evening, with partly to mostly cloudy skies across the island. There have been a few showers falling, although they have been very light, and scattered at best. I expect these clouds to clear after sunset, making way for a clear to partly cloudy night…leading into Saturday morning.

 

Friday Evening Film: As usual, there are several films that I’d like to see, which are playing at our local theaters here on Maui. My friend Jeff and I have picked the one called The Lobster, starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw, Lea Seydoux, John C. Reilly, and Olivia Colman…among many others.

The synopsis, Colin Farrell stars as David, a man who has just been dumped by his wife. To make matters worse, David lives in a society where single people have 45 days to find true love, or else they are turned into the animal of their choice, and released into the woods.

David is kept at the mysterious hotel while he searches for a new partner, and after several romantic misadventures decides to make a daring escape to abandon this world. He ultimately joins up with a rebel faction known as The Loners, a group founded on a complete rejection of romance. But once there David meets an enigmatic stranger (Rachel Weisz) who stirs up unexpected and strong feelings within him.

The critics are feeling good to very good about this film, and so I’m looking forward to seeing it. I’m relieved to finally be seeing a film that’s not focused on action! 

This film was simply bizarre (bizarre: very strange or unusual, especially so as to cause interest or amusement), no doubt about it. Jeff’s comment was that it was High Art, unlike anything that he had seen…at least lately. It was playing in the smallest theater of the complex, on opening night, which was a sure giveaway. This was an adventure, a real plunge into complexity…lasting for a full two hours. One critic wrote: “The Lobster argues that the kind of pressure society places on us to find a soulmate can lead to reckless choices. But the movie gives the alternative – people who are happy being single – the same radical treatment.” The two of us talked about the many, many particulars of this film driving back up the mountain, and we were barely able to scratch the surface. It was interesting, we never got around to giving a grade, as it would be a difficult task to say the least. I’ll go so far as to say…it wasn’t a B film, nor was it quite an A film. It was so very unusual, and in the end, very entertaining on many different levels! This is certainly not a film for everyone, far from it in fact. Here’s the trailer, if you’re interested in taking a quick peek.

 

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

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

Tropical Depression Bonnie is located about 245 miles north-northwest of Bermuda. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with what the computer models are showing

Here’s a satellite image of this Tropical Cyclone

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: No active tropical cyclones

>>> Gulf of Mexico: No active tropical cyclones

Widespread cloudiness and thunderstorms over the northwestern Caribbean Sea are currently poorly organized. A low pressure system is expected to form in association with this disturbed weather over the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico or the adjacent waters by tomorrow and move generally northward. Subsequently, this low is likely to develop into a tropical cyclone as it moves northeastward across the central and eastern Gulf of Mexico early next week. Regardless of development, locally heavy rains and flooding are possible over portions of the Yucatan Peninsula, western Cuba, the Florida Keys, and the Florida Peninsula during the next several days.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…70 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…80 percent

Here’s a satellite image of what’s being called Invest 93L…along with the computer model output

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

An area of low pressure located about 1100 miles south-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula is moving westward at 10 to 15 mph. The associated shower and thunderstorm activity has changed little in organization, however, some development of this system is still possible and a tropical depression could form during the next few days while the low continues westward.

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

* Formation chance through 48 hours…medium…50 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…medium…60 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 the next two 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: No active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting: NASA studies details of a greening Arctic – The northern reaches of North America are getting greener, according to a NASA study that provides the most detailed look yet at plant life across Alaska and Canada. In a changing climate, almost a third of the land cover – much of it Arctic tundra – is looking more like landscapes found in warmer ecosystems.

With 87,000 images taken from Landsat satellites, converted into data that reflects the amount of healthy vegetation on the ground, the researchers found that western Alaska, Quebec and other regions became greener between 1984 and 2012. The new Landsat study further supports previous work that has shown changing vegetation in Arctic and boreal North America.

Landsat is a joint NASA/U.S. Geological Survey program that provides the longest continuous space-based record of Earth’s land vegetation in existence.

“It shows the climate impact on vegetation in the high latitudes,” said Jeffrey Masek, a researcher who worked on the study and the Landsat 9 project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Temperatures are warming faster in the Arctic than elsewhere, which has led to longer seasons for plants to grow in and changes to the soils. Scientists have observed grassy tundras changing to shrublands, and shrubs growing bigger and denser – changes that could have impacts on regional water, energy and carbon cycles.

With Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 data, Masek and his colleague Junchang Ju, a remote sensing scientist at Goddard, found that there was extensive greening in the tundra of western Alaska, the northern coast of Canada, and the tundra of Quebec and Labrador. While northern forests greened in Canada, they tended to decline in Alaska. Overall, the scientists found that 29.4 percent of the region greened up, especially in shrublands and sparsely vegetated areas, while 2.9 percent showed vegetation decline.

“The greening trend was unmistakable,” the researchers wrote in an April 2016 paper in Remote Sensing of Environment.

Previous surveys of the vegetation had taken a big-picture view of the region using coarse-resolution satellite sensors. To get a more detailed picture of the 4.1 million square-mile area, scientists used the Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellites.

Landsat, like other satellite missions, can use the amount of visible and near-infrared light reflected by the green, leafy vegetation of grasses, shrubs and trees to characterize the vegetation. Then, with computer programs that track each individual pixel of data over time, researchers can see if an area is greening – if more vegetation is growing, or if individual plants are getting larger and leafier. If, however, the vegetation becomes sparser, the scientists would classify that area as browning.

Researchers have used similar techniques to study Arctic and northern vegetation with other satellite instruments, such as the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). But Landsat can see smaller differences across a landscape – it takes one measurement for each 30-by-30 meter (98-by-98 foot) parcel of land, which is about the size of a baseball diamond. AVHRR collected one measurement for each 4-by-4 kilometer (2.5-by-2.5 mile) area.

“We can see more detail with Landsat, and we can see the trend more reliably,” Ju said. With finer-resolution and better calibrated data from Landsat, the researchers were able to mask out areas that burned, or are covered in water, to focus on vegetation changes. The more detailed look – now available to other researchers as well – will also let scientists see if a correlation exists between habitat characteristics and greening or browning trends.

“The resolution with Landsat is drastically improved, it lets you look at the local effects of things like topography, such as in areas where you might have small woodlands or open areas,” Masek said. “You can do detailed studies of how climate impacts vary with geography.”

Adding the Landsat study to previous studies using the AVHRR sensor also adds to the certainty of what’s going on, Masek said. While the two tools to measure the northern vegetation did produce different results in some places, overall the trend was the similar – more plants, or bigger plants, in the Arctic reaches of North America.

With the higher resolution Landsat data, the researchers also found a lot of differences within areas – one pixel would be brown, and its neighbors green, noted Ju. “It’s very localized,” he said. “The vegetation is responding to the microclimates. That’s the benefit of using Landsat data, is that we can reveal this spatial variation over very short distances.”

With the large map complete, researchers will focus on these short distances – looking at the smaller scale to see what might control the greening patterns, whether it’s local topography, nearby water sources, or particular types of habitat. They also plan to investigate forested areas, particularly in the greening Quebec.

“One of the big questions is, ‘Will forest biomes migrate with warming climate?’ There hasn’t been much evidence of it to date,” Masek said. “But we can zoom in and see if it’s changing.”