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

79 – 68  Lihue, Kauai
81 – 69  Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 69  Molokai AP
84 – 68  Kahului AP, Maui
85 – 76  Kailua Kona
84 – 69  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

3.30  Kilohana, Kauai
0.03  Kii, Oahu
0.10  Molokai 1, Molokai
0.21  Lanai
0.04  Kahoolawe
0.31  Kahakuloa, Maui
0.68  Mountain View, Big Island

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

12  Waimea Heights, Kauai
17  Kuaokala, Oahu
09  Molokai
12  Lanai
12  Kahoolawe
17  Kapalua, Maui
14  Puu Mali, 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…U shaped trough of low pressure north of the state

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
Low clouds in the area of the islands, with high cirrus clouds
over parts of the state…thunderstorms far south and southwest

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Partly to mostly cloudy…off and on high clouds

 

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Showers falling locally…a few are quite generous
Looping radar image

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Returning trade winds beginning later Sunday…into the new week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing high pressure systems far west-northwest, north and northeast of Hawaii. A surface trough of low pressure just offshore to the northeast of the state, although is forecast to move away soon. Look for the winds to be light tonight…at least from Oahu down through the Big Island. The forecast still shows the trade winds returning later Sunday, bringing refreshing breezes…continuing through the upcoming new 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

A major of the clouds and showers…will gradually diminish after dark into the night. As the trade winds return later Sunday, there should be fewer afternoon cloud buildups over and around the mountains. Leftover moisture, associated with the trough of low pressure near the state this weekend…will keep some passing showers falling along the windward coasts and slopes into the new week. It appears that a fairly typical, late spring trade wind weather pattern will prevail through Thursday. We may see an increase in windward showers Friday into next weekend.

Marine environment details: Winds and seas will remain below small craft advisory levels through Sunday. As a new high pressure system builds north of the state, the returning trades may reach the small craft advisory level of 25 knots through the typically windier channels near Maui County and the Big Island by Tuesday.

A south-southwest swell arriving Wednesday will remain elevated through Sunday. This swell could bring surf near the advisory level for south facing shores as early as Thursday.

 

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Here on Maui – Early Saturday morning is dawning partly to mostly cloudy. There’s still a few wisps of high cirrus clouds, which lit up a pretty pink again this morning. Here at my place in upcountry Kula, the air temperature was 55.5F degrees at 550am. Meanwhile, at about the same time, the Kahului AP was reporting cloudy skies, with an air temperature of 71 degrees, while out in Hana it was 70, as was Maalaea Bay…with the summit of the Haleakala Crater reporting 41 degrees. / It’s now 845am, with my view across the island cut off by fog here in upcountry Maui. There’s been a very light mist being carried along in the faint upslope breeze as well. / 950am, raining heavy here in Kula

– Early afternoon, with cloudy skies upcountry, and sunny to partly cloudy down the mountain in contrast. When I was leaving Kula earlier, it was pouring with a small river running down the side of the road! Although, just a couple of minutes down the road, and it was dry as could be! It was generally sunny to partly cloudy down in Paia, and then it got cloudier as I drove back up the mountain again…with fog in my area around noon. / Now at 250pm, it’s cloudy up here on the mountain (Haleakala), and almost completely sunny down in the lowlands. It just started to shower, by the way, although not the heavy stuff we saw this morning.

– Early evening, still lots of clouds around, pretty much covering the whole island…with occasional showers.

 

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 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 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.” We talked about the many, many particulars of this film driving back up the mountain, and we barely scratched the surface. It was interesting, we never got around to giving a grade, 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 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 peek.

Saturday Evening Film: My friend Jeff, who lives about 1,000 feet above me on this slope of the Haleakala Crater, invited me up for a film. We sat outside on the deck and had a drink, ate dinner and watched the sunset.  We went in afterwards to see the 1996 film called Fargo. This famous film by the Coen Brothers, stars Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, William H. Macy, and Kristin Rudrud…among many others. The synopsis: a pregnant police chief is investigating a series of homicides across the frozen tundra. Against a sprawling Minnesota landscape, a car salesman hires two criminals to kidnap his wife. But when the scheme goes sour, and wood chippers get involved…the haphazard kidnapping plot turns deadly serious.

I’ve been wanting to see this film for so many years, and thanks to Jeff, I was finally able to mark it off the list of must sees. I really like films by the Coen Brothers, I think everyone I’ve seen. It was interesting, despite the seriousness of this film, it had a rather pronounced dark comedy side as well. One critic wrote: “You have to grant the Coen’s their due as creators of suspense, mood and plotting, and for their ability to color the most monstrous crimes with an undeniably funny sense of the absurd.”  Another wrote: “Returning to the horror-comic vein that launched their careers, director Joel Coen and producer Ethan Coen pepper their new picture with so much humor, that the occasional bursts of sheer mayhem seem more ridiculous than revolting.”

By the end of this very interesting film, which got an Oscar by the way, both Jeff and I felt the same way about what grade it deserved…which was a solid -A. It was a rather short film, running only an hour and 37 minutes, at least compared to what more current films generally run these days. It was one heck of a great film, yep you-betcha! Here’s the trailer in case you wanna take ah little look see.

 

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> Atlantic Ocean:  No active tropical cyclones

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: No active tropical cyclones

>>> Gulf of Mexico: Tropical Cyclone 03L 

Tropical Depression 03L is now active , located about 550 miles southwest of Tampa, Florida. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with what the computer models are showing

HAZARDS AFFECTING LAND 

RAINFALL…The depression is expected to produce rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches with isolated maximum totals of 8 inches possible across the northeastern Yucatan peninsula, western Cuba, and Florida.

STORM SURGE…The combination of the storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters. The water could reach the following heights above ground if the peak surge occurs at the time of high tide… Indian Pass to Tampa Bay…1 to 3 ft. Tampa Bay south to Florida Bay…1 to 2 ft.

The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast. Surge-related flooding depends on the relative timing of the surge and the tidal cycle, and can vary greatly over short distances. For information specific to your area, please see products issued by your local National Weather Service forecast office.

WIND…Tropical storm conditions are expected to first reach the coast within the warning area by Monday afternoon.

TORNADOES…Isolated tornadoes are possible Monday afternoon across portions of Florida and far southern Georgia.

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

1.) Shower activity is limited in association with an area of low pressure located about 1100 miles southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Development of this system appears less likely while it moves west-northwestward into an area of unfavorable environmental conditions.

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

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…20 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent

2.) Disorganized showers and thunderstorms associated with an elongated area of low pressure are centered several hundred miles south of Acapulco, Mexico. Some gradual development of this system is possible during the next few days while it moves slowly northeastward. Regardless of development, locally heavy rains are likely later today through Tuesday over portions of southern Mexico and Guatemala.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…20 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…30 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.”