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

83 – 73  Lihue, Kauai
88 – 74  Honolulu, Oahu
86 – 76  Molokai AP
89 – 75  Kahului AP, Maui
83 – 74  Kona AP
86 – 72  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

2.24  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
2.51  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.50  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.17  Lanai
0.02  Kahoolawe
2.04  West Wailuaiki, Maui
1.31  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

30  Port Allen, Kauai
35  Kuaokala, Oahu
23  Molokai
30  Lanai
29  Kahoolawe
29  Maalaea Bay, Maui
30  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

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
Hurricane Darby is spinning far to the east of Hawaii, with Tropical Storm Estelle…active closer to Mexico


http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/EP05/refresh/EP0516W5_NL+gif/205128W5_NL_sm.gif
Hurricane Darby…staying a bit lower in latitude than the previous storms…likely at peak strength now

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/05E/imagery/vis0-lalo.gif
Hurricane Darby…with a cloud filled central eye

https://icons.wunderground.com/data/images/ep201605_model.gif
What the models show for Hurricane Darby

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/EP06/refresh/EP0616W5_NL+gif/145931W5_NL_sm.gif
Tropical Storm Estelle…active in the eastern Pacific

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/06E/imagery/ir0-lalo.gif
Tropical Storm Estelle on the way up in strength

https://icons.wunderground.com/data/images/ep201606_model.gif
What the models are showing for Ms. Estelle

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
We see former Celia, likely to move by to the north of Hawaii…with its trailing tail of showers to the south

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/04E/imagery/vis0-lalo.gif
Post-Tropical Cyclone Celia…has lost all of its deep convection (the thunderstorms around the center of the low cloud swirl)

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Showery clouds loom to the east of the state…with some clear patches as well

 

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Showers will be falling locally…increasing at times – Looping radar image


Small Craft Advisory…windiest coasts and channels around Maui County

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

The trade winds will be light to moderately strong…giving way to light and variable breezes Sunday into early next week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing a strong near 1038 millibar high pressure system in the area far north-northeast of Hawaii. At the same time, we see former tropical depression Celia to the east, spinning in our central Pacific. Our trade winds are expected to ease up Sunday into early next week. This easing of the winds should occur, as whatever is left of Celia passes by the islands, probably just north of Hawaii. If this happens, we’ll see lighter breezes and very muggy air arriving Sunday and Monday into even Tuesday. Thereafter, breezy trade winds will return for a couple of days, before we see more muggy air arriving, with our winds getting lighter again later next week, as TC Darby may get closer then.

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 remain hit and miss…as they get carried away on the trade winds into Saturday. We’ll have to wait and see, although it’s looking more and more likely, that former Tropical Depression Celia will bring more showers our way late Saturday into early next week. It should be pointed out however, that Celia will be in a much weaker condition as it gets closer to our islands then. The latest thought is that the southern periphery of what’s left of Celia, as it moves by to our north, could bring some locally heavy rains to Hawaii…stay tuned.

Marine environment details: Strengthening trade winds are expected to bring small craft advisory (SCA) conditions to the typically windier waters around Maui County and the Big Island through Saturday. A surface low, the remnant circulation of former Tropical Depression Celia, is forecast to pass between the islands and the trade wind supporting high far north of the islands late this weekend into early next week, causing winds to turn toward the north and diminish. Winds will become light and variable for a short period, and then as the low departs to the NW, moderate to fresh winds will increase from the southeast and east Tuesday and Wednesday. Thus the SCA is not expected to be warranted after Saturday, despite a modest increase in combined seas…due to swells generated by Celia.

A south-southwest swell will bring near, but below, advisory level surf to south facing shores through Saturday, before subsiding early next week. An easterly swell generated by Celia, will reach the islands the next couple of days. The swell will gradually turn toward the east-northeast through early next week. However, the expectation is that surf will be large enough to warrant a High Surf Advisory for east facing shores this weekend. Another easterly swell from distant Hurricane Darby may affect east facing shores…during the second half of next week.

 

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Here on Maui – Early Friday morning is dawning mostly clear to cloudy…after quite a few showers overnight. The air temperature here at my place in upcountry Kula, was 62.6F degrees at 559am. Meanwhile, at about the same time, the Kahului airport was reporting partly cloudy skies, with a temperature of 75 degrees, while Hana was 75 as was Maalaea Bay…with the summit of the Haleakala Crater was reporting 46 degrees. / Now at 808am, it’s gotten cloudy here in Kula, so I can’t see out over the rest of the island. / It alternates between being cloudy and foggy up here in Kula, although I can see lots of bright sunshine down in the central valley…and some north shore beaches. / Now at 1155am, the sun is starting to come out in more areas, even up here in Kula.

– Mid-afternoon, lots of clear blue skies, interspersed with partly cloudy areas…which are making for a delightfully nice summer day!

– Early evening, as noted above, we’ve seen yet another near perfect day in paradise!

 

World-wide tropical cyclone activity –


Tropical Cyclones in the Pacific: Hurricane Darby remains active, and remains a Category 2 storm. It’s too early to know for sure, although some of the computer models bring whatever that’s left of Darby relatively close to the islands later next week…stay tuned. Finally, Tropical Storm Estelle remains active in the eastern Pacific…and could become Hurricane Estelle this weekend.


>>> 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:

Hurricane Darby continues offshore from Mexico…located about 970 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Here’s the NHC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this area…and the computer models are showing.

Tropical Storm Estelle is active well offshore from Mexico…located about 385 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. Here’s the NHC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this area…and the computer models are showing.

1.)  An area of disturbed weather is located several hundred miles south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec. A broad area of low pressure is expected to form over the next few days, and some gradual development is possible by the middle of next week while this system moves westward at about 10 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 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

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: A Growing Crisis: Insects are Disappearing — And Fast – We all know about the huge declines in bee and monarch butterfly populations. Now, it turns out that in some areas nearly all insects are at risk of extinction. And if we don’t solve this problem soon, the repercussions could be huge.

Insects are an important part of the global ecosystem. They not only provide important pollination services, but they also occupy an important place on the bottom of the food chain for many animals. Fewer insects means less food, leading to plant and animal population declines.

“The growing threat to [insects], which play an important role in food security, provides another compelling example of how connected people are to our environment, and how deeply entwined our fate is with that of the natural world,” said Achim Steiner, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, in a press statement.

One of the challenges is that insects are not well understood at an individual species level, because there are millions of insect species and only a limited number of insect specialists. Only about 20 percent of the world’s insect species are cataloged, and the symbiotic relationships that many plants have with insects are rarely fully understood.

“Unfortunately, information on invertebrates in general, including insects, is very limited, restricted to a few groups and a few localities,” Rodolfo Dirzo, an ecologist at Stanford University, told Yale 360. He was the lead author of a 2014 study that was one of the first to document the fall in global insect mass.

So, what’s causing the insect decline? In one word, us. The specific causes are likely very complex, but they are almost certainly connected to human impacts. It could be chemicals, like the pesticides class “neonicotinoids” that are connected to the bee declines. Or the growing number of rivers and waterways around the world that are polluted due to factory and agricultural run-off, or the still-growing number of pollutants we’re putting into the atmosphere. But one thing is almost certain: We are to blame.

“Their decline is primarily due to changes in land use, intensive agricultural practices and pesticide use, alien invasive species, diseases and pests, and climate change,” said Sir Robert Watson, vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, in a press statement.

Another oft-cited cause is the overuse of nitrogen fertilizer – something far too common in the monoculture corn fields of middle America. These corporate-driven, mono-culture farming methods are also to blame, as they limit the space for most insects and the plants to which they connect to survive.

Instead of waiting to discover the cause, we need to take immediate action now. That means reducing the number of chemicals we use, eliminating pollution and rapidly cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions, which also may be connected to what’s happening. It also means reducing the scale of monoculture farming and returning to more natural, diverse, bio-dynamic farming methods that increase biodiversity.

Because if we lose insects, we’ll soon lose a lot more.