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

82 – 72  Lihue, Kauai
86 – 77  Honolulu, Oahu
84 – 72  Molokai AP
85 – 72  Kahului AP, Maui
84 – 76  Kailua Kona
85 – 72  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

1.66  Kilohana, Kauai
0.58  Palisades, Oahu
0.80  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.09  Lanai
0.04  Kahoolawe
3.38  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.93  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

27  Waimea Heights, Kauai
30  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
25  Molokai
27  Lanai
33  Kahoolawe
27  Kaupo Gap, Maui
25  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
We can see Tropical Storm Agatha far east of the state, along with Tropical Storm Blas far to the east-southeast of Hawaii (well offshore from Mexico)

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/EP02/refresh/EP0216W5_NL+gif/145344W5_NL_sm.gif
Tropical Storm Agatha in the eastern Pacific…not a problem for Hawaii

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/02E/imagery/vis0-lalo.gif

https://icons.wunderground.com/data/images/ep201602_model.gif
What the computer models are showing…Hawaii is just off the map to the left

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/EP03/refresh/EP0316W5_NL+gif/023357W5_NL_sm.gif
Tropical Storm Blas, which will become a major hurricane well to the east-southeast of Hawaii

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/03E/imagery/vis0-lalo.gif

https://icons.wunderground.com/data/images/ep201603_model.gif
What the computer models are showing…Hawaii to the left

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
Thunderstorms far offshore to the southeast through southwest of Hawaii…high cirrus clouds not far north through west

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Low clouds arriving from the east…bearing showers locally

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers arriving…generally along the windward sides…although not exclusively – Looping radar image


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


Celebrating the July 4th holiday!

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

The recent strong and gusty trade winds will be gradually winding down some…into the new week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing a moderately strong, near 1034 millibar high pressure system in the area north of Hawaii. Our trade winds are expected to remain robust tonight…easing-up slightly through the holiday on Monday. I would expect winds to gust up towards 40 in those most windy locations. Gusty trade winds will continue into the new week…although becoming somewhat lighter as we go.

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 windward showers into Tuesday…with off and on wet periods on those north and east facing areas through mid-week. As the trade winds will continue to be rather robust, some of these showers will ride over the mountains into the leeward sections at times…on the smaller islands. This moisture will keep generally wet trade wind weather active, at least of the off and on variety, through the middle of the new week. There’s an improving chance that a slug of tropical moisture may arrive on the trade winds Friday into next weekend. This moisture could be whatever is left of, what will then be retired tropical storm Agatha. We may see the same thing happen further down the line, as leftover moisture from what will very likely be retired hurricane Blas, perhaps gets carried towards us on the trades…stay tuned.

Tropical Cyclones in the northeastern Pacific: We now see the first and second tropical storms of the season churning the waters of the eastern Pacific, named Agatha and Blas. TS Agatha will be weakening soon. However, TS Blas is expected to follow in the general track that Agatha has taken, and become a much stronger system! We’ll certainly need to keep an eye on Blas, although it should remain well away from our islands…moving by to the east and northeast of Hawaii. There should be a third storm spinning-up around July 9-10th, which will become tropical storm Celia. In sum, I don’t see any of these tropical cyclone’s causing problems for the Hawaiian Islands for the time being. There’s more information about these tropical cyclones below.

Marine environment details:  Fresh to strong trade winds will maintain across the Hawaiian Island today. A slight drop off in the trade wind speeds is expected tonight and Monday, with another slight and gradual lowering in speeds later in the week.

A small craft advisory (SCA) remains in effect for most of the coastal waters today. By tonight, a few of the zones are forecast to drop out of the SCA conditions as winds taper off. Winds will be strong enough for the rest of the week for some of the windier areas around the state to remain in the SCA.

A high surf advisory remains in effect for east facing shores of the exposed islands through today, due to winds and the upstream generated easterly wind swell. With the expected weakening of the winds tonight, surf may fall below high surf criteria. However, the fetch will continue to be pointed in our general direction over the next couple of days…so it’s possible that this advisory could continue into Monday.

A small to moderate south swell is expected by the end of the week in response to a recent gale developed east of New Zealand. This swell may be big enough to support near advisory level surf along south facing shores by this Friday.

 

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/a-plumeria-flower-used-in-making-leis-john-burcham.jpg


Here on Maui – Early Sunday morning is dawning partly cloudy, with high cirrus clouds lighting up pink just before sunrise again today. Clouds will be arriving with showers along our windward sides. The air temperature was 53.7F degrees at 545am. Meanwhile, at about the same time, the Kahului airport was reporting cloudy skies, with a temperature of 73 degrees, while Hana was 72, with Maalaea Bay showing 73…and the summit of the Haleakala Crater was reporting 43 degrees. / Now at 920am, the light showers just arrived here at my place in upcountry Kula, which has essentially cut off my view of elsewhere around Maui.

– Mid afternoon Sunday, with a mix of sunny to partly sunny, to mostly cloudy skies. Looking from here in Kula, out across the central valley towards the West Maui Mountains…I see showers falling in most directions. It has been lightly showering at times at my place, although nothing by any means on the heavy side yet.

– Early evening, still mostly cloudy, many of which appear to be moisture laden. I expect there to be showers during the night into Monday morning…continuing here and there, and off and on through the 4th of July holiday. / Now at 735pm, after sunset although before dark, skies are clearing quickly…at least for the moment.

 

Friday Evening Film: Svetlana, Jeff and I will be heading downtown to see a film in Kahului, which will be fun as usual. This time around we’re seeing one called Swiss Army Man, starring Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead...among many others. The synopsis, outrageously fun and deeply affecting, Swiss Army Man is a gonzo buddy comedy that is the feature film debut of acclaimed music video directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan.

Bursting with limitless creativity in both form and content, Swiss Army Man goes from the absurd to the emotional to the whimsical to the profound and back again. Hank (Paul Dano) is stranded on a deserted island, having given up all hope of ever making it home again. But one day everything changes when a corpse named Manny (Daniel Radcliffe) washes up on shore; the two become fast friends, and ultimately go on an epic adventure that will bring Hank back to the woman of his dreams.

Swiss Army Man creates a world like no other, a place of pure fantastical imagination, brimming with magical realism, yet featuring two characters whose dreams and fears are entirely relatable. Dano and Radcliffe both fully commit to their directors’ audacious vision, and their work is exceptional, finding the perfect balance of humor and heart that drives the whole film. A celebration of all the wonders cinema has to offer, Swiss Army Man is a cultural phenomenon in the making; a surreal and wholly original examination of human vulnerability and connection that must be experienced.

This was one of the stranger films that I’ve ever seen, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I’m honestly not sure what to say more than that. As one critic said, Swiss Army Man is rude, crude, bizarre and oddly touching. The words that come to me are crazy, at times sort of magical, lets not forget absurd, funny, sad…and yes creepy. Jeff and Svetlana weren’t taken by the film, and Jeff gave it a C+ grade, while I came in at a solid B rating. It was definitely a film like no other! If you’re the slightest bit interested, here’s the trailer…which is quirky and unusual to say the least.

 

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:

Tropical Storm 02E (Agatha) continues spinning over the waters of the eastern Pacific…and is the first tropical storm of the 2016 hurricane season in this part of the world. Here’s the NHC graphical track map, along with a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing.

Tropical Storm Blas is also active over the waters of the eastern Pacific. Here’s the NHC graphical track map, along with a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing.

1.) An area of low pressure is expected to form around mid-week well southwest of the coast of Mexico. Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for gradual development of this system while it moves westward.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…medium…40 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 2-days

Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Tropical Cyclone 02W (Nepartak) remains active in the western Pacific Ocean, gradually strengthening into a strong typhoon with time. Here’s a JTWC graphical track map, with a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing.

>>> 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: New technology could improve use of small-scale hydropower in developing nations – Engineers at Oregon State University have created a new computer modeling package that people anywhere in the world could use to assess the potential of a stream for small-scale, “run of river” hydropower, an option to produce electricity that’s of special importance in the developing world.

The system is easy to use; does not require data that is often unavailable in foreign countries or remote locations; and can consider hydropower potential not only now, but in the future as projected changes in climate and stream runoff occur.

OSU experts say that people, agencies or communities interested in the potential for small-scale hydropower development can much more easily and accurately assess whether it would meet their current and future energy needs.

Findings on the new assessment tool have been published in Renewable Energy, in work supported by the National Science Foundation.

“These types of run-of-river hydropower developments have a special value in some remote, mountainous regions where electricity is often scarce or unavailable,” said Kendra Sharp, the Richard and Gretchen Evans Professor in Humanitarian Engineering in the OSU College of Engineering.

“There are parts of northern Pakistan, for instance, where about half of rural homes don’t have access to electricity, and systems such as this are one of the few affordable ways to produce it. The strength of this system is that it will be simple for people to use, and it’s pretty accurate even though it can work with limited data on the ground.”

The new technology was field-tested at a 5-megawatt small-scale hydropower facility built in the early 1980s on Falls Creek in the central Oregon Cascade Range. At that site, it projected that future climate changes will shift its optimal electricity production from spring to winter and that annual hydropower potential will slightly decrease from the conditions that prevailed from 1980-2010.

Small-scale hydropower, researchers say, continues to be popular because it can be developed with fairly basic and cost-competitive technology, and does not require large dams or reservoirs to function. Although all forms of power have some environmental effects, this approach has less impact on fisheries or stream ecosystems than major hydroelectric dams. Hydroelectric power is also renewable and does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

One of the most basic approaches is diverting part of a stream into a holding basin, which contains a self-cleaning screen that prevents larger debris, insects, fish and objects from entering the system. The diverted water is then channeled to and fed through a turbine at a lower elevation before returning the water to the stream.

The technology is influenced by the seasonal variability of stream flow, the “head height,” or distance the water is able to drop, and other factors. Proper regulations to maintain minimum needed stream flow can help mitigate environmental impacts.

Most previous tools used to assess specific sites for their small-scale hydropower potential have not been able to consider the impacts of future changes in weather and climate, OSU researchers said, and are far too dependent on data that is often unavailable in developing nations.

This free, open source software program was developed by Thomas Mosier, who at the time was a graduate student at OSU, in collaboration with Sharp and David Hill, an OSU associate professor of coastal and ocean engineering. It is now available to anyone on request by contacting Kendra.sharp@oregonstate.edu

This system will allow engineers and policy makers to make better decisions about hydropower development and investment, both in the United States and around the world, OSU researchers said in the study.