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

86 – 75  Lihue, Kauai
88 – 75  Honolulu, Oahu
86 – 75  Molokai AP
88 – 73  Kahului AP, Maui
88 – 76  Kona AP
86 – 71 
Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

2.01  Kilohana, Kauai
0.55  Poamoho RG 1,
Oahu
0.35  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.00  West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.32  Hilo AP, Big Island

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

28  Port Allen, Kauai
28  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
25  Molokai
30  Lanai

33  Kahoolawe
33  Maalaea Bay, Maui

27  Puu Mali, Big Island

Hawaii’s MountainsHere’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
High Cirrus clouds southwest of Hawaii


http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Thunderstorms far southwest  through southeast of Hawaii

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Low clouds approaching the state…along with high cirrus clouds southwest and west of the islands

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers locally…a few quite generous
Looping radar image

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

The trade winds will continue…with some variations in speed and direction through the next week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing moderately strong high pressure systems far north of Hawaii. The trade winds are forecast to decrease slightly into Sunday…as a low pressure system approaches from the east. The longer range outlook shows the continuation of the trade wind flow through the next week. As usual, these refreshing breezes will attain their strongest speeds during the days, calming down some during the relatively cooler nights.

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

Clouds and showers will favor windward areas. The clouds embedded in the trades, will cover the windward sides at times…with leeward areas remaining less cloudy. Meanwhile, a low pressure system east of the islands will drift west, arriving in the vicinity of the islands tonight into Monday. It looks like the islands could see a more active trade shower pattern occurring as a result. The models go on to suggest an increase in showers around next Thursday and Friday…as another slug of tropical moisture arrives on the trade wind flow. Then, in the way out there realm, by next weekend we could see yet another area of tropical moisture arriving, some of which could bring locally generous showers.

Marine environment details: Winds and seas are expected to remain below small craft advisory (SCA) levels for the next few days, as a low aloft weakens the pressure gradient over the area. A satellite pass sampled Big Island waters, and found max winds on the order of 20 knots (23 mph), although land-based observations indicated locally breezy conditions. As the low moves north around the middle of next week, the pressure gradient will tighten, and trade wind speeds will increase. Winds may become sufficiently strong at that time to support the issuance of a SCA for the windier marine zones around Maui and the Big Island.

There will be a series of small south swells through the next week, but surf will remain below advisory levels. Trade winds will drive wind waves toward the islands from the east, producing moderate and below-advisory surf along east facing shores through the forecast period.


Friday Evening Film
: There were three films that I wanted to see, and the one we decided on…was the lowest on the list. However, being that both Jeff and Svetlana are both Astrophysicists, they REALLY want to see the film called Star Trek Beyond, starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, Sofia Boutella, and Lydia Wilson...among many others. The synopsis: Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise encounter an alien warrior race when marooned on a distant planet, after the destruction of their spaceship in this thrilling sequel.

Let me start off by saying that of the five of us who saw this film together, there were 4 B minus grades, with one B+ in the bunch. For me personally, the film was too long, and with too many slow parts, mixed in with some great action oriented special effects. The critics were more generous with their praise. Here’s one critics reaction: “The movie bounces along, hurtling its heroes over colliding wreckage and into currents of artificial gravity, pausing just long enough for a punchline or a knowing exchange of looks.” I just couldn’t get into this film, and I actually went through a period of nodding off, which is unusual for me. Oh well, as I mentioned above, there are several other films that I’m really looking forward to seeing. Here’s a quick peek using the trailer for this film.

 

  https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/c7/13/8d/c7138d0287ce329be55b7d751d30ddb2.jpg
Olomana Sea Bird

World-wide tropical cyclone activity


>>> Atlantic Ocean: No active tropical cyclones

1.)  Showers and thunderstorms associated with a strong and fast-moving tropical wave now entering the extreme eastern Caribbean Sea are disorganized, while satellite data and surface observations indicate no signs of a closed surface circulation. Although some gradual development of this system is possible during the next couple of days, the chance for tropical cyclone formation should increase after the wave reaches the western Caribbean Sea in a couple of days. This disturbance is expected to bring locally heavy rains and gusty winds to portions of the Lesser Antilles, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico today. These conditions should spread westward across the eastern and central Caribbean Sea tonight and reach Hispaniola on Monday. Interests in these areas and elsewhere in the Caribbean Sea should continue to monitor the progress of this system.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…medium…40 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…70 percent

This disturbance is being referred to as Invest 96L, here’s a satellite image...and the computer models

2.) Disorganized shower and thunderstorm activity associated with a tropical wave located nearly 700 miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands has changed little in organization. This system should continue moving westward at 10 to 15 mph, and development is unlikely due to unfavorable upper-level winds.

This disturbance is being referred to as Invest 97L, here’s a satellite image…and the computer models

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

 http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/xgtwo/two_atl_5d0.png

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

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days

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 and thunderstorm activity continues to show signs of organization in association with a low pressure system located about 900 miles southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Environmental conditions are conducive for development, and a tropical depression is likely to form later today or Monday while the low moves toward the west-northwest at 10 to 15 mph.

Here’s a satellite image, along with what the computer models are showing for what’s being referred to as Invest 91E

* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…90 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…90 percent

2.) An area of low pressure is expected to form in the next couple of days several hundred miles south-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for gradual development of this system later this week while it moves west-northwestward at around 15 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…near…0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…medium…50 percent

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/xgtwo/two_pac_5d0.png

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

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 2-days

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Typhoon 06W (Nida)
remains active near Luzon Island, in the Philippines…located about 252 miles north of Manila, Philippines, here’s the JTWC graphical track map, with a satellite image

>>>
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: 
The US Is Finally Getting Its First Offshore Wind Farm – Building in Rhode Island isn’t easy. Hurricanes and tropical storms barrel through its quaint coastline towns, interrupting perfect summer weekends. Freezing winters bring blizzards that can shut down the entire state. And every season features corrosive salty winds, biting at the coast as if sent by a Britain still seething at the first American colony to declare independence.

But one company sees the state’s incessant wind as a utility. Deepwater Wind has partnered with General Electric Renewable Energy to build the first offshore wind farm in the United States, off the coast of Block Island. Hooked up to the grid by the end of 2016, the system could supply 90 percent of the tourist destination’s power within the next few years. But it hasn’t been easy. Designing and building spinning fans hundreds of feet tall that stay sutured to the ocean floor in the face of currents and wicked winds has taken almost three years of work.

The blades on Deepwater Wind’s turbines, which have been arriving at Block Island over the last month, will be almost 250 feet long. That means the top and the bottom of the rotors will be separated by 500 feet or more. Anything covering that much area will have to deal with widely variable wind conditions, says Cristina Archer, a professor at the University of Delaware who studies offshore wind farms. Sometimes the wind will be the same speed across the whole turbine, but that speed will change dramatically over the course of the day. Other times, the winds can be steadily 10 miles per hour faster at the top than at the bottom.

To help protect the turbines’ machinery and electronics, engineers can lock their rotors to keep them from spinning too fast or chaotically. “If we reach some level of wind which is not acceptable,” says GE Renewable Energy project director Eric Crucerey, “then we stop the machine and the machine is put in standby.” The same happens if it gets too cold, he says. The turbines can keep working down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit; below that, they’ll go into hibernation.

But stopping the rotors doesn’t stop the wind. The surface area of each blade is about the same as a football field, so there’s a lot of air hitting the turbine and trying to topple it. To stay steady, turbines are anchored to the seafloor and to a narrow foundation dug 200 feet underground. That anchoring, with help from very strong building materials with a corrosion-resistant coating, make the turbines stable enough to hold their own against wind and storms. Crucerey says that the insides of the turbines are also pressurized, forcing out any bits of wind or salt that might try to break the wind farm up from within.

After they’re done at Block Island, Deepwater Wind will push even farther out to sea with a larger wind farm called Deepwater ONE, which will provide 30 times the power of the Block Island Wind Farm (assuming they both go online without a hitch). It’s not the only company trying to build wind farms off American shores, either. The Department of Energy estimates that about 80 percent of the country’s power demand comes from coastal states, and it’s pledged up to $40 million to help coastal city-dwellers get their power from closer to home.

And there are plenty of available locations. “The East Coast is actually pretty much all amazing” for offshore wind farms, says Archer—especially in New England, where projects in New Jersey and Virginia are currently in development.

The West is also no sleeper. One of the projects funded by the Department of Energy is a floating wind farm company in Oregon, and a different company called Trident Winds has just started working on a wind farm off the coast of California’s Morro Bay. It’s projected to supply about 20 times the power of the Block Island Wind Farm.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. But the coming generation of offshore wind farms are positioned to play a large role in the power used in coastal regions around the United States. In 1775, Rhode Island led the charge to independence. In 2016, it’s leading the way to independence from fossil fuels.