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

85 – 74  Lihue, Kauai
91 – 76  Honolulu, Oahu – record high Saturday 93…in 1994
87 – 76  Molokai AP
87 – 74  Kahului AP, Maui
91 – 82  Kona AP
79 – 71  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

0.52  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.80  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.24  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.01  Kahoolawe
4.55  West Wailuaiki, Maui
2.41  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

25  Port Allen, Kauai
32  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
27  Molokai
29  Lanai
30  Kahoolawe
27  Maalaea Bay, Maui
27  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

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Typical conditions for the Pacific Ocean for the summer season

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Thunderstorms well offshore southwest through southeast…high cirrus approaching from the southwest

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Showery clouds upstream of the islands…arriving on the trades

 

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Showers locally…mostly over the ocean – Looping radar image


Small Craft Advisory…MAALAEA BAY-PAILOLO CHANNEL-ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

The trade winds will prevail through the next week…with fluctuations in strength and direction along the way. Here’s the latest weather map, showing moderately strong high pressure systems well north-northwest and northeast of Hawaii. There’s no real end in sight for the current gusty trade winds, although they may ease up slightly Sunday for a couple of days. The outlook shows no distinct end to the ongoing summer trade wind flow across our area.

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…although the leeward sides will get locally too. Meanwhile, an upper level trough of low pressure will edge closer now…resulting in more active showers this weekend through Monday. These showers will generally fall along the windward sides, although with some showers falling over into the leeward sides locally too. We’ll move back into a fairly normal trade wind weather pattern by Tuesday into Wednesday. Some of the models want to bring a batch of showers to the islands later next week, and also develop a tropical system of some sort in the area southeast and then south of the Big Island as well.  

Marine environment details: High pressure located far north of the the state will drive trade winds through Sunday. The strongest winds are expected in waters between the Big Island and Molokai, and a Small Craft Advisory is in effect. The trades will produce choppy surf along east facing shores, although is expected to stay below high surf conditions. The trade winds will weaken to moderate breezes Sunday night through Wednesday.

A very small west-northwest swell from former TC Omais in the western Pacific will remain possible through the weekend.

Model guidance suggests a slight increase in surf along the south shores Tuesday through Wednesday…due to a gale in southern Pacific several days ago.

Friday Evening Film: there are two films that I’ve been wanting to see (the other one is Jason Bourne of course), although I’ll be seeing Suicide Squad this time around. I know, I know, this is going to be a crazy film, no doubt about it, completely nuts! However, for some reason, it looks fun in some sort of weird way, and my friend Jeff’s crew wants to see it as well. Suicide Squad stars Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, and Cara Delevingne...among many others. The synopsis: it feels good to be bad…assemble a team of the world’s most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government’s disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren’t picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying…or decide it’s every man for himself?

Let’s make this review short and sweet, although the actual film was long and anything but sweet. It was much more like a video game than most films that hit the big screen, at least the ones that I care to see. Nonetheless, I was glad to have seen it, although as it turns out, I was somewhat disappointed. I gave it a soft B+, while Svetlana gave it a B minus, and Jeff came in with a straight B. As one critic put it, “To say that the movie loses the plot would not be strictly accurate, for that would imply that there was a plot to lose.” If you decide to try this trailer on for size, you’re either going to be saying to yourself, “that’s totally disgusting”…or…”that looks like something I’d like to see.” The critics in general are giving it low grades, although for my money, it was good enough. If you like shoot em up films, and I tend to as you probably know, then this could be for you, otherwise, pick another to sit through.

 

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Oahu with Diamond Head…Waikiki in the background

Made me Laugh: Video of a Cat reacting to watching a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror film Psycho


World-wide tropical cyclone activity

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>>> Atlantic Ocean: No active tropical cyclones

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: No active tropical cyclones

>>> 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: No active tropical cyclones

1.) A poorly organized area of disturbed weather is located about 1300 miles east-southeast of the Hawaiian Islands. A low pressure area could form within this disturbance during the few days, but any further development should be slow to occur. This system is forecast to move generally westward into the Central Pacific basin by Monday.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…10 percent

2.) Satellite data indicate that a low pressure area has formed about 900 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. The associated shower and thunderstorm activity, however, is not co- located with the surface circulation. Environmental conditions are expected to be only marginally conducive for any additional development during the next couple of days while this system moves generally west-northwestward. After that time, the disturbance is likely to encounter a much drier air mass, which would likely preclude tropical cyclone formation.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…10 percent

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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 at least the next 2-days

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Tropical Storm 08W (Conson) is dissipating over the western Pacific, located about 306 NM east of Misawa, Japan…here’s the JTWC graphical track map, with a satellite image – Final Warning

Tropical Storm 09W (Chanthu) remains active in the western Pacific, located about 185 NM east-southeast of Iwo To…here’s the 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: Feds Say California’s Endangered Channel Islands Foxes Are Recovered – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced the successful recovery of three out of four unique subspecies of island fox on San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands, removing them from the endangered species list. The agency also upgraded the protection status of the Santa Catalina Island fox — the fourth subspecies — from “endangered” to “threatened” to reflect its status improvement.

“Because they evolved separately on the islands for 16,000 years, these adorable little foxes are some of the only carnivores endemic to California,” said Jeff Miller with the Center. “They were on the brink of extinction just 12 years ago when they were protected under the Endangered Species Act. Now, thanks to successful reintroduction and recovery efforts, numbers of foxes are way up and threats have been reduced.”

California’s diminutive Channel Islands foxes have been impacted by a cascade of ecosystem changes caused by introduction of invasive species and pesticide use, as well as disease. In a classic case of unintended consequences, island fox numbers plummeted in the late 1990s largely due to a sudden invasion of nonnative golden eagles.

Golden eagles, which eat the foxes, were able to colonize the islands because the now-banned chemical DDT wiped out the islands’ native bald eagles — which eat fish, not foxes. The introduction of nonnative pigs, deer and elk to the islands provided additional prey for the invading golden eagles, and livestock reduced fox habitat. Island foxes have also been very vulnerable to canine distemper transmitted by domestic dogs.

Island foxes were protected under the Endangered Species Act in 2004 and populations have increased following a captive breeding and reintroduction program, successful efforts to remove feral pigs, and control of predators. The National Park Service, Nature Conservancy and U.S. Navy have successfully removed the nonnative animals from the islands.

The banning of DDT in 1972 allowed the return of bald eagles to the islands, and relocation of golden eagles to the mainland spurred recovery of the island foxes. From fewer than 100 foxes on three islands just 15 years ago, the foxes’ populations have grown to more than 700 on San Miguel Island; 1,200 on Santa Rosa Island; 2,100 on Santa Cruz Island; and 1,800 on Santa Catalina Island.

“We can thank the protections of the Endangered Species Act for the successful recovery of island foxes,” said Miller. “Continued monitoring of these fox populations will be critical to be able to respond if there are outbreaks of disease, return of predatory golden eagles, or severe impacts to foxes and their habitat from climate change.”

Island foxes on Santa Catalina Island, the only island with a permanent human population, will retain protection as a threatened species because of the ongoing threat of disease. Canine distemper outbreaks from raccoons or dogs let off-leash by visitors have caused declines of foxes on this island, but a vaccination program has been initiated to protect foxes from the disease.