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

82 – 67  Lihue, Kauai
81 – 70  Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 70  Molokai AP
82 – 64  Kahului AP, Maui
79 – 69  Kailua Kona
73 – 66  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

4.70  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
5.46  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
 0.46  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.32  Kaupo Gap, Maui
7.04  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

15  Puu Lua, Kauai
18  Kuaokala, Oahu
18  Molokai
12  Lanai
33  Kahoolawe
14  Hana, Maui
24  PTA Range 17, Big Island

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of our tallest mountain Mauna Kea (nearly 13,800 feet high) on the Big Island of Hawaii. This webcam is available during the daylight hours here in the islands, and at night whenever there’s a big moon shining down. Also, at night you will be able to see the stars — and the sunrise and sunset too — depending upon weather conditions.


Aloha Paragraphs

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Unsettled weather conditions temporarily easing…with a cold front northwest

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Rainy clouds mostly offshore of the Big Island

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Clear to cloudy skies…with locally heavy rains nearby

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Rain over parts of the island chain…and over the offshore waters – Looping radar image


Small Craft Advisory…most coasts and channels (25-30 knots)

High Surf Advisory…east facing shores of all the major islands

Flash Flood Watch…all islands through Sunday

Winter Storm Warning…Big Island Summits (webcam Mauna Kea)
Winter Storm Watch…Sunday and Sunday night


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

 

Our winds have taken their expected turn to the southeast, and in the process are lighter and carrying volcanic emissions (vog) to the smaller islands…from the Big Island vents. Here’s the latest weather map, showing our primary high pressure system far northeast of Hawaii. We still have Small Craft Advisories posted over most of our coastal and channel waters across the state. The recent strong and gusty trades have given way to lighter winds now, which are slated to continue on into early next week. Thus, winds won’t be much of an issue, except in the case of stronger winds associated with random thunderstorms.

Here’s a wind profile of the offshore waters around the islands – and a closer look

Periods of unsettled weather will continue across the islands…through the upcoming weekend at least. Showers will be heavy in some areas, with thunderstorms at times…thanks to an upper level trough of low pressure over and near the state. We’ll find abundant moisture being drawn up from the deeper tropics, along with the potential for excessive rains and flooding at times. Trying to find a few bright spots in this rather gloomy outlook, we may see a few breaks in all this inclement action along the way. The way it looks from here, Monday may be our least rainy day during the next week.

Weather models are keeping low pressure across the state…through much of next week. They also show another upper level trough of low pressure developing west of the islands during the first half of the week. In sum, we may see a brief break in the unsettled weather Monday and Monday night. Although, before we start jumping for joy, it will likely be short lived at best, as the models show deep southerly and southeasterly winds drawing tropical moisture back into the area Tuesday through Friday, keeping conditions unsettled and rain chances above normal…along with more vog then too.

Marine environment details: Surf observations on the northwest shores were at the lower end of advisory levels. The swell for the east facing shores continues, thus the advisory remains in effect. 

The satellite pass still showed winds over 25 knots in the coastal waters around Maui County and the Big Island (with even a few 30 knots), though the low level flow had already veered to southeast. The lingering winds and high seas will keep the Small Craft Advisory up for most of the coastal waters areas, except those well shadowed from the winds and seas.

Mariners will have to contend with lower visibilities, and locally higher winds and waves near thunderstorms the next couple of days. As the upper low pressure system lifts out, the best focus for convection should shift from near the Big Island…more toward the western main islands later Saturday into the night. Then, as a surface trough shifts east over the islands this weekend, the highest chances for thunderstorms move back to Maui County and the Big Island Sunday and Sunday night

 

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Off and on wet weather through the weekend

 

World-wide tropical cyclone activity…with storms showing up when active


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>>> Atlantic Ocean: The 2016 hurricane season has ended

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean: The 2016 hurricane season has ended

>>> Gulf of Mexico: The 2016 hurricane season has ended

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: The 2016 hurricane season has ended

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: The 2016 hurricane season has ended

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: Corals much older than previously thought, study finds – Coral genotypes can survive for thousands of years, possibly making them the longest-lived animals in the world, according to researchers at Penn State, the National Marine Fisheries Service and Dial Cordy & Associates.

The team recently determined the ages of elkhorn corals — Acropora palmata — in Florida and the Caribbean and estimated the oldest genotypes to be over 5,000 years old. The results are useful for understanding how corals will respond to current and future environmental change.

“Our study shows, on the one hand, that some Acropora palmata genotypes have been around for a long time and have survived many environmental changes, including sea-level changes, storms, sedimentation events and so on,” said Iliana Baums, associate professor of biology, Penn State. “This is good news because it indicates that they can be very resilient. On the other hand, the species we studied is now listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act because it has suffered such sharp population declines, indicating that there are limits to how much change even these very resilient corals can handle.”

According to Baums, many people mistake corals for plants or even non-living rocks, but corals actually consist of colonies of individual invertebrate animals living symbiotically with photosynthetic algae.

“Previously, corals have been aged by investigating the skeletons of the colonies or the sizes of the colonies,” she said. “For example, bigger colonies were thought to be older. However many coral species reproduce via fragmentation, in which small pieces break off from large colonies. These pieces look like young corals because they are small, but their genomes are just as old as the big colony from which they broke. Similarly, the big colonies appear younger than their true age because they became smaller during the process of fragmentation.”

Now, for the first time, Baums and her colleagues have used a genetic approach to estimate the ages of corals. The method determines when the egg and the sperm originally met to form the genome of the coral colonies. The researchers then tracked the number of mutations that accumulated in the genome since that time. Because mutations tend to arise at a relatively constant rate, the researchers were able to estimate an approximate age in calendar years of the coral genomes in their study.

The results, which appear in print in the November 2016 issue of the journal Molecular Ecology, suggest that some Acropora palmata genomes have been around for over 5,000 years.

“This was surprising, as previously, only cold-water corals were found to be older than 1,000 years,” said Baums. “Knowing the age of individuals in a population is important for understanding their population history and whether the population is increasing or decreasing. It is especially important when the population under study is threatened.

“If Acropora palmata genomes have persisted over hundreds to thousands of years, it implies persistence through substantial environmental changes, and possibly gives hope that they can survive additional anticipated climate change. What is different now is that human-induced climate change is happening at a rate that far exceeds past environmental changes. Therefore, the coral’s past ability to survive environmental change does not necessarily predict their future success.”