Air Temperatures – The following high temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday…along with the low temperatures Thursday:
86 – 75 Lihue, Kauai
88 – 76 Honolulu, Oahu
92 – 77 Molokai
91 – 72 Kahului AP, Maui
88 – 75 Kailua Kona
88 – 71 Hilo AP, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Thursday evening:
1.87 Wainiha, Kauai
0.92 Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.16 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.06 Kahoolawe
2.24 West Wailuaiki, Maui
1.94 Waiaha, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) as of Thursday evening:
24 Port Allen, Kauai
27 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
27 Molokai
29 Lanai
32 Kahoolawe
31 Kapalua, Maui
28 Pali 2, 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
Hurricane Fernanda is active in the eastern Pacific
Fernanda will generally head towards Hawaii…with time
Fernanda will move into the central Pacific next Wednesday…on a weakening trend
Fernanda may become a Category 4 major hurricane by Saturday
Thunderstorms far south and northwest of Hawaii
Clear to partly cloudy…some towering cumulus well offshore
Showers locally…some are generous
Looping radar image
Small Craft Advisory…windiest coasts and channel around Maui County and the Big Island
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Broad Brush Overview: Moist tropical air moving through the islands will maintain muggy and showery weather over parts of the state today, with showers most frequent over windward areas of the islands. A drier and more stable airmass will spread westward from the Big Island, then across the remainder of the state later today…with a more placid trade wind weather expected Friday through the weekend.
Details: A rather wet trade wind pattern continues over the central and western parts of the state, while a drier airmass has begun to move over the Big Island. Moderate trade winds are keeping the showers moving along for the most part…limiting flooding issues. This increased shower activity is being caused by an area of enhanced tropical moisture, along with a weak low level trough of low pressure, moving westward through the state.
Looking Ahead: A drying trend is expected to move westward through the smaller islands today into the night. Enough moisture may linger however, especially over the western islands, to keep shower activity going, with some leeward showers falling locally. Otherwise, expect gradually fewer windward showers…as the drier airmass takes hold. Thereafter, moderate trade winds and generally quiet weather, with passing windward showers, will prevail through the weekend into early next week.
Meanwhile, strengthening Hurricane Fernanda will continue moving westward, and as a result…the Hawaiian Islands will definitely need to keep an eye on this system. Fernanda will likely move into our central Pacific around next Wednesday…although will have peaked in strength at that point. It’s still too early to know what influence this storm could have on the islands, as it moves into the area southeast of the state later next week…although at least high surf could be assumed. Hurricane Fernanda could move into the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands early next weekend.
Here’s a wind profile of the Pacific Ocean – Closer view of the islands / Here’s the vog forecast animation / Here’s the latest weather map
Marine environment details: A moderately strong area of high is located well north of the state, keeping the gusty trade winds alive, and an area of low level moisture is fueling enhanced showers over the smaller islands. Although the position and strength of the high will change little, a slight increase in the trades is expected later today as the moisture clears the islands to the west…and a more stable airmass moves in. Trade winds will remain at these levels through at least the weekend.
No significant swells are expected through early next week. A small south-southeast swell will continue for the next day or two, followed by a small south-southwest swell this weekend. Choppy easterly trade wind swells will remain near to below summer average through early next week. Odds are increasing that we will see an east swell from Tropical Cyclone Fernanda next week. Forerunners from this swell could arrive as early as mid-week, though larger swells would not arrive until later next week.
Less muggy and drier weather returning
>> Southern California Weather Brief: A large upper level high pressure system will build over the Great Basin and into southern California through the weekend. Well above normal temperatures can be expected over interior areas by Saturday, and continue into early next week. Monsoonal moisture will also bring a slight chance of thunderstorms to the Los Angeles County mountains and deserts Sunday and Monday.
There will be decent onshore Monday and Tuesday, with the return of the coastal low clouds. The marine layer will cause a noticeable cool down for the coasts on Tuesday while the interior cools less steeply each day. Wednesday and Thursday could be muggy with more monsoonal moisture flowing in…although the associated clouds could provide a bit of a break on the high temperatures.
Clouds offshore…extending inland locally
>>> Northern California Weather Brief: Little change in overall conditions expected, with mostly sunny skies away from the coast and seasonable high temperatures. A warming trend is expected to begin on Friday, with very warm to hot conditions returning to inland areas over the weekend. Some cooling then appears in store for the first part of next week.
Low clouds offshore…extending inland along the coast locally
World-wide tropical cyclone activity
>>> Atlantic Ocean: No active tropical cyclone
No tropical cyclones are expected during the next 5-days
>>> Caribbean: No active tropical cyclone
No tropical cyclones are expected during the next 5-days
>>> Gulf of Mexico: No active tropical cyclones
No tropical cyclones are 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:
Hurricane Fernanda remains active, here’s a graphical track map, a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing
A broad area of low pressure is expected to form a few hundred miles south of Mexico during the next few days. Environmental conditions are forecast to be somewhat conducive for additional development, and a tropical depression could form next week while the system moves slowly toward the west-northwest.
* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…medium…50 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 are expected during the next 5-days
Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)
>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: No active tropical cyclone
>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: No active tropical cyclones
Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
Interesting: The last survivors on Earth — The world’s most indestructible species, the tardigrade, an eight-legged micro-animal, also known as the water bear, will survive until the Sun dies, according to a new Oxford University collaboration.
Although much attention has been given to the cataclysmic impact that an astrophysical event would have on human life, very little has been published around what it would take to kill the tardigrade, and wipe out life on this planet. The research implies that life on Earth in general, will go on as long as the Sun keeps shining. It also reveals that once life emerges, it is surprisingly resilient and difficult to destroy, opening the possibility of life on other planets.
The new study published in Scientific Reports, has shown that the tiny creatures, will survive the risk of extinction from all astrophysical catastrophes, and be around for at least 10 billion years – far longer than the human race.
Tardigrades are the toughest, most resilient form of life on earth, able to survive for up to 30 years without food or water, and endure temperature extremes of up to 150 degrees Celsius, the deep sea and even the frozen vacuum of space. The water-dwelling micro animal can live for up to 60 years, and grow to a maximum size of 0.5mm, best seen under a microscope. Researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Harvard, have found that these life forms will likely survive all astrophysical calamities, such as an asteroid, since they will never be strong enough to boil off the world’s oceans.
Three potential events were considered as part of their research, including; large asteroid impact, and exploding stars in the form of supernovae or gamma ray bursts.
Asteroids
There are only a dozen known asteroids and dwarf planets with enough mass to boil the oceans (2×10^18 kg), these include (Vesta 2×10^20 kg) and Pluto (10^22 kg), however none of these objects will intersect the Earth’s orbit and pose a threat to tardigrades.
Supernova
In order to boil the oceans an exploding star would need to be 0.14 light-years away. The closest star to the Sun is four light years away and the probability of a massive star exploding close enough to Earth to kill all forms of life on it, within the Sun’s lifetime, is negligible.
Gamma-Ray bursts
Gamma-ray bursts are brighter and rarer than supernovae. Much like supernovas, gamma-ray bursts are too far away from earth to be considered a viable threat. To be able to boil the world’s oceans the burst would need to be no more than 40 light-years away, and the likelihood of a burst occurring so close is again, minor.
Dr Rafael Alves Batista, Co-author and Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Physics at Oxford University, said: ‘Without our technology protecting us, humans are a very sensitive species. Subtle changes in our environment impact us dramatically. There are many more resilient species’ on earth. Life on this planet can continue long after humans are gone.
‘Tardigrades are as close to indestructible as it gets on Earth, but it is possible that there are other resilient species examples elsewhere in the universe. In this context there is a real case for looking for life on Mars and in other areas of the solar system in general. If Tardigrades are earth’s most resilient species, who knows what else is out there?’
Dr David Sloan, Co-author and Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Physics at Oxford University, said: ‘A lot of previous work has focused on ‘doomsday’ scenarios on Earth – astrophysical events like supernovae that could wipe out the human race. Our study instead considered the hardiest species – the tardigrade. As we are now entering a stage of astronomy where we have seen exoplanets and are hoping to soon perform spectroscopy, looking for signatures of life, we should try to see just how fragile this hardiest life is. To our surprise we found that although nearby supernovae or large asteroid impacts would be catastrophic for people, tardigrades could be unaffected. Therefore it seems that life, once it gets going, is hard to wipe out entirely. Huge numbers of species, or even entire genera may become extinct, but life as a whole will go on.’
In highlighting the resilience of life in general, the research broadens the scope of life beyond Earth, within and outside of this solar system. Professor Abraham Loeb, co-author and chair of the Astronomy department at Harvard University, said: ‘It is difficult to eliminate all forms of life from a habitable planet. The history of Mars indicates that it once had an atmosphere that could have supported life, albeit under extreme conditions. Organisms with similar tolerances to radiation and temperature as tardigrades could survive long-term below the surface in these conditions. The subsurface oceans that are believed to exist on Europa and Enceladus, would have conditions similar to the deep oceans of Earth where tardigrades are found, volcanic vents providing heat in an environment devoid of light. The discovery of extremophiles in such locations would be a significant step forward in bracketing the range of conditions for life to exist on planets around other stars.’
Email Glenn James: 
Woody Adamz Says:
Keepin fingers crossed….lookin like Fernanda will get around here as a strong hurricane…I’m in a 10’by 20′ Carport Tarp Tent while building and,nt at all up to 100mph kind winds…Guess I better get my kite going ……Lol….Big Alohas to You,Mom&alinda…Ua Mau…
~~~ Hi Woody, good to hear from you. Indeed, Fernanda will be one that we’ll need to watch closely. Nothing to specifically worry about just yet, although time will tell. Best of Luck!
Aloha, Glenn