June 30-July 1
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Wednesday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 84
Honolulu, Oahu – 85
Kaneohe, Oahu – 81
Kaunakakai, Molokai – 84
Kahului, Maui – 87
Hilo, Hawaii – 82
Kailua-kona – 84
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level around – and on the highest mountains…as of 5pm Wednesday evening:
Kaneohe, Oahu – 84
Hilo, Hawaii – 77
Haleakala Crater – 53 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 43 (near 14,000 feet on the Big Island)
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Wednesday afternoon:
1.88 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.73 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.09 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.04 Kahoolawe
0.21 West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.22 Mountain View, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1034 millibar high pressure system to the north of the islands. Trade winds holding at moderately strong, with stronger and gusty winds in a few places.
Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with this Infrared Satellite Image of the islands to see all the clouds around during the day and night. This next image is one that gives close images of the islands only during the daytime hours, and is referred to as a Close-up visible image. This next image shows a larger view of the Pacific…giving perspective to the wider ranging cloud patterns in the Pacific Ocean. Finally, here’s a Looping IR satellite image, making viewable the clouds around the islands 24 hours a day. To help you keep track of where any showers may be around the islands, here’s the latest animated radar image.
Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of near 14,000 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The tallest peak on the island of Maui is the Haleakala Crater, which is near 10,000 feet in elevation. These two webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon rising just after sunset for an hour or two! Plus, during the nights and early mornings you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise too…depending upon weather conditions.
Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest weather information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Here’s a tracking map covering both the eastern and central Pacific Ocean. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here. Of course, as we know, our hurricane season won’t begin again until June 1st here in the central Pacific.
Aloha Paragraphs
Kauai…painted by Gary Reed
The trade winds will be quite breezy, remaining that way through the rest of this week…easing up a touch going into next week. Looking at this weather map, we see a fairly strong 1034 millibar high pressure system, located far to the north of our islands Wednesday night. As the winds are stronger now, small craft wind advisories remain up in the coastal and channel waters around Maui and the
Any showery clouds that get carried our way on the trades…will end up on the windward sides primarily. Here’s an IR satellite image showing an area of clouds approaching from the east, which will bring a modest increase in showers to the windward sides tonight into Thursday morning. As this looping radar image of the islands shows, few showers are falling from these clouds however. The leeward sides will remain generally dry, although the Kona slopes may get a few afternoon upslope showers at times. Our weather in general will be on the dry side, although there will be off and on periods of modestly increased windward showers through the week.
The eastern and central Pacific Ocean has no active tropical cyclones Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, we find that hurricane Alex attained category 2 strength, as it impacted the northeast Mexican coast Wednesday evening. Here’s the latest graphical track map…along with a satellite image. Alex brought inclement weather conditions to southern Texas, especially in the Brownsville area as well.
It’s Wednesday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s narrative update. As noted above, the trade winds have surged as expected. To get a sense of how strong they are as we begin this new day, here’s the strongest gusts on each of the islands at mid-afternoon:
Kauai – 27 mph
Oahu – 38
Molokai – 39
Lanai – 18
Kahoolawe – 39
Maui – 39
Big Island – 31
Those numbers are likely about as strong as they will be Wednesday, we’ll check back later this evening to see what we find then. We’ll likely see these winds peaking out in strength this week around Thursday into Friday. The rather strong high pressure system to our north now, is the source of our mid-week trade winds. As this high gradually migrates eastward, our winds will begin to lose a little steam as we move into the upcoming 4th of July holiday. ~~~ Here in Kihei, Maui at around 515pm, looking out the window of my office, it looks exactly like its suppose to on the last day of June, 2010. It’s clear to partly cloudy, and the trade winds are blowing at a good clip. The air temperature, I would estimate is right aroud 84F degrees. As I mentioned above, hurricane Alex has gone ashore over northeast Mexico, with big winds and heavy rains…along with pounding high surf along that stretch of coast as well. Some of these inclement conditions have been getting northward into southern Texas too. At any rate, I’m heading home now, although will be back in a little while to do some additional updating on the high temperatures here in Hawaii today, and the rainfall totals up this page too. Aloha for now…Glenn.
Extra: A satellite loop of hurricane Alex, in the western Gulf of Mexico…as it moves across the Mexican coast – sending clouds and showers up into southern Texas as well.
Interesting: Desert bats reduce water loss by changing the make-up of their skin, allowing them to thrive in some of the world’s most inhospitable environments. This is surprising as with large naked wings and the energy they expend in flight, bats are expected to have high rates of water loss by evaporation, say the scientists from the Ben-Gurion University in Israel.
This may provide significant insight into how bats might respond to a future changing climate. The researchers are presenting their work at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Prague. The researchers found total water loss in the desert-living Pipistrellus kuhli was just 80% of other non-desert species.
Total water loss is made up of the sum of cutaneous (through the skin) and respiratory (exhaling) water losses, explained lead researcher Dr Muñoz-Garcia. Desert bats were found to have reduced cutaneous water loss (CWL), the biggest contributor to total water loss, when compared to non-desert species of bats of the same size.
The proposed mechanism of adjusting the lipid (fat) composition of their skin is known in other species of mammals and birds. Dr Muñoz-Garcia and his team were the first to identify this link in other species of bat, and aim to prove it in desert bats. The scientists believe that these findings provide significant insight into how bats can adapt to major changes in their environment.
"Control of energy expenditure and water loss is crucial for all terrestrial animals to survive and reproduce," explains lead researcher Agustí Muñoz-Garcia. "This is particularly important for animals that live in deserts, where ambient temperatures are high, humidity is low and drinking water is scarce."
The next step for Dr Muñoz-Garcia and his team is to examine further species of desert bats to consolidate their findings so far and shed more light on the adaptive mechanism for reducing CWL. "Our plan is to measure at least 8 species from different environments, so we can start building a database that can allow future comparisons," Dr Muñoz-Garcia explained.
Interesting2: To the untrained eye, University of Colorado at Boulder Research Associate Craig Lee’s recent discovery of a 10,000-year-old wooden hunting weapon might look like a small branch that blew off a tree in a windstorm. Nothing could be further from the truth, according to Lee, a research associate with CU-Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research who found the atlatl dart, a spear-like hunting weapon, melting out of an ice patch high in the Rocky Mountains close to Yellowstone National Park.
Lee, a specialist in the emerging field of ice patch archaeology, said the dart had been frozen in the ice patch for 10 millennia and that climate change has increased global temperatures and accelerated melting of permanent ice fields, exposing organic materials that have long been entombed in the ice.
"We didn’t realize until the early 2000s that there was a potential to find archaeological materials in association with melting permanent snow and ice in many areas of the globe," Lee said. "We’re not talking about massive glaciers, we’re talking about the smaller, more kinetically stable snow banks that you might see if you go to Rocky Mountain National Park."
As glaciers and ice fields continue to melt at an unprecedented rate, increasingly older and significant artifacts — as well as plant material, animal carcasses and ancient feces — are being released from the ice that has gripped them for thousands of years, he said. Over the past decade, Lee has worked with other researchers to develop a geographic information system, or GIS, model to identify glaciers and ice fields in Alaska and elsewhere that are likely to hold artifacts.
They pulled together biological and physical data to find ice fields that may have been used by prehistoric hunters to kill animals seeking refuge from heat and insect swarms in the summer months. "In these instances, what we’re finding as archaeologists is stuff that was lost," Lee said. "Maybe you missed a shot and your weapon disappeared into the snow bank. It’s like finding your keys when you drop them in snow.
You’re not going to find them until spring. Well, the spring hasn’t come until these things started melting for the first time, in some instances, in many, many thousands of years." The dart Lee found was from a birch sapling and still has personal markings on it from the ancient hunter, according to Lee. When it was shot, the 3-foot-long dart had a projectile point on one end, and a cup or dimple on the other end that would have attached to a hook on the atlatl.
The hunter used the atlatl, a throwing tool about two feet long, for leverage to achieve greater velocity. Later this summer Lee and CU-Boulder student researchers will travel to Glacier National Park to work with the Salish, Kootenai and Blackfeet tribes and researchers from the University of Wyoming to recover and protect artifacts that may have recently melted out of similar locations.
"We will be conducting an unprecedented collaboration with our Native American partners to develop and implement protocols for culturally appropriate scientific methods to recover and protect artifacts we may discover," he said. Quick retrieval of any organic artifacts like clothing, wooden tools or weapons is necessary to save them, because once thawed and exposed to the elements they decompose quickly, he said.
An estimated 10 percent of Earth’s land surface is covered with perennial snow, glaciers and ice fields, providing plenty of opportunities for exploration, Lee said. However, once organic artifacts melt out of the ice, they could be lost forever.
"Ninety-five percent of the archaeological record that we usually base our interpretations on is comprised of chip stone artifacts, ground stone artifacts, maybe old hearths, which is a fire pit, or rock rings that would have been used to stabilize a house," Lee said.
"So we really have to base our understanding about ancient times on these inorganic materials. But ice patches are giving us this window into organic technology that we just don’t get in other environments."
Interesting3: It seems ironic that some of the most unhealthy food can be found in a place where people are receiving medical treatment for chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer. After all, isn’t healthy food an integral part of the healing process? Given the bad reputation that ‘hospital food’ has, there are substantial opportunities for improvement in quality.
According to a story in NPR, the local and organic food movement is making its way into hospital kitchens around the country. Supporters of the program believe that higher-quality produce combined with fewer servings of meat, will help hospital patients in their recovery process and remind them about the importance of eating well.
One of the major barriers to large scale adoption, however, is cost. Many hospitals aren’t sure that they can afford it. Big medical centers buy food in bulk from large distributors that don’t typically offer organic options. But now that hospitals are giving their menus a makeover, the distributors are taking notice and instituting changes as well.
MedAssets, which purchases food for 2,400 hospitals, executed a contract in 2006 with the nation’s largest supplier of organic products. In today’s competitive health care market, patients that ask for healthier and more organic options are more likely to get it, as hospitals try to meet demand.
In 2008, the Muir Medical Center teamed up with Bay Area hospitals to conduct a trial to cut down on the amount of beef, pork and poultry served to patients and staff. Amongst other notable results, the trial concluded that hospitals were able to reduce meat and poultry purchases by 28 percent, saving $400,000 in costs. The savings could mean purchasing more sustainably raised meats, which have less cholesterol and more vitamins than traditionally produced meat.
Interesting4: The fossilized skull of a colossal whale with a killer bite has been uncovered by a team, who reckon the monster shared the Miocene oceans with a giant shark. The bones, dated to 12 to 13 million years ago, were spotted by Klaas Post of the Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in Peru’s Ica desert. In homage to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, the beast has been named Leviathan melvillei.
The skull is a huge 3 meters long, says team member Olivier Lambert at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. The team estimates the whale would have been between 13 and 18 meters long, like a modern sperm whale. What really surprised the researchers was the size of the whale’s teeth.
"Some of the biggest ones are 36 centimeters long and 12 centimeters wide, and are probably the biggest predatory teeth ever discovered," Lambert says. Unlike the modern-day sperm whale, which feeds by suction, the giant whale had these massive teeth on both its upper and lower jaw.
"We think the whale used these teeth to catch its prey," says Lambert, suggesting the whale fed in a similar way to modern killer whales. Today’s sperm whales have much smaller teeth on the lower jaw only. "The whale would certainly have been able to catch very large prey, like baleen whales, of which there were plenty in the locality," Lambert says.
"We think it was feeding on medium-sized baleen whales, which were about 8 or 9 metres long." Leviathan melvillei is thought to have co-ruled the ocean with the giant shark Carcharocles megalodon, whose fossils have been found in the same locality in Peru. Lambert and colleagues estimate that the shark was about 15 metres long – more or less the same size as the giant sperm whale.
It’s unlikely that the two giants would have battled each other, says Lambert. "At such sizes, I think it would have been very dangerous for adults of both species to fight," he says. "I could more easily imagine an adult of one species attacking a juvenile of the other." The skull may shed light on the function of the mysterious spermaceti organ.
Consisting of two oil and wax reservoirs on top of the whale’s snout, it is specific to sperm whales ancient and modern. "For a long time it has been proposed that the spermaceti organ helps the whale dive deeper," Lambert says. The team’s proposal that the ancient whale fed on baleen whales, which live near the water’s surface, suggests this may not be the case.
"An alternative hypothesis is that spermaceti organs are used as battering rams to injure opponents during contests over females," says Dave Carrier at the University of Utah. "Leviathan melvillei may also have used forehead ramming to dispatch their suggested prey – baleen whales," Carrier says. Modern killer whales lack spermaceti organs, but are well known to attack large prey by ramming with their snouts."
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