Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday:
86 Lihue, Kauai
89 Honolulu, Oahu
85 Molokai
88 Kahului, Maui
88 Kailua Kona
80 Hilo, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands, as of Friday evening:
0.29 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.46 Kamanaui Stream, Oahu
0.02 Molokai airport, Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.29 Puu Kukui, Maui
3.16 Hakalau, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Friday evening:
27 Port Allen, Kauai
27 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
27 Molokai
36 Lanai
37 Kahoolawe
28 Kahului, Maui
35 Kamuela airport, 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
Our trade winds will continue blowing…moderately strong
An area of sultry tropical moisture brought showers to the
Big Island, then move up over the other islands tonight
into Saturday – rainfall may be locally heavy…improving
weather Sunday through the middle of next week…before
another slug of tropical rain arrives later next week
Small Craft Wind Advisory…windiest coasts and
channels around Maui County and the Big Island
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Our trade winds will remain active, blowing in the moderately strong range for the most part…locally stronger at times. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…focused on the Hawaiian Islands. We have moderately strong high pressure systems located to the north and northeast of the state. At the same time, we have lots of low pressure systems that are moving by to the south of the state…and will continue doing so through many days into the future. The forecast calls for the trade winds to remain active, increasing a notch at times..as these tropical disturbances migrate from east to west.
Satellite imagery shows low level clouds moving over the state, especially the windward sides…with high cirrus clouds arriving locally from the southwest too. Looking at this larger looping satellite image, it shows considerable thunderstorm activity over the ocean to the southwest through southeast of the state…some of which are tropical disturbances. We see an area of tropical moisture to the southeast and east, which is now bringing showers our way into Saturday, especially over the Big Island and Maui. Here’s the looping radar, showing showers falling locally along the windward sides and around the mountains, which will keep wet conditions active into Saturday, some areas will find heavy rainfall at times…with some possible localized flooding possible.
A plume of moisture associated with retired tropical cyclone Genevieve, moving by to our south…will bring increased showers to the state through Saturday. There’s a pretty good chance that Maui and the Big Island may end up getting a few good downpours out of this, likely along the windward coasts and slopes. The leeward sides will get some of this stuff too, although the windward sides will benefit the most. There’s the outside chance of some localized flooding, although thunderstorms don’t seem likely. Oahu and Kauai will get into the act this evening into Saturday, although will see less heavy showers more than likely.
As we get into the second half of the weekend, conditions should return to pleasant trade winds through the middle of next week. Thereafter, hurricane Iselle now in the eastern Pacific, may bring showers to our area later next week, it won’t be a hurricane then…and perhaps not even a tropical storm anymore. I’ll continue to track this next tropical cyclone, as it moves generally in our direction. Here’s what the hurricane models are showing. I’ll be back again early Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative. I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Friday Evening Film: There are quite a few good looking films showing here in Kahului now, although one stands out for me, its called Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik, Amr Waked, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Analeigh Tipton…among many others. The synopsis: from La Femme Nikita and The Professional to The Fifth Element, writer/director Luc Besson has created some of the toughest, most memorable female action heroes in cinematic history. Now, Besson directs Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, an action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic. ~~~ I’ll let you know what I thought by Saturday morning, until then…here’s the trailer – by the way, it looks like a very rough film!
World-wide tropical cyclone activity:
Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones
Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean
Caribbean Sea: Tropical Storm (Bertha) remains active in the Caribbean Sea, here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a satellite image – Here’s what the hurricane models are showing for this slowly strengthening storm.
Gulf of Mexico: There are 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: Hurricane (Iselle) remains active, located about 1300+ miles west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California, here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a satellite image – Here’s what the hurricane models are showing for this strengthening storm.
1.) Showers and thunderstorms associated with an area of low pressure located about 700 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, are gradually becoming better organized. Environmental conditions are conducive for development, and this system is likely to become a tropical depression over the weekend as it moves westward at about 10 mph.
* Formation chance through 48 hours…medium…60 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high..90 percent
Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.
Central Pacific: : There are no active tropical cyclones
1.) An area of low pressure is located about 1000 miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. Disorganized showers and isolated thunderstorms have been occurring mainly on the east periphery of the system. The surrounding environment may permit this system to develop only slightly as it moves west near 10 mph over the next few days.
* Formation chance through 48 hours, low, near 10 percent
2.) Remnant low Genevieve is currently located about 540 miles south of Hilo, Hawaii. Atmospheric conditions are only increasingly favorable for its redevelopment over the next few days as it moves westward near 10 mph.
* Formation chance through 48 hours, medium 50 percent
3.) An area of low pressure is located about 1150 miles east- southeast of Hilo, Hawaii. It is generating disorganized shower and thunderstorm activity. Upper-level winds are not currently favorable, and any development of this system should be slow to occur while it moves westward at around 10 mph during the next few days.
* Formation chance through 48 hours, low 10 percent
Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)
Northwest Pacific Ocean: Typhoon 11W (Halong) remains active well to the east of the Philippine Islands, here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a satellite image.
South Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones
North and South Indian Oceans: There are no active tropical cyclones
Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
Interesting: Nesting Implications for the Northern Gulf Loggerhead Turtle - After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, a massive response to protect beaches, wetlands, and wildlife occurred. Nonetheless, because of the spill, extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats were reported and many studies have been conducted to quantify the affects of the oil spill on specific species.
One study in particular which started in the wake of the spill looks at the nesting loggerhead sea turtles in the northern Gulf and how their feeding areas have been not only affected by the Deepwater Horizon spill, but by commercial fishing operations, and areas used for oil and gas extraction.
The study, which is the largest to date on Northern Gulf loggerheads, examined 59 nesting females, a small and declining subpopulation of loggerheads that is federally classified as threatened.
“With such a large sample of the nesting females, we’re finally getting the big picture of when, where and how females that nest in the northern Gulf of Mexico rely on off-shore waters to survive. This information is critical for halting and reversing their declines,” said USGS research ecologist Kristen Hart, the lead author of the study.
All of the turtles tracked in the study remained in the Gulf of Mexico to feed, and a third remained in the northern part of the Gulf.
“These results show how important the Gulf of Mexico is to this group of loggerheads — they stay here throughout the year, not just during the nesting season,” said USGS research biologist Meg Lamont, a co-author on the study.
The study also revealed specific parts of the Gulf where females feed and spend most of their time. It is believed that an individual turtle will return to these specific feeding areas throughout her life.
Lamont explains, “People think of nesting beaches as their homes, but they don’t really spend much time there. They only migrate to the nesting beaches to lay eggs. The rest of their adult life is spent foraging at sea.”
The next step for USGS scientists Hart and Lamont is to track these nesting Gulf loggerheads long enough to test whether they do indeed re-visit the same feeding areas throughout their life, as they suspect. This would help pinpoint important feeding sites of long-term and high traffic use — in essence, their home ranges.
“Locating long-term feeding areas will really open up new possibilities for the conservation and management of these amazing creatures,” said Hart.
The study, “Migration, foraging, and residency patterns for Northern Gulf of Mexico loggerheads: Implications of local threats and international movements” is published in the journal PLOS ONE.
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