Honolua Bay, west Maui
Photo Credit: flickr.com

Our winds have dropped off into the lighter realms Monday…veering around to the east-southeast, or even southeast locally for the next 24-36 hours. This veering motion is being caused by an unusual trough of low pressure that has developed to the west and northwest of Kauai. It will take until later Tuesday or Wednesday before we see the return of our classic trade winds, which will take us into the beginning of our summer season…which occurs this weekend.

These lighter winds will have us feeling rather warm and humid during the days, and slightly cooler than normal during the early morning hours. We can consider this to be a modified convective weather pattern, with the usual warm and muggy air that gets brought up on the slightly south of east winds. The next day or two will feel rather muggy, with the chance of a few showers, the most generous of which will be on the island of Kauai.

The relatively close proximity of the trough to the west, will make our atmosphere locally more shower prone. The daytime heating of the islands will get the air rising, and the troughs cold air aloft will allow the cumulus clouds grow more vertically than usual…at least locally. The afternoon hours will likely have the heaviest showers, mostly over the interior sections of the islands. Kauai and Oahu, being closest to the destabilizing influence of the upper trough, with its surface reflection, will see the most generous showers. As the trough moves away later Tuesday into Wednesday, the trade winds will return…with showers shifting back over to the windward sides through the rest of the week.

Interesting: Japanese car manufacturer Honda has begun the first commercial production of a zero-emission, hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicle. The four-seater, called FCX Clarity, runs on electricity produced by combining hydrogen with oxygen, and emits water vapour. Honda claims the vehicle offers three times better fuel efficiency than a traditional, petrol-powered car. Honda plans to produce 200 of the cars over the next three years. One of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of wider adoption of fuel-cell vehicles is the lack of hydrogen fuelling stations. Critics also point out that hydrogen is costly to produce and the most common way to produce hydrogen is still from fossil fuels. Analysis of the environmental impact of different fuel technologies has shown that the overall carbon dioxide emissions from hydrogen powered cars can be higher than that from petrol or diesel-powered vehicles. The first five customers are all based in southern California because of the proximity of hydrogen fuelling stations, Honda said.

Interesting2: If you are curious about Earth’s periodic mass extinction, events such as the sudden demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, you might consider crashing asteroids and sky-darkening super volcanoes as culprits.  But a new study, published online today (June 15, 2008) in the journal Nature, suggests that it is the ocean, and in particular the epic ebbs and flows of sea level and sediment over the course of geologic time, that is the primary cause of the world’s periodic mass extinctions during the past 500 million years.  "The expansions and contractions of those environments have pretty profound effects on life on Earth," says Shanan Peters, a University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor of geology and geophysics and the author of the new Nature report.  

In short, according to Peters, changes in ocean environments related to sea level exert a driving influence on rates of extinction, which animals and plants survive or vanish, and generally determine the composition of life in the oceans. Since the advent of life on Earth 3.5 billion years ago, scientists think there may have been as many as 23 mass extinction events, many involving simple forms of life such as single-celled microorganisms. During the past 540 million years, there have been five well-documented mass extinctions, primarily of marine plants and animals, with as many as 75-95 percent of species lost.

For the most part, scientists have been unable to pin down the causes of such dramatic events. In the case of the demise of the dinosaurs, scientists have a smoking gun, an impact crater that suggests dinosaurs were wiped out as the result of a large asteroid crashing into the planet. But the causes of other mass extinction events have been murky, at best.

"Paleontologists have been chipping away at the causes of mass extinctions for almost 60 years," explains Peters, whose work was supported by the National Science Foundation. "Impacts, for the most part, aren’t associated with most extinctions. There have also been studies of volcanism, and some eruptions correspond to extinction, but many do not."

  Wailea Maui
Photo Credit: flickr.com

The trade winds will continue Sunday, bringing their cooling relief from the June sunshine. These trades will blow generally in the light to moderately strong range. Monday will see our winds drop back into the lighter realms again…veering around to the east-southeast, or even southeast locally by into Tuesday. This veering motion will be caused by an unusual trough of low pressure to the west or northwest of Kauai. Whenever we have ESE or SE winds, there’s always that chance of volcanic haze being carried up over the chain from the vents on the Big Island. It will take until later in the week before we see the return of our classic trade winds…which will take us into the beginning of our summer season.

Meanwhile, what few showers that we see falling, will end up along the windward sides for the time being. The ESE or southeast winds spoken of in the paragraph above, will not only make our winds lighter soon, as they split around the Big Island, putting the rest of the islands somewhat in a wind shadow…but will also contribute to afternoon interior clouds, and some possible showers too. The air will begin to feel rather warm and humid during the days, and slightly cooler than normal during the early morning hours. Once the trade winds return by mid-week, we’ll see the bias for showers moving back over to the windward coasts and slopes.

~~~ It’s late Sunday afternoon here in Kula, Maui. I’ve got my clothes for the new week washed, hung out, dried, and put away already. I’ve given my car a quick wash, I’ve done my composting, recycling…and am pretty much completely ready for the new work week ahead.  When you work five days a week, with a schedule as intense and demanding as mine, there’s definitely some staging and preparation involved. It always feels so good to have it all done, so I can relax through the evening hours. I may end up playing ping pong with my neighbors again around sunset, which would be ok with me. I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you happen to be spending it! I’ll be back very early Monday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise. Aloha for now…Glenn.

Happy Fathers Day all you Dads!

  Surf will be coming up again soon on the south shores
Photo Credit: flickr.com

The trade winds will prevail Sunday, although in a slightly lighter form than normal for June. These trades will blow generally in the light to moderately strong range. An upper level low pressure system to the northeast of the Big Island, is interrupting only slightly the trade winds at the moment. As we glance into the new week ahead, our winds may remain lighter than normal, and veer around to the east-southeast, or even southeast locally. This veering motion will be caused by an unusual trough of low pressure to the west or northwest of Kauai. It will take until the middle of the new week before we see the return of our classic trade winds…which will take us into the beginning of our summer season.

Meanwhile, what few showers that we see falling, will end up along the windward sides. This satellite image shows that there are clouds upstream of the islands, which will bring some moisture our way. That satellite picture shows that there are more clouds further east and northeast as well. The large streak of clouds to the south of the state are high cirrus clouds, being carried along in the jet stream level winds aloft. It appears that those high clouds will remain far enough to our south, at least for the time being, that our local skies will stay mostly clear to partly cloudy. There’s always that chance that the upper winds aloft will push those sun dimming clouds northward, but not at the moment.

~~~ It’s early Saturday evening, here in Kula, Maui, with my wind chimes making the sweetest song behind me. Glancing around in all directions, there are clouds, although there are, at the same time, big patches of blue too. Looking at that satellite image, in the paragraph above, there’s a weather feature, which in my humble opinion (IMHO), is worth taking a look at. It’s a near west to east oriented line of high cirrus clouds, being carried along in those winds, which at times, give a bumpy ride to the jet aircraft you may be riding on.

The Beatles – Come Together

  Nice south swell on the leeward beaches now
Photo Credit: flickr.com

Despite the forecast for light trade winds Friday, they decided to increase in strength today, at least locally. The same near 1035 millibar high pressure system, according to this weather map, remains anchored far to the northeast of the islands Friday night. What happened was that the upper level low, which has been up to the north of the islands the last couple of days, is drifting slowly away. This low aloft has been keeping our local winds lighter than they would otherwise be at this time of year. The way it looks from here, it seems reasonable to look for light to now more likely moderately strong trade winds through the weekend into early next week at least. Those windiest areas could easily see more of the 30+ mph gusts in those windiest spots.

Meanwhile, the expected light winds, which didn’t materialized, have kept the expected afternoon convective clouds away. As a matter of fact, the stronger trade winds have swept much of the moisture downstream, allowing mostly clear and sunny skies to prevail. This satellite image shows the situation well. Looking more closely at that satellite image though, shows more clouds not too far upstream of the windward sides of the islands. This larger view shows that there are even more clouds further east and northeast as well. As there are a minimum of clouds around, it stands to reason that there are very few showers. There will likely be some increase in windward biased showers once the next batch of clouds arrives on the trade winds. It appears that we may see an intrusion of high clouds, those down to the SW of the islands at some point this weekend.

~~~ It’s Friday evening, after work here in Kihei, Maui. Looking out the window, there’s hardly a cloud in the sky! The winds are quite breezy through the central valley…between Kahului, and where they shoot out through the Maalaea Bay. At 5pm Friday, the winds were gusting to 33 mph at that windy bay. There’s still a chance that a few heavier showers may pop up overnight near Kauai, and perhaps offshore from Oahu too…as the upper low migrates by from west to east. I didn’t make any plans for after work, it was a busy week, so I guess I’ll just go home to my weather deck, grab a nice cold Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and enjoy watching the sunset. I’ll be up early Saturday morning, with your next new weather narrative. Saturday is an exciting day, as I get my new Kettler ping pong table, so that I can start playing table tennis again…yeah! I hope you have a great Friday night, Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting: California scientist Meng Lean has invented a new water filtration method that is cheaper and can recycle about five times faster than today’s system, according to ABC7. The water is not safe for drinking but can be used for activities such as agriculture.  The system involves a spiral filtration system. Water is funneled through lightweight disks as they spin, separating dirt and particles from the clean water. Another advantage of the new invention is that much less land space is needed than for a water-treatment plant. Lean continues to refine his system. He and his team plan to experiment on a larger level by the end of June. The goal is to recycle 100 liters of water a minute.

Interesting2: When it comes to greening America’s transportation system, most people focus on cars – producing their fuel differently, using different forms of energy, or shifting commutes away from them entirely. But what of the roads we drive on?  Asphalt, which is used to pave over 90 percent of American roads, is processed in Western countries through a process requiring the tar-like substance to be heated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, an energy-intensive procedure that also produces carbon emissions. In less wealthy parts of the world, though, a "cold mix" approach has long been used; the asphalt isn’t heated, but is sheared into fine particles and mixed with water and surfactants so it can be spread across a road’s surface until it hardens.  Now a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Hussain Bahia, intends to adapt these African and Indian techniques – developed by road-builders who couldn’t afford to heat asphalt to make it pliable – for use here. Under the auspices of the Asphalt Research Consortium (a group working with the Federal Highway Administration to improve road-surface performance), he has established a Modified Asphalt Research Center with the goal of improving asphalt in various ways by developing cold mixtures that blend polymers or plastics with crude oil-derived asphalt.

Interesting3: The recovery of Earth’s protective ozone layer, expected to heal gradually over the next half-century or so, may be good news for your skin, but it could also put the brakes on a fast-moving wind current, further exacerbating global warming, a new study suggests. The ozone layer protects Earth’s inhabitants from harmful ultraviolet rays, which can cause skin cancer in humans as well as mutations in other organisms. This layer sits in the lower portion of the stratosphere, the layer of the atmosphere above the troposphere, where Earth’s weather occurs (and we live). Ozone absorbs the sun’s UV light here before it can reach the planet’s surface. The gaping hole in the ozone layer was discovered in 1985, eventually leading to the signing of the Montreal Protocol in 1987, which moved to ban the substances, such as chlorofluorcarbons (CFCs), which destroy stratospheric ozone. (The hole isn’t a total absence of ozone, but a severe reduction in the concentration of ozone that occurs seasonally.) The new study, detailed in the June 13 issue of the journal Science, compares current climate models used by the International Panel on Climate Change to predict the potential long-term consequences of global warming to another set of models that better account for chemical reactions in the stratosphere. Study leader S-W. Son, of ColumbiaUniversity in New York, and an international team of scientists found that the IPCC models fail to adequately model ozone recovery and its possible consequences. The other set of models they used showed that the healing of the ozone layer will warm the stratosphere, disrupting an important westerly wind jet closer to Earth’s surface.

  Lush tropical vegetation…near Hana, Maui 
Photo Credit: flickr.com

A lighter version of the trade winds will prevail over the Hawaiian Islands now. A strong, but far away 1035 millibar high pressure system, would ordinarily keep our local trade winds rather strong and gusty. Our most recent forecasts continue to show light trade winds however, as an upper level trough of low pressure moves close…which will cause this lighter wind flow to prevail today into the weekend.

Showers will fall both along the windward sides, and over and around the mountains during the afternoons. We could call this a modified convective weather pattern, as the emphasis for precipitation will be along the windward sides…and the upcountry areas later in the days. There’s a good chance that some of these showers will be locally generous, with even a random thunderstorm. This weather pattern will continue through the upcoming weekend.

~~~ We find a rather complex weather situation here in the islands now. If we looked at this surface weather map, we see a fairly routine trade wind producing high pressure system far to the northeast of the state. This would, under normal circumstances, be spinning-out moderate to fresh trade winds across our tropical latitudes. Although, if we look at actual wind speeds in our area, they are lighter than would e expected…and have even veered to the southeast in places.

Interesting: The number of sharks in the Mediterranean has fallen by 97 percent in the last 200 years, putting the sea’s ecological balance at risk, a report released on Wednesday said.  The report, by the Washington-based Lenfest Ocean Program, used records such as fishermen’s logs, shark landings, museum specimens and visual sightings to estimate the number and size of the Mediterranean sharks over the last two centuries. There was only enough data on five of the 20 big shark species present in the Mediterranean to be useful to the study — the hammerhead, thresher, blue and two species of mackerel shark, which averaged a decline of 97 percent. "It will have a major impact on the ecosystem because large predatory sharks are at the top of the food chain," said Francesco Ferretti, the report’s lead author. Losing the top of the food chain can mean smaller fish thrive and consume more of their prey, upsetting the ecological balance. "If we lose these sharks we are going to lose this important portion of the ecosystem functioning," said Ferretti. A report last month by the International Union for Conservation of Nature found 11 kinds of shark faced extinction due to overfishing, partly caused by booming demand for shark fin soup in Asia. Fishers from all over the world catch and trade sharks for their lucrative fins, often discarding their carcasses, the report said, noting Indonesia and Spain are among the top culprits. 

Interesting2: Africa is suffering deforestation at twice the world rate and the continent’s few glaciers are shrinking fast, according to a U.N. atlas on Tuesday. Satellite pictures, often taken three decades apart, showed expanding cities, pollution, deforestation and climate change were damaging the African environment despite glimmers of improvement in some areas. "Africa is losing more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) of forest every year — twice the world’s average deforestation rate," according to a statement by the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) about the 400-page atlas, prepared for a meeting of African environment ministers in Johannesburg. Four million hectares is roughly the size of Switzerland or slightly bigger than the U.S. state of Maryland. Photographs showed recent scars in forests in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Nigeria and Rwanda. It said forest loss was a major concern in 35 countries in Africa. And it showed that environmental change extended beyond the well-known shrinking of the snows on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa’s highest peak at 5,895 meters (19,340 ft), or the drying up of Lake Chad. On the Ugandan border with Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, glaciers on the RwenzoriMountains where the highest peak is 5,109 meters shrank by half between 1987 and 2003, it said.

Interesting3: Scientists tracking a dramatic shrinkage in Arctic sea ice over the past few years have come to a worrisome conclusion: If the trend continues, it could speed up the melting of Arctic permafrost as well. The environmental consequences of such a development are uncertain, but they could spell trouble for plants, animals, and humans in those regions that depend on solid ground underfoot. As global temperatures climb, the extent of sea ice that persists in the Arctic until the end of summer has hit record lows. Between August and October 2007, for example, the area covered by sea ice shrank more than 30% below its average for that part of the year. At the same time, air temperatures in western Canada and Alaska jumped more than 2°C over the 1978-2006 average for late summer and early autumn. Researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), both in Boulder, Colorado, realized that they had seen a similar relationship between Arctic ice melt and land warming in their climate computer model. So atmospheric scientist David Lawrence of NCAR and co-author Andrew Slater of NSIDC plugged the data they had collected–from satellites and ground- and sea-based monitoring stations in the Arctic–into the simulation to see what a continuing pattern would produce.

Interesting4: The sun’s surface has been fairly blank for the last couple of years, and that has some worried that it may be entering another Maunder minimum, the sun’s 50-year abstinence from sunspots, which some scientists have linked to the Little Ice Age of the 17^th century. Could a new sunspot drought plunge us into another decades-long cold spell? It’s not very likely, says David Hathaway a solar physicist at NASA’s MarshallSpaceFlightCenter in Huntsville, Ala. The question came up after an international solar conference held last week at MontanaStateUniversity, where scientists discussed the dearth of solar activity in the last couple years. "It continues to be dead," said Saku Tsuneta with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and program manager for the Hinode solar mission. "That’s a small concern, a very small concern," because the period of inactivity seems to be going on longer than normal. Some scientists think such inactive periods, such as the Maunder minimum, are responsible for cold spells in the past, such as the Little Ice Age. The sun’s energy drives all climate and weather on Earth. And Hathaway does agree there are good indications that fluctuations in solar output related to sunspot cycles influence the Earth’s climate. And the Maunder minimum isn’t the only evidence — scientists have linked two smaller sunspot minimums (periods of time with very few sunspots) in the early 19th century to cold spells, as well as periods before the Maunder minimum deduced from tree ring records, he said.

Aloha Paragraphs

  Delicious Hawaiian Papaya
Photo Credit: flickr.com

The trade winds will become quite a bit lighter during the second half of the week. A strong, but far away 1037 millibar high pressure system, would ordinarily keep our local trade winds rather strong and gusty. The computer models continue to predict a rather definite easing-up of the winds however, as an upper level trough of low pressure moves close…which will cause lighter winds Thursday into the weekend.

There will be somewhat more than the ordinary amount of windward showers now…gradually shifting to over the interior areas over the next several days. As the upper level trough gets closer to the islands, we will see a modified convective weather pattern developing, which is a bit unusual for this time of year. There’s the chance that some of these upcountry showers will be locally generous. This weather pattern will continue into the first day or two of next week.

~~~ The computer forecast models indicatelighter winds, and a good chance of showers now through the rest of the week. The focus for this precipitation, as noted above, will be over the windward sides temporarily. As the trade winds slow down, the emphasis for showers will shift to over and around the mountains during the afternoon hours. It will take the return of the trade winds next week to bring the showers back over to the windward sides.

~~~ It’s early Wednesday evening, as I sit here in my Kula, Maui weather tower, after what turned out to be a cloudy, and misty afternoon. Those mists were occasionally more like light showers, with relatively cool temperatures. I spent some time pressure spraying my deck, although kept the water usage to a bare minimum, considering the dry conditions. One of the reasons I did this was to take the winters dirt and mildew off the deck, so that I could put my new ping pong table on it. Yes, I just purchased, on craigslist, a near new table, which I’ll talk more about this weekend when the seller delivers it from down in Wailuku. Suffice it to say I’m excited, and look forward to getting back into one of my favorite sports, which is ping pong! I’ll be back very early Thursday morning with your next new weather narrative. I hope you have a great Wednesday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

  Not yet ripe stock of apple bananas
Photo Credit: flickr.com

Trade winds will remain active through Wednesday, then slip a notch during the second half of the week. A moderately strong 1034 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of the islands, and is the source of our trade wind flow Tuesday night. The computer models are suggesting that the trade winds will ease up, as an upper level trough of low pressure moves by to our north…which will cause lighter trade winds Thursda into the weekend.

The windward sides on some of the islands have moistened up, especially on the Big Island. At the same time, some showers have developed along the Kona area on the Big Island as well. Incoming clouds carried by the trade winds will bring a few showers to the other islands, but nothing heavy is indicated for the time being. As an upper level trough gets closer to the islands, later this week, we may see some additional shower enhancement occurring then…although modest in proportion.

~~~ The computer forecast models have changed their tune a little recently, indicating somewhat lighter winds, and a better chance of showers later this week. I’m reluctant to heavily promote this lighter wind, and more showery episode however…as the same thing happened last week, and it was a bust! I’m willing to go along with this outlook for the time being, although will be a little leary until I actually see further evidence. Part of the problem is that climatology tells us that June is the driest month of the year in most areas, although the one exception is around the Big Island. 

Interesting: A washing machine using as little as a cup of water for each washing cycle could go on sale to environmentally conscious Britons next year. Xeros Ltd, which has been spun out of the University of Leeds to commercialize the technology, said on Monday the new machines would use less than 2 percent of the water and energy of a conventional washing machine. Plastic chips are used to remove dirt and stains from clothes, leaving them dry and reducing energy consumption as there is no need to use a dryer after the washing cycle, Xeros said in a statement. The firm, which recently secured investment of almost 500,000 pounds ($984,400) from IP Group Plc, told Reuters the price of the new machines was "not expected to be dramatically different from (conventional) washing machines." Washing machine usage has risen by 23 percent in the past 15 years. The average UK household uses almost 21 liters of water daily on clothes washing, 13 percent of daily household water consumption, according to Waterwise, a non-government organization focused on decreasing water wastage in Britain. A typical washing machine uses about 35 kilograms of water for every kilogram of clothes, in addition to the power needed to heat the water and dry the clothes. There are more than two million washing machines sold in Britain annually, with a value of about 1 billion pounds, Xeros said.

Interesting2: The rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice observed in recent summers could triple the rate of warming over northern Alaska, Canada and Russia, a new study suggests. Such intensive warming could endanger sensitive ecosystems and human infrastructure in those regions. It’s the warm version of the snowball effect. "Our study suggests that, if sea-ice continues to contract rapidly over the next several years, Arctic land warming and permafrost thaw are likely to accelerate," said study leader David Lawrence of the NationalCenter for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. The North Pole is a region of ice floating on the sea, an expanse of ice that in winter connects in some places with continental Arctic ice. The new research was spurred by the record melt of Arctic sea ice last summer, which shrank to more than 30 percent below its average. Around the peak in ice melt, which occurred in September, air temperatures over land in the western Arctic were also unusually warm from August to October, reaching more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above the 1978-2006 average. This raised the question of whether or not these phenomena were related.

  The end of another near perfect day in Hawaii
Photo Credit: flickr.com

The trade winds will continue blowing here in the islands…just like they’re suppose to do this time of year.  A moderately strong 1032 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of the islands, is the source of our trade wind flow Monday night. Our winds are expected to ease up a little soon, thus the NWS forecast office in Honolulu has dropped the small craft wind advisory over those windier areas around Maui and the Big Island. These cooling and refreshing trade winds will remain active through the rest of the week….blowing in the light to moderately strong range in most areas.

Besides the usual few showers along the windward sides of the islands, our weather will remain quite dry. There may also be a few afternoon and evening showers falling along the Kona slopes as well. Meanwhile, there are still some high cirrus clouds moving up from the southeast, as shown on this looping satellite image. This area of high level moisture seems to be edging eastward, which should help clear these sun dimming clouds from most of the state Monday night…pushing past the Big Island last.

~~~ It’s early Monday evening here in Kihei, Maui, as I begin writing this last paragraph of today’s narrative. The trade winds blew all day, with some of those windier areas finding blustery gusts. As usual, the Maalaea Bay here on Maui had some of the strongest winds, which were still blowing 38 mph at 4pm. Showers were few and far between Monday, with most rain gauges staying completely dry. The last of the high clouds are mostly over the Big Island, although there are a few wisps left over Maui County too. As the sun sets, there may be some nice colors where those departing feathers of icy moisture still exist. I’ll be leaving for the drive upcountry soon, up to Kula, to find my cherished cool air temperatures. Sunshine will be abundant on Tuesday, looking a lot like summer, during these last few days of late spring. I’ll be back very early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative. I hope you have a great Monday night wherever you happen to be reading from! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting: The world needs to invest $45 trillion in energy in coming decades, build some 1,400 nuclear power plants and vastly expand wind power in order to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, according to an energy study released recently. The report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency envisions a "energy revolution” that would greatly reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels while maintaining steady economic growth. "Meeting this target of 50 percent cut in emissions represents a formidable challenge, and we would require immediate policy action and technological transition on an unprecedented scale,” IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said. A U.N.-network of scientists concluded last year that emissions have to be cut by at least half by 2050 to avoid an increase in world temperatures of between 3.6 and 4.2 degrees above pre-18th century levels. Scientists say temperature increases beyond that could trigger devastating effects, such as widespread loss of species, famines and droughts, and swamping of heavily populated coastal areas by rising oceans. Environment ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized countries and Russia backed the 50 percent target in a meeting in Japan last month and called for it to be officially endorsed at the G-8 summit in July.

Interesting2: Chemicals produced by humans have been found in deep-sea squid and other creatures, further evidence that contaminants make their way deep into the marine food web, scientists said Monday. Researchers found a variety of chemical contaminants in nine species of cephalopods, which include octopods, squids, cuttlefishes and nautiluses. These species are food for dolphins, narwhals, killer whales and other toothed whales. The researchers collected nine species of cephalopods up to a mile down and deeper in the western North Atlantic Ocean by trawling. "It was surprising to find measurable and sometimes high amounts of toxic pollutants in such a deep and remote environment," said Michael Vecchione, a researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Interesting3: Researchers predict a "dead zone" of oxygen-depleted waters off the Louisiana and Texas coasts could grow this summer to 10,084 square miles, making it the largest such expanse in at least 23 years. If the preliminary forecast holds, the researchers say, the size of the so-called "dead zone" would be 17-21% larger than at anytime since the mapping began in 1985 — and about as large as the state of Massachusetts. Another forecast is planned next month. The report Monday from scientists at LouisianaStateUniversity and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium is based on May nitrate loads on the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge. Excess nutrients can spur the growth of algae, and when the algae die, their decay consumes oxygen faster than it can be brought down from the surface. As a result, fish, shrimp and crabs can suffocate, threatening the region’s commercial fishing industry. R. Eugene Turner, who led the recent modeling effort, said in a statement that intensive farming — including working land for crops used to make biofuels — has contributed to the high rate of nitrogen loading. Researchers say the largest dead zone measured was 8,894 square miles in 2002. It was about 7,900 square miles last year.

Jacaranda trees around Kula, Maui…by the way,
this is the road that I use on a daily basis to go
down the mountain, and then back up again.
Photo Credit: flickr.com

The trade winds will remain locally quite breezy through Monday. A moderately strong 1033 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of the islands, is the source of our trade wind flow Sunday evening. Our winds are strong enough now that small craft wind advisory flags will remain up over those windier areas around Maui and the Big Island. It appears that these cooling and refreshing trade winds will ease off just a little starting Tuesday, although remain active through the rest of the week.

We’re moving into a relatively dry period, which will last through the next several days. There will remain those usual few showers along the windward coasts and slopes…especially during the night and early morning hours. There may also be a few afternoon and evening showers falling along the Kona slopes as well. Meanwhile, we find a considerable amount of high cirrus clouds moving our way from the south, as shown on this looping satellite image. This will help to filter and dim our sunshine into Monday, and perhaps give us another nice sunset tonight.

~~~ It’s early Sunday evening as I sit here in Kula, Maui, writing out this last paragraph. It was yet another very warm day here in the islands, with Kahului, Maui hitting 90F degrees for the third straight afternoon. The trade winds have been blowing steadily as well, with Kapalua, Maui gusting to 35 mph Sunday afternoon, as was Kahoolawe…although the winner in the gust department was the 38 mph at South Point on the Big Island. It has been dry, with little change in that regard expected anytime soon. Looking forward into the new week…besides the slight reduction in our trade wind speeds on Tuesday, these tropical breezes will be with us through the entire week. I had a good day today, staying home, with a little work mixed with quite a lot of relaxation. My neighbor and I decided to cut down a stock of bananas, and from there we worked unexpectedly for over an hour…cleaning up the entire patch, ending up with a huge pile of cut leaves and branches. I’ll be back very early Monday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise. I hope you have a great Sunday night! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here’s a great music video, which will bring back fond memories to you older folks: Only You by the The Platters (1955). 

Like today here in the islands
Photo Credit: flickr.com

The trade winds will boost up a bit now into early in the new week ahead. The computer forecast models suggest that this trade wind flow will prevail through all of next week. A moderately strong 1033 millibar high pressure system, to the northeast of the islands, is the source of our trade wind flow Saturday night. Our winds will increase just enough this weekend, that we’ve seen small craft wind advisory flags going up over the windier areas around Maui and the Big Island. It appears that these cooling and refreshing trade winds will ease off some starting Tuesday, although remain in the light to moderately strong category thereafter.

Now that the atmospheric destabilizing upper level trough of low pressure is to our west…we’ll drop back into a normal trade wind weather pattern. Already we’ve seen dry air moving in from the east, taking away the recent threat of localized heavy showers. Although there will remain those usual showers along the windward coasts and slopes…especially during the night and early morning hours. Meanwhile, we find a considerable amount of high cirrus clouds moving our way from the south, as shown on this looping satellite image. This may give us a nice sunset Saturday evening!

~~~ The main story now, besides the gusty trade winds this weekend, will be the fairly large surf impacting our south and west facing leeward beaches. Late autumn storms in the southern hemisphere, down near New Zealand last week, generated this swell train of waves. This swell began arriving Friday, and will bring relatively large breaking waves to our south and west facing beaches into Sunday. These breakers will be large enough that the general public may need to use caution when entering the ocean, so please be careful out there this weekend. The NWS office in Honolulu issued a high surf advisory, which will remain active into Sunday.

It’s early Saturday evening as I sit here in Kula, Maui, typing out this last paragraph. It was another hot day here on Maui, with two days in a row now topping out at 90F degrees down in Kahului. It was even very warm up here in Kula, although late this afternoon, the clouds piled-up against the slopes of the Haleakala Crater, cooling things off nicely. As promised this morning, here’s a link to a music group called Radiohead, singing a song called Creep. This song is certainly not for everyone, but for some reason I really like it! While we’re watching music video’s, here’s another that I know many of you will be able to relate to, called I only have eyes for you by the Flamingo’s.  At any rate, I hope you have a great Saturday night, partying down, or mellowing out, whichever the case may be. I’ll be back Sunday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise. Aloha for now…Glenn.