April 23-24, 2009
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 73
Honolulu, Oahu – 77
Kaneohe, Oahu – 72
Kahului, Maui – 79
Hilo, Hawaii – 72
Kailua-kona – 83
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountains…at 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon:
Kailua-kona – 80F
Kaneohe, Oahu – 68
Haleakala Crater – 45 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – missing (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 Thursday afternooon:
0.03 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.15 Ahuimanu Loop, Oahu
0.01 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
1.90 West Wailuaiki, Maui
2.24 Laupahoehoe, Big Island
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing low pressure systems stretched out to the northwest through northeast of Hawaii. At the same time, we find a trough of low pressure located just south of the Big Island. There’s a high pressure system far to the ENE of the islands too, all of which will keep light to almost moderately strong NE winds over us for the time being…lighter winds over the Big Island.
Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with the Infrared Satellite Image of the islands to see all the clouds around the state 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.
Aloha Paragraphs
Swimming with Dolphins…Hawaiian waters
The threat of localized heavy showers remains in place Thursday night into Friday…
which is being said
more confidently now.
An area of cold air aloft is edging in over the islands, which will likely trigger localized heavy showers over the Aloha state overnight. Here’s a looping radar image, which shows that most of the heavy showers Thursday evening, were offshore to the southwest of Maui, and to the northeast of Oahu. Gauging the way the clouds are moving, this would put the first area of especially wet weather over the islands of Maui County, and then the Big Island.
The NWS forecast office in Honolulu is keeping the flash flood watch for the entire state active…continuing into the day Friday. The cold air associated with a low pressure system in the upper atmosphere over the islands, is making our overlying air mass unstable. This instability, working with the considerable low level moisture that exists around the islands…should work together in such a way to bring localized heavy showers, or even flooding rainfall. There’s even the chance that a heavy rainfall producing thunderstorm may pop up!
It’s early Thursday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s weather narrati ve. If you have a chance to look at this looping radar image, it pretty much tells the story about the chances for locally heavy rainfall are…pretty good I’d say! It’s been a long wait, seeing what would actually happen here, but now through most of Friday will remain shower prone. Before we go any further, we should take a quick glance at all the gathering clouds coming our way from the west, by using this looping satellite image. This is very interesting, confirming what the computer models have been intimating for about a week now. They really are very impressive in their accuracy! ~~~ I’m about ready to slide out of here, from Kihei, Maui, as I take the drive back home upcountry to Kula. Looking out the window before I leave, I see lots of clouds, and the trade winds are breezy too. I expect to see some good soaking rains developing, the first batch of which will likely impact Maui and Kauai, and then likely the Big Island. I would imagine that all of the islands will get quite a good amount, and I’ll be back early Friday morning with more news about all this and more. I hope you have a great Thursday night until then. By the way, if I get woke up with super heavy rains, or the sounds of a thunderstorm, I may have to pry myself out of bed and write a few more words about that during the night, how’s that for going above and beyond the call of duty…smiling! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: One of the most common complaints about "going solar" is that the upfront cost is just too high. The primary reason a solar power system can be a high ticket purchase for many solar power shoppers is because of the customers’ bad energy usage habits. The majority of solar power shoppers don’t realize they are energy hogs until they start shopping for solar power, when they are forced to understand and analyze their electric consumption.
So how can solar power shoppers instantly get a deep discount on their solar power system? The answer is simple, "reduce then produce." Focusing on energy efficiency, and implementing lifestyle and product changes can greatly reduce the upfront cost of a solar power system. It is always more cost-effective to reduce your consumption through efficiency than it is to produce your own power.
Think of it this way, the more you can save through energy efficiency, the fewer solar panels you need to cover your electric usage. It’s that simple. But most solar power consumers get frustrated seeing high upfront costs of going solar and think there are no alternatives to bring the cost down.
Interesting2: Rare plant and animal species are like rare stamps or coins: they are perceived to be inherently more valuable to people, whatever they look like. Researchers Elena Angulo and Franck Courchamp, from Université de Paris-Sud, have found that people are more attracted to species labeled "rare" than those labeled "common" even when they do not know which species are involved.
The study shows that this irrational value conferred to unknown items only for the sake of rarity is both an asset and a threat for conservation. It has been recently suggested that the value people place on rarity could lead to the extinction of rare species as we are willing to pay the high costs of exploiting the last individuals.
Many hobbies, such as ecotourism or the keeping of exotic pets, may cause this effect, known as the anthropogenic Allee effect. However, this theory relies on the untested assumption that people do indeed value rarity.
Interesting3: WWF has welcomed today’s decision by the European Parliament to support strict rules to eliminate illegally harvested wood from the European market. Based on today’s vote all companies in the wood supply chain will have to provide information about the source of the products they trade in the EU, one of the main markets for wood products. This will contribute to stop trade of illegally harvested wood and related products.
"Illegal logging is a major culprit for the increasing destruction of precious tropical forests and takes away a valuable source of income from local communities," says Anke Schulmeister, Forests Policy Officer at WWF. "As a major producer and importer of timber, the EU has a key role to play for preservation of forests worldwide.
It is only fair that companies are requested to install systems proving that the timber they sell is legal, respect the environment and the rights of local people. This must go together with adequate sanctions."
Interesting4: The Obama administration is using Earth Day for launching another all-out effort to sell the American public and key lawmakers on "green jobs" as the solution for the United States’ environmental and economic woes. The jobs push starts at a critical time for the administration’s energy agenda. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is starting hearings on a comprehensive climate and energy bill that President Obama has long portrayed as key to in his efforts toward economic recovery.
The administration must also try in the next few weeks to push through Congress a budget resolution that raises spending in several energy-related areas, again with the promise of creating millions of new jobs in the renewable-energy arena.
Interesting5: Ontario will enact the toughest rules in Canada when its pesticide ban takes effect today, a move that could land the province in the legal crosshairs of an international trade dispute. Ontario is joining Quebec in restricting the use of pesticides, but its rules go further by prohibiting the sale and cosmetic use of more than 80 ingredients and 250 products, with few exceptions, experts say.
Other provinces are considering similar restrictions to protect the environment and public health, including British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, said Lisa Gue of the David Suzuki Foundation. Science hasn’t yet proven what effect, if any, pesticides have on our health, but given the risks, governments must err on the side of caution, Gue said from Ottawa. "The lack of scientific certainty cannot be an excuse to delay action to protect health and the environment," she said.
Interesting6: Marine scientists say they are astonished at the spectacular recovery of certain coral reefs in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park from a devastating coral bleaching event in 2006. That year high sea temperatures caused massive and severe coral bleaching in the Keppel Islands, in the southern part of the GBR. The damaged reefs were quickly smothered by a single species of seaweed — an event that can spell the total loss of the corals.
However, a lucky combination of rare circumstances meant the reefs were able to achieve a spectacular recovery, with abundant corals re-established in a single year, says Dr Guillermo Diaz-Pulido, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) and the Centre for Marine Studies at The University of Queensland. Dr Diaz-Pulido explains that the rapid recovery is due to an exceptional combination of previously-underestimated ecological mechanisms.
"Three factors were critical. The first was exceptionally high re-growth of fragments of surviving coral tissue. The second was an unusual seasonal dieback in the seaweeds, and the third was the presence of a highly competitive coral species, which was able to outgrow the seaweed. "But this also all happened in the context of a well-protected marine area and moderately good water quality", said Dr Diaz-Pulido. "It is rare to see reports of reefs that bounce back from mass coral bleaching or other human impacts in less than a decade or two," he adds.
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