Hawaii Weather Today » 2009

April 20-21, 2009

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday afternoon:

Lihue, Kauai – 74
Honolulu, Oahu – 80
Kaneohe, Oahu – 78
Kahului, Maui – 80
Hilo, Hawaii – 80
Kailua-kona – 81

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountains…at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon:

Kailua-kona – 80F
Lihue, Kauai – 66

Haleakala Crater – 45 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 32 (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 Monday afternoon:

1.91 Hanalei River, Kauai
1.02 Poamoho 2, Oahu
0.47 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.10 Kaupo Gap, Maui
0.12 Kapapala Ranch, Big Island

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a weakening cold front over the islands Tuesday, with light winds giving way to strengthening NE breezes into Wednesday.

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

Hawaii…the perfect place

Originally there was one cold front approaching from the northwest direction, which on Sunday became three.

Actually, two were prefrontal cloud bands, although at least one of them caused localized heavy showers on Kauai and Oahu Monday afternoon. The NWS forecast office in Honolulu issued short term forecasts to cover this potentially flooding precipitation event, which was then cancelled once the showers moved offshore. This looping radar image is the best way to show this wet weather outbreak. As these bands work their way through our area, we will likely see periods of showers on most of the islands, although the Big Island has the least likely prospect it appears at the moment.

If we back our view out a bit, using this looping satellite image we can see what looks more like one large frontal boundary now. At the same time, edging in from the left hand side of this satellite loop, we see another large area of incoming cirrus clouds, traveling quickly towards the right side of the picture…west to east. It becomes clearer, at least in terms of what’s happening, if we back out even further, in our look down over the central Pacific using this satellite view. It is very obvious that there are more clouds in our area, than clear blue skies! The bright white ones are the higher variety as usual, and the dull gray clouds reside in the lower realms of the atmosphere.

If we think of the several bands of clouds as just a weakening cold front, it will be easier to discern what to expected as we move forward into the first part of this new work week. This frontal boundary will continue its journey down into the state, bringing showers into the night Monday, and then on into the day Tuesday. The continued threat of some of these showers grading into heavy rainfall will remain with us for the time being. We’ve seen Kona winds ahead of these bands, which has brought localized thick volcanic haze to some parts of the island chain. These Kona winds will give way to north to NE winds with, and in the wake of the front…clearing our skies of this sun filtering haziness with time. While we’re talking about winds, here’s a weather map showing a gale low pressure system to the NNE of Hawaii…which will be the source of our brief north to northeast wind, locally gusty.

As the winds come from a more northerly aspect, they will feel cooler than the sultry weather that the Kona winds have brought up from the moisture laden deeper tropics. These north to NE winds won’t last very long, as light ENE to easterly trade winds will fill back into our weather picture by mid-week. The interesting part of this weather story comes into shape as we move into Friday and the weekend. I use the word interesting, in a positive way, as if we receive more rainfall then, it would be a good thing, heading into the dry season. If a low pressure system were to become established to the west or NW of Kauai later this week, as the computer models have been suggesting for the last several days, we could see a second period of showers…some of which could be locally quite generous.

It’s early Monday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s weather narrati ve. As a summary statement of the information above: there are several bands of clouds that are in our vicinity, one of which may bring some heavier showers tonight into Tuesday. The low pressure system to our NNE, with its associated cold front, is the major influence at the moment. Our winds are light from the SW and west ahead of the front, which will turn around to the north and NE after the cold front drops down into the state. ~~~ Looking out the windows here in Kihei, before I leave for the drive back upcountry to Kula, I see the same hazy reality that I saw from Kula early this morning. There are lots of clouds out there too, but as the radar image above noted, most of the showers are falling over Oahu down through Molokai at the time of this writing. I’m quite sure that Maui will find an increase in showers tonight into Tuesday…while the Big Island may miss most of them. I’ll be back early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative, I hope you have a great Monday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting: Here’s yet another reason to stay in shape: Thinner people contribute less to global warming, according to a new study. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine published a study showing that, because of food production and transportation factors, a population of heavier people contributes more harmful gases to the planet than a population of thin people.

Given that it takes more energy to move heavier people, transportation of heavier people requires more fuel, which creates more greenhouse gas emissions, the authors write. "The main message is staying thin. It’s good for you, and it’s good for the planet," said Phil Edwards, senior lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The study offers this novel approach to the global warming problem as U.S. lawmakers discuss the future of climate change legislation. This week, the the House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to begin on a comprehensive energy and climate bill. On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that six greenhouse gases pose potential health hazards, an announcement that could prompt the regulation of the gases.

More than 1 billion adults worldwide are overweight, and about 300 million are obese, the study said. Generally, the body mass index, a measure of obesity, is increasing in most countries worldwide, from China to European countries to the United States. BMI is going up because of the availability of food and motorized transportation, Edwards said. People are less active now than they were 30 years ago, and the prevalence of fast food has given people less healthy, more energy-dense options.

Interesting2: Every week, Jackie Kaminer of Roswell, Georgia, buys fish for dinner at the local market. Although she knows it’s full of nutrients — including good-for-your-heart omega-3 fatty acids — she’s careful of the types of fish she brings home. Her concern? Mercury and the dangers it poses to her children. So, she sticks to certain varieties: salmon, cod, tilapia and haddock are "safe fish," but she stays away from swordfish, sea bass and tuna.

As a mother of three, Kaminer should be concerned. Released into the atmosphere by industrial pollution, mercury contaminates water systems (and soil) when it rains. As fish feed on one another, the mercury stores up in their bodies. The toxic metal affects the nervous system. And although studies have shown large amounts of mercury can also affect fertility and blood pressure, and possibly cause memory loss in adults, it’s particularly dangerous to young children and fetuses.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, during the first several years of life, a child’s brain is still developing and absorbing nutrients. Prenatal and infant mercury exposure can cause poor mental development, cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness. Even in low doses, mercury may affect a child’s development, delaying walking and talking, shortening attention span and causing learning disabilities. Having mercury levels that are too high isn’t someone else’s problem.

In a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of 17 women of childbearing age in the United States has mercury in her blood above the level that could pose a risk to a developing fetus (5.8 micrograms per liter). So the federal government advises pregnant women and those thinking of becoming pregnant to avoid certain fish, such as shark, swordfish and fresh tuna, usually found in fish markets and sushi. Canned tuna seems to be less of a threat, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture says consumption should be limited.

Why avoid these kinds of fish? According to Andrew Heyes, a scientist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, Maryland, the older and larger the fish, the more mercury it has stored. "As it grows older, it can’t eliminate mercury as fast as it takes it in," he says. "So there’s an accumulation in the fish." Because mercury is a growing threat to us and our environment, companies have started to take mercury out of thermometers, switches and even batteries to prevent it from entering our soil.

Now, many regions, like the Chesapeake Bay states of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, have instituted new rules to limit mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, one of the largest sources of mercury pollution in the region. Researcher Cindy Gilmour, also with the SERC, says that is a positive development because mercury contamination is getting out of hand. "We’ve opened Pandora’s Box and we’ve let that mercury out from where it was buried underground, into the atmosphere and into our soils and waterways," she says. "All that excess mercury causes problems, not just in people."

Interesting3: The high-end specialty coffee industry isn’t immune to the effects of a recession, but many companies are still doing well. Portland Roasting had a slow holiday season, but business is picking up, said owner Mark Stell. "February was a great month for us," he said. Stell traveled from Oregon to Atlanta, Georgia, for the Specialty Coffee Association of America expo, where the show floor was filled with nearly 800 booths featuring everything from exotic coffee beans to the latest Italian espresso machines.

Stell’s company sells about a million pounds of coffee a year. He said sales to offices and hotels are down but are being replaced by orders from grocers and universities. "People don’t leave coffee," he said. "They just get it differently." Tony Riffel owns Octane Coffee in Atlanta and was watching the 10th annual World Barista Championship, held in conjunction with the expo at the Georgia World Congress Center. Pushcart owner Gwilym Davies of London, England, won the 2009 barista crown.

Riffel said business at his coffee shop was flat last summer, but sales are up 10 percent for the first quarter of 2009. "The first part of this year has been our best ever," he said. "People are being careful with what they’re spending money on, but they’re spending it on quality products." Business is good enough that Riffel plans to open a second location this year. "Now is a really good time to do that," he said.

"Developers and landlords are more flexible and negotiable," even though banks are "pickier than normal." Joseph Taguman also knows about picky banks. The general manager of the Zambia Growers Association said the lack of financing is holding back the association’s 80 farmers. "The U.S. market is continuing at a steady pace," he said. But it’s a slower pace than the past few years. "Coffee is something that has been with humanity for 1,500 years," Hetzel said. "It’s not going anywhere any time soon."

Interesting4: U.S. manufacturers, including major drug makers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water – contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation. Hundreds of active pharmaceutical ingredients are used in a variety of manufacturing, including drug making: For example, lithium is used to make ceramics and treat bipolar disorder; nitroglycerin is a heart drug and also used in explosives; copper shows up in everything from pipes to contraceptives.

Federal and industry officials say they don’t know the extent to which pharmaceuticals are released by U.S. manufacturers because no one tracks them – as drugs. But a close analysis of 20 years of federal records found that, in fact, the government unintentionally keeps data on a few, allowing a glimpse of the pharmaceuticals coming from factories.

As part of its ongoing PharmaWater investigation about trace concentrations of pharmaceuticals in drinking water, AP identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists: the EPA monitors them as industrial chemicals that are released into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water under federal pollution laws, while the Food and Drug Administration classifies them as active pharmaceutical ingredients.

The data don’t show precisely how much of the 271 million pounds comes from drugmakers versus other manufacturers; also, the figure is a massive undercount because of the limited federal government tracking. To date, drug makers have dismissed the suggestion that their manufacturing contributes significantly to what’s being found in water. Federal drug and water regulators agree.

But some researchers say the lack of required testing amounts to a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy about whether drug makers are contributing to water pollution. "It doesn’t pass the straight-face test to say pharmaceutical manufacturers are not emitting any of the compounds they’re creating," said Kyla Bennett, who spent 10 years as an EPA enforcement officer before becoming an ecologist and environmental attorney.

Pilot studies in the U.S. and abroad are now confirming those doubts. Last year, the AP reported that trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals – including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones – have been found in American drinking water supplies. Including recent findings in Dallas, Cleveland and Maryland’s Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, pharmaceuticals have been detected in the drinking water of at least 51 million Americans.

Most cities and water providers still do not test. Some scientists say that wherever researchers look, they will find pharma-tainted water. Consumers are considered the biggest contributors to the contamination. We consume drugs, then excrete what our bodies don’t absorb. Other times, we flush unused drugs down toilets. The AP also found that an estimated 250 million pounds of pharmaceuticals and contaminated packaging are thrown away each year by hospitals and long-term care facilities.

Researchers have found that even extremely diluted concentrations of drugs harm fish, frogs and other aquatic species. Also, researchers report that human cells fail to grow normally in the laboratory when exposed to trace concentrations of certain drugs. Some scientists say they are increasingly concerned that the consumption of combinations of many drugs, even in small amounts, could harm humans over decades. Utilities say the water is safe. Scientists, doctors and the EPA say there are no confirmed human risks associated with consuming minute concentrations of drugs. But those experts also agree that dangers cannot be ruled out, especially given the emerging research.

Interesting5: The Great Wall of China is even greater than previously thought, according to the first detailed survey to establish the length of the ancient barricade. A two-year government mapping study found that the wall spans 8,850km (5,500 miles) – until now, the length was commonly put at about 5,000km. Previous estimates of its length were mainly based on historical records. Infra-red and GPS technologies helped locate some areas concealed over time by sandstorms, state media said.

The project found that there were wall sections of 6,259km, 359km of trenches, and 2,232km of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. The study was carried out by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping. Experts said the newly-discovered sections of the wall were built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and stretch from Hu Mountain in northern Liaoning province to Jiayu Pass in western Gansu province.

The project will continue for another 18 months in order to map sections of the wall built during the Qin (221-206BC) and Han (206BC-9AD) Dynasties, the report said. The wall, the world’s largest man-made structure, was built to protect the northern border of the Chinese Empire.

Archaeologists had lobbied for the survey to be done to provide scholars with an accurate understanding of the construction. Known to the Chinese as the "long Wall of 10,000 Li", the Great Wall is in fact a series of walls and earthen works begun in the 5th Century BC and first linked up under Qin Shi Huang in about 220BC. It was listed as a Unesco world heritage site in 1987.

Interesting6: Overpopulation is the world’s top environmental issue, followed closely by climate change and the need to develop renewable energy resources to replace fossil fuels, according to a survey of the faculty at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). Just in time for Earth Day (April 22) the faculty at the college, at which environmental issues are the sole focus, was asked to help prioritize the planet’s most pressing environmental problems.

Overpopulation came out on top, with several professors pointing out its ties to other problems that rank high on the list. “Overpopulation is the only problem,” said Dr. Charles A. Hall, a systems ecologist. “If we had 100 million people on Earth — or better, 10 million — no others would be a problem.” (Current estimates put the planet’s population at more than six billion.)

Dr. Allan P. Drew, a forest ecologist, put it this way: “Overpopulation means that we are putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than we should, just because more people are doing it and this is related to overconsumption by people in general, especially in the ‘developed’ world.”

“But, whether developed or developing,” said Dr. Susan Senecah, who teaches the history of the American environmental movement, “everyone is encouraged to ‘want’ and perceive that they ‘need’ to consume beyond the planet’s ability to provide.” The ESF faculty pointed to climate change as the second most-pressing issue, with the need to develop renewable energy resources to replace fossil fuels coming in third.

“Experimenting with the earth’s climate and chemistry has great risks,” said Dr. Thomas E. Amidon, who invented a process for removing energy-rich sugars from wood and fermenting those sugars into ethanol. “This is a driver in climate change and loss of biodiversity and is a fundamental problem underlying our need to strive for sustainability.”

Rounding out the top 10 issues on the ESF list are overconsumption, the need for more sustainable practices worldwide, the growing need for energy conservation, the need for humans to see themselves as part of the global ecosystem, overall carbon dioxide emissions, the need to develop ways to produce consumer products from renewable resources, and dwindling fresh water resources.

April 19-20, 2009

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday afternoon:

Lihue, Kauai – 76
Honolulu, Oahu – 81
Kaneohe, Oahu – 85
Kahului, Maui – 83
Hilo, Hawaii – 79
Kailua-kona – 82

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountains…at 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon:

Kaneohe, Oahu – 81F
Lihue, Kauai – 69

Haleakala Crater – 48 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 34 (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 Sunday afteroon:

0.56 Kokee, Kauai
0.02 Waimanalo, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.13 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.08 Oheo Gulch, Maui
0.21 Honaunau, Big Island

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1028 millibar high pressure system located far to the northeast of the islands. The tail-end of a high pressure ridge, extending southwest from that high pressure cell, is sitting just to the east of Hawaii. At the same time, we have a developing low pressure system to the north-northeast…with its associated cold front about to move down into the state. Winds will be southwest to west flow ahead of the cold front, and then north to NE in its wake.

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

Rocky coast, south of Makena Beach…Maui

Winds will blow from the west to southwest ahead of an approaching cold front Sunday evening into Monday. These strengthening kona winds will keep our overlying atmosphere muggy, as moisture rides in on these breezes from the deeper tropics. A couple of frontal boundaries move over the state Sunday night into Monday night, our winds will turn north to northeast with, and behind the final front…ushering in slightly cooler weather for several days thereafter.

As this looping satellite image shows, we see the first of three shower bands reaching the island of Kauai and Oahu early Sunday evening. Expanding our view, with this looping satellite image showing the greater central Pacific a bit more, we can see all of the bands of clouds approaching from the northwest. The first showery cloud band reached Kauai Sunday, and is now stretching down to Oahu. The second will reach Kauai Sunday night, merging with the first one. The final band, will drop down into the state later in the day Monday or Monday evening, and stall.

Just considering the fact that the trade winds have been missing in action the last couple of days, is a good indicator of the slightly unusual weather circumstances that are developing.

Adding to this irregularity, we have these late season cloud bands, which are, and will continue to bring showers with then. The final front, which will quickly weaken into a a simple showery cloud band, is expected to hang around over the windward sides of the island for several days at least. The winds will take on a north or northeasterly orientation, which will keep our weather slightly cooler than normal too.

It’s early Sunday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s weather narrati ve. If you had a chance to read down through the paragraphs above, you’ll know that we have some interesting weather to move through during the next week! There’s still some uncertainty involved, so stay tuned for adjustments, as we may need to go back to the drawing boards at times…to bring everything into phase with the moment during the new work week ahead. ~~~ Speaking of the weather ahead, the computer models continue to show a rather deep low pressure system forming to the west or northwest of the state towards the even of the upcoming work week. This low may bring another round of unsettled weather, with more rain falling again then. Speaking of showers, and bringing our attention back to the present, here’s a looping radar image so we can keep an eye on the showers falling now. ~~~ Here in Kula, Maui Sunday, the winds have had a southeast orientation, enough so that lots of volcanic haze, carried up from the vents on the Big Island…made for poor air visibilities! At around 530pm, I can’t see the West Maui Mountains, and even here upcountry, looking just a short distance, the visibilities are very restricted. ~~~ I’ll be back with your next new weather narrative early Monday morning, I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you happen to be reading from! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting: More consumer products are claiming to be environmentally responsible, but nearly all of them make at least one claim that is unverifiable, according to a recent study. TerraChoice, an environmental marketing agency with offices in Ottawa and Philadelphia, says more than 98 per cent of the products it surveyed committed at least one of the "seven sins of greenwashing."

"The good news is that the growing availability of green products shows that consumers are demanding more environmentally responsible choices, and that marketers and manufacturers are listening," TerraChoice president Scott McDougall said in a release. "The bad news is that some marketers are exploiting consumers’ demand for third-party certification by creating fake labels or false suggestions of third-party endorsement."

Interesting2: The long-awaited, often-advertised Peapod will be available for order on Earth Day, April 22. Coincidentally, the 22nd also is Administrative Assistant’s Day. We expect to see a lot of greenies and maybe some secretaries tooling around in their $12,500 Peapods at no more than 25 miles an hour.

While the Peapod prototype had clear driver and passenger doors that looked like a Dyson vacuum cleaner, the production version (shown above) of the neighborhood electric vehicle resembles George Jetson’s Deux Chevaux.

Company director and brand guru Peter E. Arnell, whose initials inspired the company’s name, told Treehugger.com the car’s appearance was inspired by "Japanese bullet trains, storm troopers from the film Star Wars, space helmets and turtles."

There’s also a very prominent "smile" to the car’s grill, but what else would you expect from a man whose firm devised Pepsi’s new logo with the Cheshire grin and laughably pretentious backstory? The feel-good vibe continues with a glance at the in-dash iPod (sold seperately).

Edmunds says every trip concludes with a carbon-footprint analysis, while another app tells you exactly how much money you’ve saved by leaving the family truckster at home. Arnell says the Peapod isn’t a neighborhood electric vehicle, even if the National Highway Transportation Safety Board and his company’s own website do.

Arnell callls it a Mobi, a new category he’s "branded" in much the same way automakers branded 4x4s "SUVS." Regardless of what you call it, the Peapod tops out as 25 mph as required by law for NEVs.

Interesting3: A coalition of associations and entities affected by the impact of introduction of gray wolves into Wyoming filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the federal government about its refusal to delist wolves in Wyoming. The intent to sue was filed April 3 after the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service published the delisting rules in the Federal Register.

The coalition is comprised of the Wyoming Wool Growers Association, Wyoming Stock Growers Association, Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts, Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, Wyoming Association of County Predatory Animal Boards, Niobrara County Predatory Animal Board, Wyoming Outfitters & Guides Association, Cody Country Outfitters and Guides Association and Sportsmen for Fish & Wildlife Wyoming.

The Wolf Coalition served notice of intent to sue Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, USFWS Acting Director Rowan Gould and Stephen Guertin, USFWS Acting Regional Director for the Mountain Region. The coalition intends to seek injunctive relief for violation of the Endangered Species Act and its related regulations and policies.

The Wolf Coalition attorney Harriet Hageman said claims arise from the USFWS rejection of the Wyoming Wolf Management Plan, its failure to delist the gray wolf population in Wyoming and its decision to proceed with delisting in Montana, Idaho and parts of Oregon and Washington

Interesting4: The Tecnalia Health and Quality of Life Unit is taking part in the Companionable project, the aim of which is to contribute to the enhancement of the quality of life of elderly and disabled persons using robotized solutions designed to operate in intelligent homes. The initiative, part of the European Union 7th Framework Program, combines for the first time the use of robot in intelligent domestic environments, with the goal of creating a companion that assists people in their own home and helps them to be independent in their everyday lives. Amongst other aspects, this tool provides a control for recognizing emotional states, social and health services support and for videoconferencing with family members or professional careers.

The main lines of research of Companionable involve the development of technologies to create a system that is conscious of its surroundings, with networks of sensors and communications, and the development and design of a mobile robot for therapeutic treatment and care support. The project has set itself the goal of developing a system which is aware of the presence of persons within an intelligent and domotic household, and which interacts with them in a natural and intuitive form.

Interesting5: Heading into a period of the Martian year prone to major dust storms, the team operating NASA’s twin Mars rovers is taking advantage of eye-in-the-sky weather reports. On April 21, Mars will be at the closest point to the sun in the planet’s 23-month, elliptical orbit. One month later, the planet’s equinox will mark the start of summer in Mars’ southern hemisphere. This atmospheric-warming combination makes the coming weeks the most likely time of the Martian year for dust storms severe enough to minimize activities of the rovers.

"Since the rovers are solar powered, the dust in the atmosphere is extremely important to us," said Bill Nelson of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., chief of the engineering team for Spirit and Opportunity. Unexplained computer reboots by Spirit in the past week are not related to dust’s effects on the rover’s power supply, but the dust-storm season remains a concern. Spirit received commands Tuesday to transmit more engineering data in coming days to aid in diagnosis of the reboots.

After months of relatively clear air, increased haze in March reduced Spirit’s daily energy supply by about 20 percent and Opportunity’s by about 30 percent. Widespread haze resulted from a regional storm that made skies far south of the rovers very dusty. Conditions at the rovers’ sites remained much milder than the worst they have endured.

In July 2007, nearly one Martian year ago, airborne dust blocked more than 99 percent of the direct sunlight at each rover’s site. The rovers point cameras toward the sun to check the clarity of the atmosphere virtually every day. These measurements let the planning team estimate how much energy the rovers will have available on the following day.

Observations of changes in the Martian atmosphere by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which reached Mars in 2006, and NASA’s Mars Odyssey, which reached Mars in 2001, are available to supplement the rover’s own skywatch. The Mars Color Imager camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter sees the entire planet every day at resolution comparable to weather satellites around Earth.

Interesting6: Sea levels could rise by a "catastrophic" 10 feet by the end of the century – putting millions of people at risk of flooding with coastal cities such as London, New York, Tokyo and Calcutta submerged, according to a new study. The melting of the vast ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland caused water to pour into the world’s oceans at an alarming rate at the end of the last period of global warming, the study shows.

Analysis of fossilized coral reefs off the Gulf of Mexico found many died during this time – known to climatologists as an "interglacial" – and were replaced by new reefs on higher ground. This happened over a long-term ecological timescale and was caused by a rapid jump in sea level of between 6.5ft and 9.8ft (two to three meters) that occurred around 121,000 years ago, say the researchers.

The findings published in Nature raise concerns that current climate change could yield similar quick ice loss and disastrous sea-level rise in the near future. Dr Paul Blanchon, a marine scientist of the National University of Mexico in Cancun, said his study shows there was a spell of swift melting during the warmest part of the last interglacial.

With growing evidence for contributions from the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets to sea-level rise, the findings confirm the potential that continuing rapid ice loss could cause disastrous sea-level rise by 2100. Dr Blanchon said this is also bad news for modern coral reefs which are already suffering because of human activity.

He said: "Knowing the rate at which sea level reached its high-stand during the last interglacial period is fundamental in assessing if such rapid ice-loss processes could lead to future catastrophic sea-level rise. "The best direct record of sea level during this high-stand comes from well-dated fossil reefs in stable areas. "Here we present a complete reef-crest sequence for the last interglacial high-stand from the stable north-east Yucatan peninsula in Mexico.

"The abrupt demise of the lower-reef crest allows us to infer that this occurred on an ecological timescale and was triggered by a two-to-three meter jump in sea level. "We constrain this jump to have occurred 121,000 years ago and conclude it supports an episode of ice-sheet instability during the terminal phase of the last interglacial period."

The prediction is not as high as those from some scientists who have warned sea levels may rise as much as 16 feet (five meters) by the end of the century. But a rise of even a meter could have major implications for low-lying countries whose economies are not geared up to build sophisticated sea defense systems, such as Bangladesh.

Interesting7: A new kind of tree could cool the planet by removing a major greenhouse gas from the planet’s atmosphere. What researchers are calling artificial trees, actually towers filled with various materials that adsorb carbon dioxide from the air, could play a major role in reducing climate change — if they prove profitable. "This is an industry still in its infancy," said Billy Gridley of Global Research Technologies, LLC, the company creating the C02-scrubbing towers. "This will eventually rival the size of today’s energy markets.

Interesting8: An asteroid is hurtling toward the planet and threatens to destroy life as we know it. What can humankind do, other than cower? Tie the thing down, suggests aerospace engineer David French of North Carolina State University. He has proposed a way to divert asteroids and other threatening objects by attaching a long tether and ballast.

Done right, "you change the object’s center of mass, effectively changing the object’s orbit and allowing it to pass by the Earth, rather than impacting it," French said in a statement. In March an asteroid passed by Earth at a distance of just about 49,000 miles.

NASA’s Near Earth Object Program has identified more than 1,000 "potentially hazardous asteroids." None is on a collision course with Earth but asteroids have struck before and almost certainly will again, scientists agree.

"For example, about 65 million years ago, a very large asteroid is thought to have hit the Earth in the southern Gulf of Mexico, wiping out the dinosaurs, and, in 1907, a very small airburst of a comet over Siberia flattened a forest over an area equal in size to New York City," French said.

"The scale of our solution is similarly hard to imagine." His idea, to be presented in September at an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference, calls for using a tether somewhere between 600 miles and 60,000 miles long to change the trajectory of any object headed toward Earth.

"Nuclear weapons are an intriguing possibility, but have considerable political and technical obstacles. Would the rest of the world trust us to nuke an asteroid? Would we trust anyone else?" Frenach asked.

"And would the asteroid break into multiple asteroids, giving us more problems to solve?" Other solutions that have been proposed include crashing a spacecraft into the asteroid, focusing the Sun’s energy to deflect it, or using a laser to break it up.

Interesting9: For Arctic peoples, global warming is not just transforming their land, it is also poisoning their food. Mercury levels in seals and beluga whales eaten by Inuit in northern Canada have reached levels that would be considered unsafe in fish. Now, Gary Stern of Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and colleagues have found that seal meat contains more mercury in low-ice years, suggesting the problem will only get worse.

The team sampled ringed seals caught by traditional hunters in the western Canadian Arctic between 1973 and 2007. Mercury levels were higher after summers with less sea ice. They think this is because Arctic cod flourishes in low-ice years. Because Arctic cod is higher up the food chain than the seals’ other food, their tissues accumulate more mercury (Environmental Science and Technology.

Arctic residents may well be exposed to other pollutants, too. Melting ice releases chemicals such as DDT and PCBs that leached from the atmosphere decades ago and became entombed in ice and permafrost, warns Philippe Grandjean of Harvard University.

As the ice melts, its contaminants flow into streams, rivers and the Arctic Ocean. It may already be too late to prevent a surge of pollutants from polar ice, says Grandjean. However, he notes, policy-makers can try to prevent the same thing happening again by reducing pollutants still in use, such as flame retardants.

April 18-19, 2009

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday afternoon:

Lihue, Kauai – 77
Honolulu, Oahu – 81
Kaneohe, Oahu – 78
Kahului, Maui – 81
Hilo, Hawaii – 79
Kailua-kona – 79

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountains…at 5 p.m. Saturday evening:

Barking Sands, Kauai – 82F
Barking Sands, Kauai – 75

Haleakala Crater – 55 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 36 (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 Saturday afternoon:

0.43 Wailua, Kauai
0.03 Waimanalo, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.01 Hana airport, Maui
0.13 Mountain View, Big Island

Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1029 millibar high pressure system located far to the east-northeast of the islands. A high pressure is sitting right over the islands this weekend. Winds will be light and variable, gradually taking on a more southerly flow ahead of a weakening cold front.

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 the Dolphins…Oahu

A high pressure ridge has been pushed southward over the Hawaiian Islands this weekend…which will keep our winds light. The lack of our usual breezy trade winds will keep our overlying atmosphere on the muggy side. The latest computer forecast guidance suggests that we have some changes in store during the next week. As a cold front pushes southward towards the islands, our winds will turn south to southwest. As the frontal boundary moves over the state Sunday night through Tuesday, our winds will turn north to northeast…ushering in somewhat cooler weather through most of the new week ahead.

Sunday will be a transition day, from the light and variable wind regime…switching to Kona breezes ahead of a cold front…ending up with showers Monday onwards. The blue sentence above describes what would be quite common during the winter months. If it all manifests as expected, this will turn out to be a little unusual for the spring season. There is still some question to all the particulars, but the theme above seems fairly reasonable for the time being…stay tuned.

Besides the lower level clouds, which will form over and around the islands, we’ve also have quite a bit of the higher cirrus variety around lately too. As this looping satellite image shows, we’ll continue to see rather thin high cirrus clouds continuing to move in our direction from the west Saturday night into Sunday. Expanding our view, with this looping satellite image of the greater central Pacific a bit more, we can see more of this cirrus taking aim on our islands now. At the same time, we’re able to spot the late season cold front approaching from the north.

When I got off work Friday evening I went to see the new filmed called State of Play (2009), starring Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams, among others. The long and short of this film is that a reporter uncovers a deadly conspiracy when a star congressman’s mistress is brutually murdered. It’s being billed as a dramatic film, with of course the usual violence, sexual references, and drug content. So, this doesn’t sound like a film for everyone! As it turns out, I really enjoyed this film very much, it was complex and engaging, and pulled me right in! Here’s a trailer in case you are interested. ~~~ When I got out of the movie, I drove down to Paia, and met a friend there. We went dancing at one of the restaurants, and had fun. The dancing didn’t start until around 1045pm, which makes for a late night. I got home at around 130am Saturday morning…which was an usually late bedtime for me!

It’s Saturday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s weather narrati ve.

Saturday was a good day, a little slow due to my late night activity Friday…which was good for me. Looking out the window of my weather tower this evening, it’s hazy here on Maui. It’s clear to partly cloudy in general, with light winds blowing. I went down to Paia to shop during the afternoon, and found nice sunny skies over on that windward side. Looking over that way, it still is near cloud free, and I’m sure very nice on the beaches there. Actually, I’m quite sure almost all the beaches around the Aloha state are very pleasant, ready for a good sunset. ~~~ I’m staying home tonight, will sit out on my deck and enjoy the sunset. I’ll be back Sunday morning with your next weather narrative, I hope you have a great Saturday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Interesting: More consumer products are claiming to be environmentally responsible, but nearly all of them make at least one claim that is unverifiable, according to a recent study. TerraChoice, an environmental marketing agency with offices in Ottawa and Philadelphia, says more than 98 per cent of the products it surveyed committed at least one of the "seven sins of greenwashing."