May 14-15, 2009
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 80
Honolulu, Oahu – 84
Kaneohe, Oahu – 80
Kahului, Maui – 86
Hilo, Hawaii – 82
Kailua-kona – 84
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountains…at 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon:
Kahului, Maui – 82F
Lihue, Kauai – 77
Haleakala Crater – 61 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 46 (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 afternoon:
0.02 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.01 Kahuku Training Area, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.00 Maui
0.02 Waiakea Uka, Big Island
Weather Chart – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map shows a 1027 millibar high pressure system located NE of the islands. This high pressure cell has a ridge running southwest from its center, to a point north of Kauai. The placement of this ridge will provide light winds, gradually becoming more southeast Friday into Saturday.
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
Hawaiian Orchids
Our winds will become lighter, gradually coming up from the southeast…which will carry volcanic haze from the Big Island over the rest of the Aloha state. A high pressure ridge is still located to the northwest of Kauai Thursday night. This weather map shows a 1026 millibar high pressure system northeast of our islands…with the ridge extending southwest. This weather map also shows a frontal boundary just to the north of the ridge. As this front gets pushed further south, it will nudge the ridge of high pressure down over the state of Hawaii. Our local atmosphere will turn sultry and quite haze in the process…accompanied by light to very light breezes.
Hardly a drop of rain has fallen anywhere here in the islands during the last 24 hours…although that may change during the second half of this weekend. Whatever few showers that fall over the next several days, will consist of just a few very light ones in the upcountry areas during the afternoons. A late season cold front will likely bring an increase in showers later this weekend. The front is expected to stall as it moves down into the islands of Maui County. It is expected to remain in place for several days, which could act as a focus for continued showers into the beginning of next week.
Those computer models show a fairly deep low pressure system digging southward into the area north or northeast of the islands Friday into Saturday…sending a trough down into the state. They go on to show a shower bearing cold front pushing into the state as far as perhaps Maui during the day Sunday. The weather situation becomes a bit more difficult to figure out as we move into next week…as the trough remains anchored over the state, at least over Maui and the Big Island. The presence of the trough, along with the front’s moisture, could keep our weather somewhat unsettled and locally showery.
In summary, lighter winds will be upon us soon, which will bring a sultry and hazy reality to our islands going into the weekend. At the same time, our weather will be dry, that is until the very late season cold front slides down into the state. Then, and this is where it gets a bit fuzzy, we’ll see north to northeast winds arrive, at least over Kauai and Oahu. Maui and the Big Island may remain light winded, with still the chance of some showers continuing as we move into next week. There may be some reworking of all this, with the need to go back to the drawing boards for changes here and there over the next couple of days.
It’s early Thursday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s weather narrative.
Our weather developed pretty much as expected today, and should follow the script quite well Friday, and probably right into the first half of the upcoming weekend. This includes generally clear mornings, giving way to lots of clouds during the afternoon hours…clearing back at night. These clouds will continue to be dry ones, at least for the most part. The aforementioned cold front drops down into the state Sunday, bringing finally some moisture into the state. Before we go any further, let’s take a look at this cold front, up to the north and northwest of us. It’s not too impressive looking, although those brighter white spots along the cloud band, are spotty heavier showers. ~~~ Just before I jump in my car, looking out the window here in Kihei, I can see it’s almost totally cloudy in all directions. As soon as the soon goes down, those clouds will start clearing back, making way for a clear night. ~~~ Just for the record, when I got home to Kula Thursday evening, I had to grab my raincoat before I headed out for my walk…as it was lightly showering. I’ll be back here early Friday morning with your next new weather narrative, with more information on the current weather circumstances. I hope you have a great Thursday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: Neandertals, the ‘stupid’ cousins of modern humans were capable of capturing the most impressive animals. This indicates that Neandertals were anything but dim. Dutch researcher Gerrit Dusseldorp analyzed their daily forays for food to gain insights into the complex behavior of the Neandertal. His analysis revealed that the hunting was very knowledge intensive.
Although it is now clear that Neandertals were hunters and not scavengers, their exact hunting methods are still something of a mystery. Dusseldorp investigated just how sophisticated the Neandertals’ hunting methods really were. His analysis of two archaeological sites revealed that Neandertals in warm forested areas preferred to hunt solitary game but that in colder, less forested areas they preferred to hunt the more difficult to capture herding animals.
The Neandertals were not easily intimated by their game. Rhinoceroses, bisons and even predators such as the brown bear were all on their menu. Dusseldorp established that just as for modern humans, the environment and the availability of food determined the choice of prey and the hunting method adopted. If the circumstances allowed it, Neandertals lived in large groups and even the most attractive and difficult to catch prey were within their reach.
Interesting2: Wood or concrete? Railroads around the world face that decision as they replace millions of deteriorating cross ties, also known as railway sleepers, those rectangular objects used as a base for railroad tracks. A new report concludes that emissions of carbon dioxide — one of the main greenhouse gases contributing to global warming — from production of concrete sleepers are up to six times less than emissions associated with timber sleepers.
In the study, Robert Crawford points out that there have been long-standing concerns about environmental consequences of manufacturing railway sleepers because it involves harvesting large amounts of timber. Reinforced concrete sleepers are an alternative that offer greater strength, durability and long-term cost savings, he said.
Critics of using concrete sleepers have charged that their manufacture increases greenhouse gas emissions as it involves higher consumption of fuel when compared to production of wood sleepers. Crawford studied the greenhouse gas emissions of wooden and reinforced concrete sleepers based on one kilometer (0.62 miles) length of track over a 100-year life cycle.
He found that emissions from reinforced concrete sleepers can be from two to six times lower than those from timber. "The results suggest strongly that reinforced concrete sleepers result in lower life cycle greenhouse emissions than timber sleepers," the report states.
Interesting3: Researchers have discovered where basking sharks – the world’s second largest fish – hide out for half of every year, according to a report published online on May 7th in Current Biology. The discovery revises scientists’ understanding of the iconic species and highlights just how little we still know about even the largest of marine animals, the researchers said.
"While commonly sighted in surface waters during summer and autumn months, the disappearance of basking sharks during winter has been a great source of debate ever since an article in 1954 suggested that they hibernate on the ocean floor during this time," said Gregory Skomal of Massachusetts Marine Fisheries.
"Some 50 years later, we have helped to solve the mystery while completely re-defining the known distribution of this species." Using new satellite-based tagging technology and a novel geo-location technique, the researchers found that basking sharks make ocean-scale migrations through tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean during the winter, traveling at depths of 200 to 1,000 meters.
Their data show that the sharks sometimes stay at those depths for weeks or even months at a time. "In doing so, they have completely avoided detection by humans for millennia," Skomal said, emphasizing that as one of the very largest of marine animals, the sharks grow to over 10 meters and weigh as much as seven metric tons.
Skomal said they were "absolutely surprised" when they first received a signal from the tagged sharks coming from the tropical waters of the western Atlantic, in the vicinity of the Caribbean and Bahamas. After all, basking sharks were always believed to be cool-water sharks, restricted to temperate regions. Several factors had made basking sharks a challenge to study.
On top of the fact that they disappear for long periods of time, they also feed exclusively on plankton. That means they can’t readily be captured with traditional rod-and-reel methods. And even when the sharks are found closer to the ocean surface, they spend their time in the cool-temperature, plankton-rich waters that limit underwater visibility and make diving difficult.
The findings could have important implications for the conservation of basking sharks, which have shown some signs of dramatic decline in the last half century and are listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
"Coupled with recent genetic data, our finding indicates that the Atlantic population – and perhaps the world population – are connected and may constitute a single population," Skomal said. "Hence, the global population of basking sharks may be even smaller than previously thought." Efforts to boost basking sharks’ numbers will therefore need to be coordinated at a global scale.
Interesting4: Vauban took the Subaru out of the suburbs. And the BMW and the Mercedes and every other car. OK: maybe not each and every car, but most of them. That’s because this small suburb near Freiburg, Germany (close to the French and Swiss borders) decided to restrict automobiles on all but just main street and a few byways in and around town.
Residents can own a car, but they must park it at the edge of town and pay a staggering $40,000 for a spot, according to the New York Times. Vauban isn’t brand new. It was completed in 2006. But if it thrives, it will become the poster child for the so-called smart planning movement, which is really just about planning new living communities that look a lot like old living communities. Stores, services and schools are close to homes.
Homes are close to each other. Public transportation makes everything accessible and those who have cars don’t need them unless they’re leaving town. But, of course, it isn’t easy to build new communities that look like old communities because since the dawn of the family automobile, urban and (especially) suburban areas have established regulations designed to accommodate—if not encourage—using cars.
This makes a nascent effort like Quarry Village, a proposed carless suburb near Hayward, outside of Oakland, Calif., a formidable task, as the article notes. More than 100 would-be buyers have expressed interest in the community, which would largely mimic Vauban in its design and from which residents could access the metropolitan Bay Area via a nearby Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stop.
One of those itching to developed Quarry Village is Sherman Lewis, the leader of its planning association. As the Times explains, Lewis faces an uphill battle: "But the current system is still stacked against the project, he said, noting that mortgage lenders worry about resale value of half-million-dollar homes that have no place for cars, and most zoning laws in the United States still require two parking spaces per residential unit. Quarry Village has obtained an exception from Hayward."
Interesting5: Measures to reduce the energy consumption of mobile phones, computers, TVs and other electronic devices are failing to keep up with soaring global demand for new appliances, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report yesterday (13 May). If left unchecked, the IEA predicts energy use by new electronic gadgets will triple by 2030, jeopardizing efforts to improve energy security and keep emissions of global warming gases under control.
"Despite anticipated improvements in the efficiency of electronic devices, these savings are likely to be overshadowed by the rising demand for technology," said IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka. Electronic devices currently account for 15% of household electricity consumption, but their share is rising rapidly, mainly due to growing demand in Africa and the developing world. There are already nearly two billion television sets in use, the Paris-based agency noted, and over half the world’s population already subscribe to a mobile phone service.
Interesting6: Coca-Cola is releasing a new recyclable plastic bottle made partly of plant materials, including molasses and sugar cane. The bottle will be made of up to 30 percent plant materials, as well as petroleum-based materials, so don’t get any ideas about nibbling on the bottle after you quench your thirst.
The new bottles will be piloted in North America with Dasani water "and sparkling brands" in select markets later this year, and with Coca-Cola’s vitaminwater brand in 2010, according to a Coca-Cola press release posted to BusinessWire.
Coca-Cola got into a little hot water with the Food and Drug Administration last year over health claims on Diet Coke Plus. And the Center for Science in the Public Interest sued Coca-Cola earlier this year over "deceptive" health claims in vitaminwater.
Coca-Cola released a statement calling the lawsuit "ridiculous and ludicrous." In other health-related soda news, some researchers have said that the acid in sodas can erode the enamel from your teeth, but a beverage industry representative disagreed.
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