May 29-30, 2009
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 82
Honolulu, Oahu – 88
Kaneohe, Oahu – 80
Kahului, Maui – 84
Hilo, Hawaii – 83
Kailua-kona – 83
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountains…at 5 p.m. Friday evening:
Honolulu, Oahu – 84F
Lihue, Kauai – 78
Haleakala Crater – 52 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 39 (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 Friday evening:
0.66 Anahola, Kauai
0.59 Honolulu airport, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.36 Kula, Maui
0.04 Honaunau, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map shows a 998 millibar low pressure system to the northeast of Hawaii, with its associated front and trough extending southwest across the islands of Maui County. This pressure configuration will keep light breezes in place, gradually turning more southeast…with localized sea breezes through Sunday.
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
Tropical sunset in the islands
A light wind regime remains active over the Hawaiian Islands going into the weekend. This unusual pattern has held sway all week, and will remain in place through the upcoming weekend. Looking at this weather map Friday evening, we see a deepening 998 millibar low pressure system to the northeast, with its trailing front and trough, extending southwest over the islands of Maui County. The weather map continues to show the isobars widely spaced here in the tropical latitudes of the central Pacific Ocean. The onset of the trade winds will have to wait until we move into the new week ahead…perhaps well into the new week.
We continue to find our area influenced by low pressure, rather than high pressure…as is often the case during the late spring. These areas of low pressure will keep lots of clouds in the forecast, especially during the afternoon hours. There’s a pretty good chance that some of these clouds will drop showers in the upcountry areas…perhaps still on the heavy side. Meanwhile, at the higher realms of our atmosphere, we have a rather extensive area of high cirrus clouds moving overhead. This looping satellite image shows this high icy moisture riding in on the upper winds aloft, from the southwest. Saturday will continue to be partly to mostly cloudy…as has been the case much of this week.
More and more people are starting to look outside and wonder what in the heck is happening here! Day after day of light winds, muggy air, and too many clouds seem to have become the norm lately. This is all occurring at a time of the year, when we "should be" seeing at least moderately strong trade winds blowing, along with mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies, and just a few windward biased showers. Let’s see…what can we call these conditions? Unusual, uncommon, bordering on rare, among other things I’m sure. I agree, this is not normal, far from it actually. If it weren’t so sultry at our local beaches during the days, we could probably call it rather fascinating…although many folks aren’t probably thinking about it in such positive terms!
It’s Friday evening here in Kihei, Maui, as I begin writing this last section of today’s narrative. I’m pooped, it’s been a big week in terms of my work! I’ve been handling the work (at my day job at the Pacific Disaster Center) in regards to this big hurricane exercise in the state of Hawaii…called Makani Pahili. At the same time, I’ve been handling a big meeting with the National Weather Service, again at my day job, where we had a joint meeting revolving around the upcoming hurricane season here in the central Pacific. At any rate, It’s well after work hours now, and as I look out the window here in Kihei, it’s what else…cloudy and hazy out there. ~~~ I’ve decided to go see a new film called Terminator Salvation (2009), starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington, among others. If I’m going to make the show though, I need to blast out of here, and take the drive over to Kahului, where it’s playing. I’ll be back Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative, and a report about what I thought of this new film. I hope you have a great Friday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: An explosion of knowledge has been made in the last few years about the basic biology of corals, researchers say in a new report, helping to explain why coral reefs around the world are collapsing and what it will take for them to survive a gauntlet of climate change and ocean acidification. Corals, it appears, have a genetic complexity that rivals that of humans, have sophisticated systems of biological communication that are being stressed by global change, and are only able to survive based on proper function of an intricate symbiotic relationship with algae that live within their bodies.
After being a highly successful life form for 250 million years, disruptions in these biological and communication systems are the underlying cause of the coral bleaching and collapse of coral reef ecosystems around the world, scientists report in the journal Science. The research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation. "We’ve known for some time the general functioning of corals and the problems they are facing from climate change," said Virginia Weis, a professor of zoology at Oregon State University.
"But until just recently, much less has been known about their fundamental biology, genome structure and internal communication. Only when we really understand how their physiology works will we know if they can adapt to climate changes, or ways that we might help." Corals are tiny animals, polyps that exist as genetically identical individuals, and can eat, defend themselves and kill plankton for food. In the process they also secrete calcium carbonate that becomes the basis for an external skeleton on which they sit.
These calcified deposits can grow to enormous sizes over long periods of time and form coral reefs – one of the world’s most productive ecosystems, which can harbor more than 4,000 species of fish and many other marine life forms. But corals are not really self sufficient. Within their bodies they harbor highly productive algae – a form of marine plant life – that can "fix" carbon, use the energy of the sun to conduct photosynthesis and produce sugars.
"Some of these algae that live within corals are amazingly productive, and in some cases give 95 percent of the sugars they produce to the coral to use for energy," Weis said. "In return the algae gain nitrogen, a limiting nutrient in the ocean, by feeding off the waste from the coral. It’s a finely developed symbiotic relationship."
What scientists are learning, however, is that this relationship is also based on a delicate communication process from the algae to the coral, telling it that the algae belong there, and that everything is fine. Otherwise the corals would treat the algae as a parasite or invader and attempt to kill it.
Interesting2: Honey bee colony losses nationwide were approximately 29 percent from all causes from September 2008 to April 2009, according to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This is less than the overall losses of about 36 percent from 2007 to 2008, and about 32 percent from 2006 to 2007, that have been reported in similar surveys.
"While the drop in losses is encouraging, losses of this magnitude are economically unsustainable for commercial beekeeping," said Jeff Pettis, research leader of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. ARS is USDA’s principal intramural scientific research agency.
The survey was conducted by Pettis; Dennis vanEngelsdorp, president of AIA; and Jerry Hayes, AIA past president. About 26 percent of apiaries surveyed reported that some of their colonies died of colony collapse disorder (CCD), down from 36 percent of apiaries in 2007-2008. CCD is characterized by the sudden, complete absence of honey bees in a colony.
The cause of CCD is still unknown. As this was an interview-based survey, it is not possible to differentiate between verifiable cases of CCD and colonies lost as the result of other causes that share the "absence of dead bees" as a symptom.
However, among beekeepers that reported any colonies collapsing without the presence of dead bees, each lost an average of 32 percent of their colonies in 2008-2009, while apiaries that did not lose any bees with symptoms of CCD each lost an average of 26 percent of their colonies.
To strengthen the beekeeping industry, ARS recently began a five-year areawide research program to improve honey bee health, survivorship and pollination. Honey bee pollination is critical to agriculture, adding more than $15 billion to the value of American crops each year. The survey checked on about 20 percent of the country’s 2.3 million colonies.
Interesting3: The first-ever comprehensive assessment of Arctic oil and gas deposits reveals that 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil and 30% of its undiscovered natural gas could be trapped beneath the far north’s barren land and icy waters. The potential resources are unlikely to alter world trends in oil and gas trade, however, and will probably keep Russia the king of natural gas for years to come.
Because of the Arctic’s remote location and harsh environment, oil and gas exploration has been limited to just a few areas off the coasts of northern countries, such as the United States and Russia. But dwindling oil reserves (expected to peak in production by about 2020), waning opportunities for exploration elsewhere, and the melting of sea ice have recently made the Arctic a more attractive option. But just how much does the Arctic have to offer?
About 5 years ago, geologist Donald Gautier of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Menlo Park, California, and his colleagues decided to find out. First, they created a geological map of the Arctic to identify sedimentary rocks, which have the potential to carry oil and gas. Then they subdivided the rocks into specific groups based on their geologic properties and compared them with groups elsewhere in the world known to contain oil and gas.
The researchers report online today in Science magazine, that the Arctic likely contains about 83 billion barrels of undiscovered oil. That represents about 4% of the world’s remaining conventional oil and enough to sustain global demand for almost 3 years. At the same time, the Arctic probably contains about 1550 trillion cubic feet of natural gas–enough to meet world demand for about 14 years. Most of the resources lie offshore under less than 500 meters of water, which means they are accessible to drilling.
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