August 22-23, 2009
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 82
Honolulu, Oahu – 85
Kaneohe, Oahu – 84
Kahului, Maui – 87
Hilo, Hawaii – 82
Kailua-kona – 90
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountains…at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon:
Honolulu, Oahu – 87F
Molokai airport – 79
Haleakala Crater – 59 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 57 (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:
0.25 Mount Waialaele, Kauai
0.38 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.01 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.43 West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.45 Kamuela upper, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing high pressure systems to the north of the islands. Trade winds will be active through Monday.
Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with this 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.
Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest weather information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Here’s a tracking map covering both the eastern and central Pacific Ocean. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here.
Aloha Paragraphs
It’s good to find shade during the summer
The locally strong and gusty trade winds were active Saturday, which are expected to ease up a little Sunday into the new week…remaining moderately strong well into the future. The winds lost a tad bit of strength recently, so that the small craft wind advisory across the island chain has been pared back some. It now covers only those windiest areas around Maui County to the Big Island.
The overlying atmosphere remains very dry and stable, which will provide nice weather through the weekend…into the new work week ahead. The atmosphere is expected to return to a more normal degree of stability soon, with a modest increase in windward showers starting Sunday into the new week. The leeward coasts will find lots of daytime sunshine beaming down.
A new tropical cyclone has spun up in the eastern Pacific, called 11E, which had already strengthened into tropical storm Hilda Saturday afternoon. It is expected to cross over into our central Pacific Sunday night. The hurricane models show this tropical storm staying well south of the Hawaiian Islands. Here’s the latest National Hurricane Center tracking map. Here’s an IR satellite image, of recently upgraded Hilda…in relation to the Hawaiian Islands. There are currently two areas that are also trying to spawn in the eastern Pacific between Hilda and the Mexican coast.
Friday evening I went down to Kahului to see the new film 500 days of Summer (2009)…starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Zooey Deschanel, among others. The plot was a common one: "Boy-meets-girl story of an unpredictable no-holds-barred love affair." I often don’t go to see comedies, as they usually leave me disappointed somehow. This film was so sweet, and often funny enough too. I honestly could recommend this one, as it left me with a really nice feeling at the end…and all the way through for the most part. I liked the trailer, which is what pulled me in, and I must readily admit that I found the leading lady very attractive. I got quite a crush on this young woman, she was so fun to look at!
It’s Saturday evening here in Kula, Maui, as I begin writing this last part of today’s narrative update. Saturday turned out to be yet another really nice day here in the islands. As you might have noticed in one of the paragraphs above, we have a new tropical storm named Hilda, which will be passing by to the south of our islands towards next weekend. I’m not too worried about this storm, although we will need to keep our eye on this system as it moves into our central Pacific tomorrow night. ~~~ I’m having an old friend over for dinner tonight, a friend who lives both here on Maui, and also in Marin County…north of the San Francisco Bay. I did some extensive shopping for this special meal, and have bought good stuff for breakfast Sunday morning as well. I’ll be back Sunday morning with your next new weather narrative. I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Extra: Amazing youtube video…Space Station being build quick time.
Interesting: The U.S. Geological Survey released a study that showed mercury contamination in every fish sampled in 291 streams across the country. The work was part of the National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) which provides an understanding of water-quality conditions such as whether conditions are getting better or worse over time and how natural features and human activities affect those conditions.
Regional and national assessments are possible because of a consistent study design and uniform methods of data collection and analysis. About a quarter of the fish were found to contain mercury at levels exceeding the criterion for the protection of people who consume average amounts of fish, established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
More than two-thirds of the fish exceeded the U.S. EPA level of concern for fish-eating mammals. "This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds, and many of our fish in freshwater streams," said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. "This science sends a clear message that our country must continue to confront pollution, restore our nation’s waterways, and protect the public from potential health dangers."
Some of the highest levels of mercury in fish were found in the tea-colored or "blackwater" streams in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana — areas associated with relatively undeveloped forested watersheds containing abundant wetlands compared to the rest of the country. High levels of mercury in fish also were found in relatively undeveloped watersheds in the Northeast and the Upper Midwest.
Elevated levels are noted in areas of the Western United States affected by mining. Mercury, a neurotoxin, is one of the most serious contaminants threatening our nation’s waters. The main source of mercury to natural waters is mercury that is emitted to the atmosphere and deposited onto watersheds by precipitation.
However, atmospheric mercury alone does not explain contamination in fish in our nation’s streams. Naturally occurring watershed features, like wetlands and forests, can enhance the conversion of mercury to the toxic form, methylmercury. Methylmercury is readily taken up by aquatic organisms, resulting in contamination in fish.
An unexpected finding was that the production of methylmercury in channel sediment within the streams themselves appears to be relatively unimportant for controlling methylmercury in stream water. Stream water provides methylmercury to the base of the food chain, and it is the amount of methylmercury in the water that is the primary driver of how much mercury that accumulates in top predator fish.
In general, concentrations in fish increased with increasing concentrations of methylmercury in water. Once in the food web, methylmercury biomagnifies at a fairly consistent rate from algae to invertebrates to fish—even among diverse stream ecosystems. In the ecosystems studied, foodweb characteristics have less impact on the amount of mercury in fish than do methylmercury levels in water.
Interesting2: Kenya has been losing 100 lions a year for the past seven years, leaving the country with just 2000 of its famous big cats, says the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) — which concludes the country could have no wild lions at all in 20 years. Conservationists have blamed habitat destruction, disease and conflict with humans for the population collapse.
But Laurence Frank, a wildlife biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, thinks the KWS estimate is optimistic. "Lions are disappearing so fast from Kenya, as well as the rest of Africa, that I think they will disappear [from Kenya] in less than 10 years if action is not taken very quickly," says Frank, who runs several lion conservation projects in the country.
The IUCN suggests that large lion populations of 50 to 100 prides are necessary to conserve genetic diversity and avoid inbreeding. Frank says that the decline of the big cats is due to the inexorable growth in human population and consequent conflict with people over livestock, rather than disease.
Interesting3: Amidst waves and wildlife in the world’s oceans, billions of pounds of polystyrene, water bottles, fishing wire and other plastic products float in endless circles. This bobbing pollution is more than just an eyesore or a choking hazard for birds. According to a new study, plastic in the oceans can decompose in as little as a year, leaching chemical compounds into the water that may harm the health of animals and possibly even people.
"Most people in the world believe that this plastic is indestructible for a very long time," said Katsuhiko Saido, a chemist at Nihon University in Chiba, Japan. He spoke this week at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C. "We are now concerned that plastic pollution is caused by invisible materials," Saido said through an interpreter. "This will have a great effect on marine life."
Interesting4: Mexico is suffering from its driest year in 68 years, killing crops and cattle in the countryside and forcing the government to slow the flow of water to the crowded capital. Below-average rainfall since last year has left about 80 of Mexico’s 175 largest reservoirs less than half full, said Felipe Arreguin, a senior official at the Conagua commission, which manages the country’s water supply.
"We have zones where the reservoirs are totally full but others that don’t have even a drop of water," he said in an interview late on Tuesday. More than 1,000 cattle have been lost due to lack of rainfall, and up to 20 million tons of crops managed by 3.5 million small farmers are at risk of being lost, agriculture groups say.
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