June 24-25, 2010
Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Thursday afternoon:
Lihue, Kauai – 83
Honolulu, Oahu – 87
Kaneohe, Oahu – 83
Kaunakakai, Molokai – 83
Kahului, Maui – 84
Hilo, Hawaii – 81
Kailua-kona – 84
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level around – and on the highest mountains…as of 5pm Thursday evening:
Barking Sands, Kauai – 85
Hilo, Hawaii – 74
Haleakala Crater – 55 (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:
0.53 Mount Waialaele, Kauai
0.34 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.01 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
1.32 West Wailuaiki, Maui
1.94 Waiakea Uka, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1031 millibar high pressure system to the north of the islands. Our trade winds will become lighter going into the weekend.
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 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. Of course, as we know, our hurricane season won’t begin again until June 1st here in the central Pacific.
Aloha Paragraphs
Decreasing trade winds…increased chance of localized showers
Trade winds will continue Thursday night, before backing off some Friday into the weekend…strengthening again early in the new week ahead. The small craft wind advisories have been pared back to only the major channels in the southern half of the state…and in a few isolated coastal waters around Maui and the Big Island Thursday night. This latest weather map shows a moderately strong 1031 millibar high pressure system to the north of the
An old cold front will bring some added showers to the windward sides of Kauai and Oahu Friday and Saturday…and then an old tropical cyclone may bring an increase in showers to the Big Island end of the island chain Sunday and Monday. As this IR satellite image shows, most of the lower level clouds are upstream of the windward sides this evening. This looping radar image shows scattered showers moving by to the south of the Big Island, although a few will fall elsewhere. This larger view of the central Pacific shows thunderstorms far to the southwest of the islands. An area of high cirrus clouds are being carried our way from the west…on the upper winds aloft.
The eastern
It’s Thursday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s narrative update. The trade winds peaked in strength on Wednesday, and started to come down in speed today. As the numbers below show, we still have some strong gusts continuing into the evening, although they are considerably lighter now than over the last few days:
Kauai – 35 mph
Oahu – 31
Molokai – 28
Lanai – 33
Kahoolawe – 24
Maui – 38
Big Island 33
Here in Kihei, Maui this evening, it’s clear to partly cloudy in general. There are still those clouds hugging the windward sides along the windward sides, after having showers last night. Glancing over towards the leeward sides, in Kihei and Lahaina, it looks clear. As noted above, the trade winds will become considerably lighter by the weekend. As this happens, our atmosphere will become muggy, and perhaps even hazy. The trade winds will rebound after the weekend, and blow the haze and humidity away. We’re may get lucky in the precipitation department, hopefully. The Kauai end of the island chain is forecast to see some increase in showers Friday into Saturday. Then, the Big Island side of the islands may receive the leftover showers from former tropical cyclone Blas as we move into Sunday and Monday. If these showers arrive as expected, it would be a boon for Maui and the Big Island, as these islands are so dry now. I’ll be back here again early Friday morning with your next new weather narrative from paradise. I hope you enjoy your Thursday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: It is getting more and more difficult to deny that global warming is occurring. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a report recently about the state of the global climate, and the results were not pretty. It turns out the combined global land and ocean surface temperatures set a record in May. In fact, from March to May, it was the hottest spring on record. Furthermore, the whole first half of the year, from January to May was also the warmest on record.
In May, land and ocean temperatures were 1.24 degrees Fahrenheit (F) above the twentieth century average of 58.6 F. Land surface alone was 1.87 F above the average, and the oceans were 0.99 F above average. Most parts of the planet felt these warmer temperatures. The greatest anomalies were in eastern North America, eastern Brazil, Eastern Europe, south Asia, eastern Russia, and equatorial Africa.
Several spots that saw cooler temperatures were western North America, northern Argentina, interior Asia, and Western Europe. These temperature differences also occurred throughout the whole spring. Combined land and ocean temperatures were 1.31 F above the average. Land surface alone was 2.2 F above average, and ocean surface was 0.99 F above the average. Regionally high temperatures occurred in northern North America, northern Africa, Eastern Europe, south Asia, and parts of Australia, especially Tasmania.
The northeastern United States had its hottest spring on record. On the other hand, cooler temperatures were found in the western US and East Asia. Plus, Western Europe saw one of the driest springs on record. To add to the global climate woe, ice caps and glaciers have been melting more rapidly. Arctic sea ice had its smallest May footprint since records began in 1979. It melted fifty percent faster than its average May melting rate.
However, Antarctic sea ice cover extended to 7.3% above its May average. In the northern hemisphere, snow cover was at a record low. This includes the northern parts of North America and Eurasia, including Greenland. It seems like setting new high temperatures is the norm these days.
Efforts should be made to slow down global warming. But at the same time, people all over the world will have to adapt to a changing planet. There is a chance that our best efforts may not be enough to stop this cycle from continuing into the foreseeable future.
Interesting2: Earthquakes are often imagined as opening up large gaps in the land, sinking islands and the such. It is much harder in real life to see this change. NASA has recently released the first ever airborne radar images of the deformation in Earth’s surface caused by a major earthquake — the magnitude 7.2 temblor that rocked Mexico’s state of Baja California and parts of the American Southwest on April 4, 2010.
The data reveal that in the area studied, the quake moved the Calexico, Calif., region in a downward and southerly direction up to 31 inches. The Calexico earthquake was the third major quake to rattle the western hemisphere in less than three months in April 2010. The quake was more powerful than the 7.0 earthquake in Haiti. It was also a relatively shallow earthquake, at six miles underground, meaning there was less earth to absorb the shaking.
The quake affected about 20 million people primarily from being shaken and rattled. It is difficult to measure how much deformation occurs after an earthquake. Traditionally it requires detailed land based surveying and inspection of the terrain and then comparing it to earlier measurements (if any).
This traditional method of ground surveying can be difficult after an earthquake because the land surface has changed. Mapping ruptures typically means finding features that used to be continuous before the earthquake, like a road or fence. Because of the difficulties of ground surveying, researchers have begun to investigate how satellite imagery can aid ground surveys and rescue work by generating more immediate maps of earthquake deformation.
In theory, observing earthquake deformation should be as simple as comparing two optical satellite images that show the land surface before and after the earthquake. A science team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., used the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) to measure surface deformation from the quake zone. The radar unit is flown at an altitude of 41,000 feet.
The April 4, 2010, quake was centered 32 miles south-southeast of Calexico, Calif., in northern Baja California. It occurred along a geologically complex segment of the boundary between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates. The quake, the region’s largest in nearly 120 years, was also felt in southern California and parts of Nevada and Arizona.
There have been thousands of aftershocks, extending from near the northern tip of the Gulf of California to a few miles northwest of the U.S. border. The area northwest of the main rupture, along the trend of California’s Elsinore fault, has been especially active, and was the site of a large, magnitude 5.7 aftershock on June 14, 2010.
"The goal of the ongoing study is to understand the relative hazard of the San Andreas and faults to its west like the Elsinore and San Jacinto faults, and capture ground displacements from larger quakes," said JPL geophysicist Andrea Donnellan, principal investigator of the UAVSAR project to map and assess seismic hazard in Southern California. Each UAVSAR flight serves as a baseline for subsequent quake activity.
The team estimates displacement for each region, with the goal of determining how much strain is partitioned between faults. When quakes do occur during the project, the team will observe their associated ground motions and assess how they may redistribute strain to other nearby faults. The resulting figures are color coordinated. Each color swath represents 4.7 inches of surface displacement.
Major fault lines are marked in red, and recent aftershocks are denoted by yellow, orange and red dots. The quake’s maximum ground displacements of up to 10 feet actually occurred well south of where the UAVSAR measurements stop at the Mexican border. UAVSAR is part of NASA’s ongoing effort to apply space based technologies, ground based techniques and complex computer models to advance our understanding of quakes and quake processes.
The radar flew over Hispaniola earlier this year to study geologic processes following January’s devastating Haiti quake. The data are giving scientists a baseline set of imagery in the event of future quakes. These images can then be combined with post-quake imagery to measure ground deformation, determine how much slip on faults is distributed, and learn more about fault zone properties.
Interesting3: Toxic contamination from pesticides, the burning of fossil fuels, agriculture, industrial operations and other sources are a continuing concern in national parks of the West, two new studies confirm. In research performed by an international group of scientists over several years, pollution was found in all eight of the national parks and preserves that were studied, in terrain ranging from the Arctic to southern California. Most of it was caused by regional agriculture or industry, but some had traveled thousands of miles from distant sources in Asia and elsewhere.
The two recent reports, both published in Environmental Science and Technology, reinforce previous research that has identified such problems, scientists say, and better quantify the extent of the concerns.
"As scientists we’re getting more used to these pollution problems," said Staci Simonich, an associate professor of environmental and molecular toxicology at Oregon State University, and lead investigator on both studies. "Pesticide pollution is now so routine that we’ve had to look at museum specimens to find baseline data that existed prior to pesticide use.
"But it still seems surprising that such remote and supposedly pristine areas are not all that pristine," she said. "You never really get used to that. And we’re now nailing down just where the real problems are and what is causing them."
The biggest concern, Simonich said, appears to be pesticides, which can bioaccumulate in the ecosystem and food web, and were most often linked to regional agricultural activities. Of the areas studied, the largest problems with pesticides were found in Sequoia, Rocky Mountain and Glacier National Park.
This research did not attempt to evaluate the full scope of environmental impacts, but scientists did observe some disturbing evidence of male fish at some high-elevation locations becoming "feminized" and developing eggs — a problem more commonly found at the outflow of wastewater treatment plants.
One of the studies also addressed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs — the often-toxic compounds formed from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, as well as from burning or decay of forests or other biomass. Anything from automobile exhaust to a forest fire or industrial activity can cause PAH emissions. One measurement of PAH concentrations in a sample taken from Glacier National Park, near a local aluminum smelter, were off the charts — 60,000 times higher than most other samples.
Altogether, the scientists studied pollution issues at alpine, subarctic and arctic sites in Sequoia, Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Olympic, Mt. Rainier, Denali, and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, and Noatak National Preserve, from 2003-05. The research should provide a better understanding of the risks, including which pesticides are most likely to accumulate and may require improved regulation.
Among the other findings of the studies:
• Every national park and preserve studied had a somewhat different pollution signature, reflecting localized and regional inputs.
• Most of the pesticide and PAH pollution came from local and regional sources, although some traveled in short-term, episodic pulses from Asia and other very distant locations.
• The comparatively cold temperatures in these alpine or arctic ecosystems tend to concentrate both PAH levels and pesticides.
• The study concluded that "potential risks exist for indigenous people and subsistence food consumers that rely on fish and meat from cold ecosystems."
• Local pollution sources can be very important. One lake in Olympic National Park had PAH deposition 10 times higher than another not far away, possibly because it was closer to Seattle and nearby ship traffic in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
• Large-scale biomass burning near Glacier National Park seemed much less important in PAH deposition than some nearby aluminum smelting and oil and natural gas drilling operations.
• The majority of pesticide contamination in U.S. national parks is due to regional pesticide use.
• The magnitude of pesticide deposition varies from year to year, but the geographic sources of it generally do not.
Email Glenn James: 
jack weber Says:
Glenn, we have been getting strong rains each night and passing showers in the day here…not too dry at all. You mention slowing down of the trades on the weekend; what about friday? Thanks…~~~trade winds slowing down later Friday Jack…more so this weekend. Aloha, Glenn
Myrtle Says:
Hi Glenn — The moon was shining brightly last night in Paukukalo. The full moon is tomorrow night! myrtle~~~Thanks for pointing out the full moon for June…which will occur late Friday night. Aloha, Glenn