Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday:
Lihue, Kauai – 80
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 85
Kaneohe, Oahu – 79
Molokai airport – 82
Kahului airport, Maui – 85
Kona airport – 83
Hilo airport, Hawaii – 80
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 8pm Saturday evening:
Honolulu, Oahu – 76F
Hilo, Hawaii – 68
Haleakala Crater – missing (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 36 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)
Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals Saturday evening:
0.86 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.32 Manoa Valley, Oahu
0.02 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.02 Kahoolawe
0.51 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.45 Glenwood, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a large 1033 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of Hawaii. Meanwhile, a deep 967 millibar low pressure system is located far to our north. This low has a cold front pushing southward, which will shove a high pressure ridge towards our islands. Our trade winds will become gradually lighter into 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 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 web cam on the summit of near 13,500 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 web cams 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 ended November 30th here in the central Pacific…and begins again June 1st.
Aloha Paragraphs
Generally fine weather this weekend
The trade winds will gradually become lighter Sunday, giving way to southeasterly breezes later Monday through Wednesday…before returning to trades Thursday into next weekend. According to this weather map, we find a 1033 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of the islands Saturday night. Our winds are expected to remain from the trade wind direction through the rest of this weekend. As an approaching cold front gets closer, it will weaken and swing the winds around to the southeast early in the new week. The winds will swing back to the trade winds around Thursday…lasting into next weekend and beyond. Using this same weather chart we can see a deepening 967 millibar low pressure system far to our north, moving northeastward. It’s associated cold front will push our high pressure ridge closer to the islands…with a corresponding reduction in our trade wind flow the result.
Trade winds will continue to blow…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts, along with directions Saturday evening:
21 mph Port Allen, Kauai – ESE
22 Honolulu, Oahu – NE
07 Molokai – NE
30 Kahoolawe – ESE
23 Kapalua, Maui – NE
07 Lanai Airport – NE
30 South Point, Big Island – NE
We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Saturday night. This large University of Washington satellite image shows a deep storm low pressure system, with its impressive cold front in the middle latitudes of the north central Pacific. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see an area of high cirrus clouds approaching from our north. Meanwhile, are various areas of low clouds out over the ocean from the islands. We can use this looping satellite image to see the quickly eastward moving high clouds to our north. Checking out this looping radar image shows some showers falling over a few areas of the islands…with more out over the ocean.
In Sum: We still have our breezy trade winds blowing, which will last through the rest of this weekend, and even into Monday. The computer models are pushing the transition day between the trades, and the anticipated southeast winds…back another day. Now it appears that later Monday into Tuesday will have that shift. This will be caused by the approach of a cold front after this weekend. The forecast still calls for our weather to become unsettled by Tuesday, lasting for a couple of days. This will include those lighter winds, with an increase in clouds, and that chance of showers. The models are still suggesting that some of these showers could be locally on the heavy side, with the outside chance of a thunderstorm or two through Wednesday. This inclement weather pattern will quickly give way to returning trade winds around next Thursday or so…with better weather Friday into next weekend and beyond.
Friday evening I went to see a new film in Kahului. There really wasn't a film that I was greatly looking forward to seeing, although I finally decided upon the one called Source Code, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan…among others. The synopsis: a government experiment enables a guy to cross over into the last eight minutes of another man's life. It's being called a science fiction film, and from the trailers, it looked pretty intense. The critics are giving it a B grade, while the viewers are upping it to B+…which was good enough to draw me in. I enjoyed this film, although not nearly as much as the last two films that I'd seen. It was intriguing, I'll give it that, and it had a definite edge that's for sure. There was a bit of love between the two main actors, although it was overshadowed by the greater dynamics of the story. I would give this film a B grade, and with all things considered, I would add a solid B grade. Here's a trailer, just in case you were interested.
Here in Kula, Maui, at 5pm Saturday evening…skies are mostly clear to partly cloudy. I got a good strong start to the day by taking a long walk. I then had a physical therapy session from a friend here in Kula, before driving down to Kahului. I needed a new pair of work slacks, which I was fortunate enough to find. I then drove over to Paia for my weekly food shopping excursion. Since I've been back here in Kula, I had a late lunch, and finally got around to having some coffee. I've been lounging around reading, and am about to get outside to enjoy the late day sunshine. It's a warm 72.5F degrees just outside my weather deck, and am sitting here with no shirt on for a change. It's always cooler up here than down near the ocean, which I like. Let's look and see what the temperature was at the same time down in Kahului…which was a much warmer 83 degrees. I don't have anything planned for entertainment tonight, although I'll likely talk to a few friends on my cell phone. As you may know I don't have a TV, and haven't owned one for years and years…as I gave them away. At any rate, I hope you have a great Saturday night. I'll be back with your next new weather narrative Sunday morning. Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: Bombardments of 'micro-meteorites' on Earth and Mars four billion years ago may have caused the planets' climates to cool dramatically, hampering their ability to support life, according to research published April 1 in the journal Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. Scientists from Imperial College London studied the effects of the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB), a period of time in the early solar system when meteorite showers lasting around 100 million years barraged Earth and Mars.
This bombardment discharged sulphur dioxide into the upper atmospheres of both planets and the researchers' analysis suggests that this may have had a catastrophic impact on their environments. Micro-meteorites come from the rocky asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
These space rocks, which are the size of sugar grains, get dragged by gravity towards Earth and Mars. As they enter the planets' upper atmospheres, they heat up to temperatures of approximately 1000 degrees Celsius, releasing gases including sulphur dioxide.
Sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere forms aerosols, consisting of solid and liquid particles, which deflect sunlight away from the surface, making planets cooler. The authors of the new study have calculated that showers of micro-meteorites delivered approximately 20 million tons of sulphur dioxide each year into the upper atmosphere of Earth during the LHB.
The team deduced that on Mars, these micro-meteorites delivered up to half a million tonnes of sulphur dioxide each year for the same period of time. Professor Mark Sephton, an author of the study from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, says: "Far less of the Sun's energy was reaching Earth 4 billion years ago, which would have made it hard for early life to emerge.
Recently denied of its protective magnetic field and constantly subjected to large meteorite impacts, Mars was also starting to lose its greenhouse gases at this time, causing global cooling. The influx of sulphur dioxide into the Mars's atmosphere would have dealt a further blow to a planet already on the ropes, making conditions for life even more of a challenge."
The team say that such a large influx of sulphur dioxide into early Earth's atmosphere had the same cooling effect on the climate as if there was an eruption of the size of the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption every year for 100 million years.
The 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption released 17 million tons of gases, including sulphur dioxide, into the atmosphere, preventing 10 percent of sunlight from reaching Earth and cooling the planet by half a degree Celsius.
On Mars during the LHB, the scientists predict that the cooling effects of sulphur dioxide on the red planet's atmosphere would have been the equivalent of an eruption 1/34th the size of Mount Pinatubo occurring every year for 100 million years.
The scientists say that the environmental consequences of sulphur dioxide in Earth's atmosphere could have been disastrous. At this time, the Sun's energy was 30 percent weaker than it is today, meaning less energy was reaching the surface.
The team believe that a weaker Sun, combined with increasing levels of sulphur dioxide from micro-meteorites, could have plunged Earth into an Arctic winter, lasting millions of years and making conditions for primitive microbial life extremely difficult.
On Mars, being further away from the Sun, the scientists suggest the environmental consequences would have been even more dramatic. High levels of sulphur dioxide would cause temperatures to plunge and water on the surface, in the form of lakes and rivers, to disappear, turning a warm wet world into a cold arid one.
Dr Richard Court, who is lead author of the study from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, adds: "These sugar-grain sized meteorites are left over material from the construction of our early Solar System, helping to build rocky planets such as Earth and Mars.
Our study is helping us to see how these tiny space rocks could also bring environmental devastation on a global scale to early Earth and Mars." The researchers came to their conclusions by simulating what happens to micro-meteorites as they entered the atmosphere, using a technique called flash pyrolysis to heat rock fragments that were identical to micro-meteorites to 1000 degrees Celsius.
They then used infrared spectroscopy to measure the amount of sulphur dioxide released from these rocks. The team then used their results and calculations of meteorite in-fall rates during the LHB to determine how much sulphur dioxide was delivered to Earth and Mars from micro-meteorites.
This study is a continuation of earlier work by the team who has discovered that meteorites are not the source of the present-day methane in the atmosphere of Mars, raising hopes that the methane is being generated by life on the red planet.
Their work has also shown that meteorites delivered other important gases to Earth during its early history that would have made it more habitable. In the future, the team will assess the contributions gases from meteorites on planets outside of the Solar System.
Interesting2: Eating a fatty fast food meal is never good for you, but washing that meal down with a coffee is even worse, according to a new University of Guelph study. Researcher Marie-Soleil Beaudoin has discovered not only that a healthy person's blood sugar levels spike after eating a high-fat meal, but that the spike doubles after having both a fatty meal and caffeinated coffee — jumping to levels similar to those of people at risk for diabetes.
"The results tell us that saturated fat interferes with the body's ability to clear sugars from the blood and, when combined with caffeinated coffee, the impact can be even worse," said Beaudoin, a PhD student who conducted the study with U of G professors Lindsay Robinson and Terry Graham.
"Having sugar remain in our blood for long periods is unhealthy because it can take a toll on our body's organs." Published in the Journal of Nutrition, the study is the first to examine the effects of saturated fat and caffeinated coffee on blood sugar levels using a novel fat cocktail which contains only lipids.
This specially designed beverage allows researchers to accurately mimic what happens to the body when we ingest fat. For the study, healthy men drank about one gram of the fat beverage for every kilogram of body weight for their first meal. Six hours later, they were given a second meal consisting of a sugar drink.
Typically when we ingest sugar, the body produces insulin, which takes the sugar out of the blood and distributes it to our muscles, said Beaudoin. But the researchers found that the fatty meal affected the body's ability to clear the sugar out of the blood. The subjects' blood sugar levels were 32 per cent higher than they were when the men had not ingested the fat cocktail.
The researchers also tested the impact of caffeinated coffee combined with the fatty meal. For this test, participants received the equivalent of two cups of caffeinated coffee five hours after ingesting the fat beverage. An hour later, they were then given the sugar drink. The results showed blood sugar levels increased by 65 per cent compared to what they were when participants had not ingested the fat and caffeinated coffee.
"This shows that the effects of a high-fat meal can last for hours," said Beaudoin. "What you eat for lunch can impact how your body responds to food later in the day." Besides testing the participant's blood sugar levels, the researchers looked at gastro-intestinal effects by measuring incretin hormones released by the gut after ingesting the fat.
These hormones signal the pancreas to release insulin to help clear the blood of sugar. The researchers discovered these hormones' responses to carbohydrates are blunted after ingesting the fat beverage.
"Ultimately we have found that fat and caffeinated coffee are impairing the communication between the gut and the pancreas, which could be playing a role in why participants couldn't clear the sugar from their blood as easily," said Beaudoin.
The results of the study are particularly important for people at risk for metabolic diseases and Type 2 diabetes, she adds. "We have known for many years that people with or at risk of Type 2 diabetes should limit their caffeine intake.
Drinking decaffeinated coffee instead of caffeinated is one way to improve one's glucose tolerance. Limiting the intake of saturated fatty acids found in red meat, processed foods and fast food meals is also beneficial. This study has shown that the affects of these foods can be severe and long lasting."
Interesting3: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 devastated the Gulf of Mexico ecologically and economically. However, a new study published in Conservation Letters reveals that the true impact of the disaster on wildlife may be gravely underestimated. The study argues that fatality figures based on the number of recovered animal carcasses will not give a true death toll, which may be 50 times higher than believed.
"The Deepwater oil spill was the largest in US history, however, the recorded impact on wildlife was relatively low, leading to suggestions that the environmental damage of the disaster was actually modest," said lead author Dr Rob Williams from the University of British Columbia."This is because reports have implied that the number of carcasses recovered, 101, equals the number of animals killed by the spill."
The team focused their research on 14 species of cetacean, an order of mammals including whales and dolphins. While the number of recovered carcasses has been assumed to equal the number of deaths, the team argues that marine conditions and the fact that many deaths will have occurred far from shore mean recovered carcasses will only account for a small proportion of deaths.
To illustrate their point, the team multiplied recent species abundance estimates by the species mortality rate. An annual carcass recovery rate was then estimated by dividing the mean number of observed strandings each year by the estimate of annual mortality.
The team's analysis suggests that only 2% of cetacean carcasses were ever historically recovered after their deaths in this region, meaning that the true death toll from the Deepwater Horizon disaster could be 50 times higher than the number of deaths currently estimated.
"This figure illustrates that carcass counts are hugely mis-leading, if used to measure the disaster's death toll," said co-author Scott Kraus of the New England Aquarium "No study on carcass recovery from strandings has ever recovered anything close to 100% of the deaths occurring in any cetacean population.
The highest rate we found was only 6.2%, which implied 16 deaths for every carcass recovered." The reason for the gulf between the estimates may simply be due to the challenges of working in the marine environment. The Deepwater disaster took place 40 miles offshore, in 1500m of water, which is partly why estimates of oil flow rates during the spill were so difficult to make.
"The same factors that made it difficult to work on the spill also confound attempts to evaluate environmental damages caused by the spill," said Williams. "Consequently, we need to embrace a similar level of humility when quantifying the death tolls."
If the approach outlined by this study were to be adopted the team believe this may present an opportunity to use the disaster to develop new conservation tools that can be applied more broadly, revealing the environmental impacts of other human activities in the marine environment.
"The finding that strandings represent a very low proportion of the true deaths is also critical in considering the magnitude of other human causes of mortality like ship strikes, where the real impacts may similarly be dramatically underestimated by the numbers observed" said John Calambokidis, a Researcher with Cascadia Research and a co-author on the publication.
"Our concern also applies to certain interactions with fishing gear, because there are not always systematic data with which to accurately estimate by-catch, especially for large whales," noted Jooke Robbins, a co-author from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies. "When only opportunistic observations are available, these likely reflect a fraction of the problem."
"While we did not conduct a study to estimate the actual number of deaths from the oil spill, our research reveals that the accepted figures are a grave underestimation," concluded Dr. Williams. "We now urge methodological development to develop appropriate multipliers so that we discover the true cost of this tragedy."
Interesting4: Biological invasions get less prime-time coverage than natural disasters, but may be more economically damaging and warrant corresponding investments in preparedness and response planning, according to three biologists writing in the April issue of BioScience. Anthony Ricciardi of McGill University and his coauthors point out that species invasions are becoming more frequent worldwide, largely because of international trade.
Although many alien species establish themselves in a new location without causing harm, the worst biological invasions may cause multiple extinctions of native species, as when the Nile perch invaded Lake Victoria and contributed to the extinction of 200 fish species.
Biological invasions can also be hugely expensive: the destruction of ash trees by the emerald ash borer is projected to cost the United States $10 billion over the coming decade. Like natural disasters, biological invasions are hard to predict and extremely difficult to control once they get under way.
And like catastrophic events in high-tech industries, invasions are usually inevitable and can cause problems through unexpected interactions, as when floating mats of algae caused by invasions of freshwater mussels led to several emergency shutdowns of a nuclear reactor in New York State in 2007.
Yet despite being slower in their onset, invasions have more persistent impacts and a greater scope of ecological and economic damage. Hazard-reduction plans could minimize the impacts of biological invasions, the researchers argue, and at a cost that is low relative to the cost of a major event.
Vulnerability reduction practices, rapid response and assessment, and systems for sharing of information and coordination among authorities are all potentially beneficial. New Zealand has passed legislation to coordinate management of threats to its biodiversity and natural resources under a central authority, but other countries have yet to follow its lead.
Interesting5: The Kilauea volcano that recently erupted on the Big Island of Hawaii will be the target for a NASA study to help scientists better understand processes occurring under Earth's surface. A NASA Gulfstream-III aircraft equipped with a synthetic aperture radar developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is scheduled to depart Sunday, April 3, from the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., to the Big Island for a nine-day mission.
The Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar, or UAVSAR, uses a technique called interferometric synthetic aperture radar that sends pulses of microwave energy from the aircraft to the ground to detect and measure very subtle deformations in Earth's surface, such as those caused by earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides and glacier movements.
As the Gulfstream-III flies at an altitude of about 12,500 meters (41,000 feet), the radar, located in a pod under the aircraft's belly, will collect data over Kilauea. The UAVSAR's first data acquisitions over this volcanic region took place in January 2010, when the radar flew over the volcano daily for a week.
The UAVSAR detected deflation of Kilauea's caldera over one day, part of a series of deflation-inflation events observed at Kilauea as magma is pumped into the volcano's east rift zone. This month's flights will repeat the 2010 flight paths to an accuracy of within 5 meters, or about 16.5 feet, assisted by a Platform Precision Autopilot designed by engineers at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
By comparing these camera-like images, interferograms are formed that reveal changes in Earth's surface. Between March 5 and 11, 2011, a spectacular fissure eruption occurred along the east rift zone. Satellite radar imagery captured the progression of this volcanic event.
"The April 2011 UAVSAR flights will capture the March 2011 fissure eruption surface displacements at high resolution and from multiple viewing directions, giving us an improved resolution of the magma injected into the east rift zone that caused the eruption," said JPL research scientist Paul Lundgren.
This injection of magma takes the form of a dike, a thin blade-like sheet of magma extending from the surface to several kilometers depth, with an opening of only a few meters. "Our goal is to be able to deploy the UAVSAR on short notice to better understand and aid in responding to hazards from Kilauea and other volcanoes in the Pacific region covered by this study," Lundgren added.
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