Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs / May 14-15, 2011

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Saturday:

Lihue, Kauai –                    79
Honolulu airport, Oahu –     88 (record for the date 90 – 1996)
Kaneohe, Oahu –                80
Molokai airport –                 86
Kahului airport, Maui –             87 
Kona airport –                    84
Hilo airport, Hawaii –          81

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 7pm Saturday evening:

Kailua-kona – 79
Hilo, Hawaii – 72

Haleakala Crater –     46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 34 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)

Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Saturday evening:

2.61     Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.03     Manoa Valley, Oahu
0.00     Molokai
0.00     Lanai
0.00     Kahoolawe
0.19     Kula, Maui
0.56     Pohakuloa West, Big Island

Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a surface trough of low pressure located west of the state. At the same time we find high pressure system to our north-northeast. Our local winds will blow from the trade wind direction through the weekend…strongest near Maui and the Big Island.

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 shining down during the night at times. Plus, during the nights you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise and sunset 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

Variable clouds with localized showers across the state. Meanwhile the trade winds will be blowing this weekend…through the next week at least.

 

 

Our local winds will blow from the trade wind direction through the weekend…into the new week ahead. Glancing at this weather map, we find a high pressure system to our north-northeast, while a surface low pressure trough remains anchored to our west.  The trade winds will persist well into the future.

Our winds will be light to moderately strong, although locally a bit stronger…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts, along with directions Saturday evening:

25                 Port Allen, Kauai – E 
21                 Kahuku, Oahu – E 
23                 Molokai – NE
23                 Kahoolawe – E  
27                    Kapalua, Maui – NE 
20                 Lanai – NE 
24                 South Point – NE  

We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Saturday afternoon.  Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see clear to partly cloudy skies across the state, although there continues to be lots of showery clouds near Kauai at the time of this writing. The daytime heating of the islands is causing cloud buildups, along with showers locally as well. We can use this looping satellite image to see the counterclockwise rotating upper level low pressure system to our northwest…with its embedded thunderstorms…some of which are stretching eastward over Kauai at the moment. Some of the clouds associated with the trough of low pressure could move eastward over the other islands, especially high cirrus clouds. Checking out this looping radar image shows most of the showers are located near Kauai and Niihau…some of which are quite heavy. The interior sections of the other islands will find showers falling later in the days locally too.

Last evening I saw a new film in Kahului after working all day in Kihei. The film was called Thor, starring Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman…among many others of course. The synopsis: Marvel Comic's God of Thunder is cast down to earth among humans, where he must learn what it takes to be a true hero. The critics are giving this film a B grade, while the viewers are upping that a little to B+. I honestly didn't have high hopes for this film, although liked it a little more than I had expected. It was action packed of course, and had all the usual bells and whistles that these types of films present. It was in 3D, which meant the audience wore these special glasses. I wasn't very impressed with the 3D aspect of this film, and often even forgot that it was 3D at all. The bottom line here was that the the film was pretty fun, and I went away having been entertained, which is all I expect from a film like this. I could give it a B grade, which when I was in school, meant that it was somewhat better than average. Here's a trailer if you're interested.

Afternoon Commentary: The long lasting upper level low pressure system remains parked to the northwest of the islands, and is expected to remain in place for the time being. This weather feature continues to spin clouds our way, and keeps the threat of flooding over the island of Kauai through the day Saturday. This looping radar image continues to show some pretty generous showers roaming around Kauai.

Possible showers and even some heavy ones remain in the forecast for Kauai. Otherwise, the other islands looks to be in better shape, although some showers will fall over those islands at times too. The return of the trade winds are setting the stage for more normal weather to return soon. I'm still a bit nervous about that locally heavy rain near Kauai to be perfectly honest. It shows that there's still quite a bit of instability to our west, so there will be rains around Kauai and perhaps even Oahu…and even elsewhere too.

Here in Kula, Maui at 130pm Saturday afternoon its cloudy and raining, with an air temperature of 64.8F degrees. The day started out well enough, actually very nice for that matter. I took a nice long walk, had breakfast, and did my shopping in Paia. Once I got home it became very cloudy quickly, and for the last 30 minutes or so, it has been raining, some of which has been quite heavy. Looking down the mountain, I can see sunshine beaming down below, with pretty nice weather. Oh well, the weather can change on a dime! Actually, speaking of fast changes, the rains stopped as quickly as they started, and now its turned nice again here in Kula. I'm still planning on going down to the Maui Arts and Cultural center in Kahului this afternoon, where there's a big brewfest going on. There will be beer and ale brewers from here in Hawaii, and from the mainland too, pouring their micro-brewery ales. There will be food and music, and some folks from my work are going. I'm not sure when I'll be back, so I'll either do some more updating later this evening, or on Sunday morning. I hope you have a great Saturday until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Extra: It's now 830pm Saturday, I'm home from the brewfest, which was fun! I ran into a couple of friends, and drank some good tasting ales, and eat some tasty food with them. The music was great, and I ended up dancing towards the end of the evening. When I got home I went to youtube, and hunted for a few of my favorite songs, or at least artists.

These are a few:

Joni Mitchell…California

What is my favorite song ever you wonder? Light My Fire…The Doors

Interesting: We all know how stressful work can be. The pounding headaches, the long hours, and the guilt adds up. Then we go home. People who have a good peer support system at work may live longer than people who don't have such a support system, according research published by the American Psychological Association.

This effect of peer social support on the risk of mortality was most pronounced among those between the ages of 38 and 43. Yet similar support from workers' supervisors had no effect on mortality, the researchers found. In addition, men who felt like they had control and decision authority at work also experienced this protective effect, according to the study, published in the May issue of the APA journal Health Psychology. However, control and decision authority increased the risk of mortality among women in the sample.

According to a 2010 study from the University of Rochester Medical Center, sitting behind a desk all day, relying on vending machines and cafeteria food for meals, and the anticipation of heading home at 5 to veg out appears to be a shared experience by American workers.

The study is just one of many studies that have associated job stress with cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, depression, exhaustion, anxiety and weight gain.

The study suggests that workplace wellness programs should be implemented in order to provide ideas on how to be healthy, examine the organizational structure of the workplace and provide ways to minimize a stressful environment for everyone.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health suggests that a stress prevention program should include the following:

– Building general awareness about job stress (causes, costs, and control)
– Securing top management commitment and support for the program
– Incorporating employee input and involvement in all phases of the program
– Establishing the technical capacity to conduct the program (e.g., specialized training for in-house staff or use of job stress consultants).

One item that was left out was peer support.

"[P]eer social support, which could represent how well a participant is socially integrated in his or her employment context, is a potent predictor of the risk of all causes of mortality. An additional (unexpected) finding” is that the effect of control on mortality risk was positive for the men but negative for the women." noted the researchers.

The researchers rated peer social support as being high if participants reported that their co-workers were helpful in solving problems and that they were friendly. Control and decision authority were rated high if participants said they were able to use their initiative and had opportunities to decide how best to use their skills, and were free to make decisions on how to accomplish the tasks assigned to them and what to do in their jobs.

The researchers, at Tel Aviv University, looked at the medical records of 820 adults who were followed for 20 years, from 1988 to 2008. The workers were drawn from people who had been referred to an HMO's screening center in Israel for routine examinations. The workers came from some of Israel's largest firms in finance, insurance, public utilities, health care and manufacturing. They reported working on average 8.8 hours a day. One-third of them were women; 80 percent were married with children; and 45 percent had at least 12 years of formal education.

The researchers controlled for the physiological, behavioral and psychological risk factors of total cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose levels, blood pressure, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking, depressive symptoms, anxiety and past hospitalizations. They obtained the data on the control variables from each person's periodic health examinations, including tests of physiological risk factors and a questionnaire completed during the examinations by all participants.

In addition, participants were administered another questionnaire that measured job demands, control at work and peer and supervisor support. During the 20-year follow-up period, 53 participants died.

Asked why workplace control was positive for men but not women, the lead researcher, Arie Shirom, PhD, said that for employees in blue-collar type of jobs (and most respondents belonged to this category), high levels of control were found in jobs typically held by men, rather than jobs typically held by women. "Providing partial support to our finding, a past study found that for women in blue-collar jobs, having low levels of control does not increase their risk of becoming ill with stress-related disorders," Shirom said.

If you don’t truly like what you do, you need a change, or your happiness and even your health can be affected. Whether you alter things about your current position so that you enjoy your days at work more, or you switch fields entirely, it’s important that you’re spending your days doing something where you feel challenged (but not overwhelmed,) appreciated (but not desperately needed to the point that you can’t take a day off), and where your strengths are being utilized, among other things.And having people who are your friends as work peers helps immensely.

Interesting2:  Breastfeeding, the act of feeding an infant directly from the human breast, is known to be good for children. There are formulas available which can simulate a mother's milk, but can never perfectly replicate the natural act of breastfeeding. In the past, studies have shown inconsistent results as to whether or not breastfeeding really improves childhood wellbeing in areas such as IQ, behavior, and obesity. However, a new study from the University of Oxford has put a firmer grip on this already well-known theory.

Researchers from Oxford, as well as colleagues from the University of Essex, York, and University College London, investigated the association between the duration of breastfeeding and child behavior at age 5.

"We found that children who were breastfed for at least four months were less likely to have behavioural problems at age 5," says Maria Quigley, one of the lead researchers. "However, that observation might not have been the direct result of breastfeeding — it could have been down to a number of factors.

As a group, mothers who breastfed for four months were very different socially to those who formula fed. They were more likely to be older, better educated and in a higher socio-economic position, on average. Having controlled for these and other differences between the groups, we found there was still a 30% lower risk of behaviour problems associated with prolonged breastfeeding."

The researchers used data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationwide survey of infants born in 2000. The survey group for this study consisted of 9,500 mothers and babies of European ancestry. They combined the millennium survey with a questionnaire used to identify children with possible behavioral problems. Children scoring in the top ten percent of the questionnaire are considered abnormal scores which may result from emotional, conduct, or hyperactivity problems.

Of the babies who were formula-fed, 16.1 percent had abnormal scores. For breastfed babies, only 6.5 percent had abnormal scores. Of course other factors may be involved having to do with the child's upbringing or genetic inheritance. When all factors were accounted for, children who were breastfed for at least four months were still 30 percent less likely to have behavioral problems at age five.

"We just don't know whether it is because of the constituents in breast milk which are lacking in formula, or the close interaction with the mum during breastfeeding, or whether it is a knock-on effect of the reduced illness in breastfed babies" said Maria Quigley. "But it does begin to look like we can add fewer behavioral problems as another potential benefit of breastfeeding."

Interesting3: Toys"R"Us, Inc. announced plans to build the largest rooftop solar power installation in North America at its distribution center in Flanders, NJ this week, with construction of the 5.38-megawatts (MW) installation expected to begin this summer. The system will cover roughly 20 acres of rooftop space and is estimated to generate 72% of the electrical needs for the distribution facility. It will consist of more than 37,000 thin-film photovoltaic solar panels manufactured by United Solar, a subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices.

Depending on weather conditions, the system is expected to produce approximately 6,362,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year. Generating the same amount of electricity using non-renewable sources would result in the release of an estimated 4,387 metric tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent emissions from 860 passenger vehicles or that of the electricity used to power 532 homes annually.

Utility Constellation Energy will build, own and maintain the rooftop solar power system. Toys"R"Us will purchase the electricity generated by the system from Constellation Energy through a 20-year power purchase agreement. The Toys"R"Us facility in Flanders, NJ is the largest of the company's ten national distribution centers and covers over 1.5 million square feet, in addition to the roof, which spans 32 acres. The facility supports replenishment and fulfillment needs for Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us locations throughout the northeast.

Interesting4: Chicago waterways long used to carry away the city's waste must be cleaned up expeditiously so residents can play in them, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told state officials on Thursday. "A decade of investments in walkways, boat ramps and parks has provided people with access to the water — and now we need to make sure that the water is safe," Susan Hedman, the agency's Midwest regional administrator, said in a statement.

Boaters commonly ply the city's rivers and canals, and residences have replaced some industries along the waterways in recent years. But users are warned against extensive contact with the water.

The agency informed the Illinois Pollution Control Board that if it does not promptly adopt higher standards for waters in the North and South Branches of the Chicago River, the North Shore Channel, the Cal-Sag Channel and the Little Calumet River, the agency will use its power under the U.S. Clean Water Act to do so.

Illinois regulators have for years sought to upgrade water standards, but the process has bogged down.

Higher standards will likely require treated sewage to be disinfected, regulators said. Three Chicago-area treatment plants are among the few in major U.S. cities not to take the extra step to disinfect effluent before releasing it into public waterways.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which operates the city's sewer and water systems, has said disinfecting effluent would be expensive. Some estimates have put the cost at about $1 billion, others much less.

The waterways were linked to the Mississippi River basin a century ago when a canal was constructed and the direction of the Chicago River reversed to avoid dumping sewage into Lake Michigan, the source of the city's drinking water.

Interesting5: Remains found near the Arctic Circle characteristic of Mousterian culture (1) have recently been dated at over 28,500 years old, which is more than 8,000 years after Neanderthals are thought to have disappeared. This unexpected discovery by an international multi-disciplinary team, including researchers from CNRS(2), challenges previous theories. Could Neanderthals have lived longer than thought? Or had Homo sapiens already migrated to Europe at that stage?

The results are published in Science magazine of 13 May 2011.

The distinguishing feature of Mousterian culture, which developed during the Middle Palaeolithic (-300,000 to -33,000 years), is the use of a very wide range of flint tools, mainly by Neanderthal Man in Eurasia, but also by Homo sapiens in the Near East.

This culture is considered to be archaic, and not sufficiently advanced to allow Neanderthals to settle in the most extreme northern climates. It is thought to have brought about their demise some 33,000 to 36,000 years ago. They seem to have made way for modern humans, who appear to have occupied the whole of Eurasia thanks to their mastery of more advanced technologies.

A multi-disciplinary team of French CNRS researchers, working with Norwegian and Russian scientists, studied the Byzovaya site in the Polar Urals in northern Russia. Using carbon 14 dating and an optical simulation technique, the team was able to put an accurate date on sediments and on mammoth and reindeer bones abandoned on the site. The bones bore traces of butchering by Mousterian hunters.

The results intrigue scientists in more ways than one. They show that Mousterian culture may have lasted longer than scientists had originally thought. What's more, no Mousterian presence had ever been identified so close to the Arctic Circle. All other traces are at least 1000 km further south. Lastly, the Byzovaya site, in Eurasia, seems only to have been occupied once, approximately 28,500 years ago, which is over 8,000 years after Neanderthals were thought to have disappeared.

So this discovery raises many questions, not least about how Mousterian society was organised. Did Neanderthal Man live longer than thought? Or could these last bearers of Mousterian culture in fact have been Homo sapiens? If so, the theories explaining that Neanderthals died out because their culture was archaic would be put into question. The studies open up new perspectives on this turning point in human history.