Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday:
Lihue, Kauai – 78
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 84
Kaneohe, Oahu – 81
Molokai airport – 85
Kahului airport, Maui – 88 (record high temperature Monday – 92F…1953)
Kona airport – 83
Hilo airport, Hawaii – 82
Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 5pm Monday evening:
Kahului, Maui – 81
Lihue, Kauai – 75
Haleakala Crater – 48 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 30 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)
Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Monday evening:
7.04 Hanalei River, Kauai
2.70 Punaluu Stream, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.09 Oahu Gulch, Maui
0.46 Piihonua, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1030 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of Hawaii, while a surface trough of low pressure is located west of the state. Our local winds will be lighter Tuesday and Wednesday…from the southeast.
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
Unsettled weather with showers, some locally heavy…
with isolated thunderstorms. Our local winds will
be lighter Tuesday…generally from the southeast.
Flash flood watch for Kauai, Oahu and Maui County
Our winds will be somewhat lighter into Tuesday and Wednesday, although still locally gusty here and there…returning trade winds by Thursday or so. Glancing at this weather map, we find a 1030 millibar high pressure system located to the northeast of Hawaii. A trough of low pressure has formed to the west of the state, which is responsible for turning our wind directions to the southeast for the most part. The forecast continues to show variable wind speeds (from stronger to lighter) from the somewhat unusual southeast direction…for this late in the spring season. It will take until later in this week for the trade winds to finally rebound, after midweek probably.
Our local winds will blow from the southeast for the most part…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts, along with directions Monday evening:
21 Barking Sands, Kauai – SE
22 Kahuku, Oahu – ENE
12 Molokai – SSE
33 Kahoolawe – ESE
21 Lipoa – SE
15 Lanai – SE
33 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 Monday night. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we find clouds across all of the islands, although most of the heavy shower bearing ones are over the western islands towards Kauai and Oahu. At the same time we find towering cumulus and thunderstorms, with their heavier showers falling near Kauai and Niihau at the time of this writing. We can use this looping satellite image to see locally heavy showers blossoming across parts of the Hawaiian Islands. Checking out this looping radar image shows areas of heavy showers over the ocean around our islands…which are moving over especially Kauai at times.
Sunset Commentary: The late season, long lasting spell of unsettled weather is still with us on this first day of the new work week. The good thing about this is that it’s providing just what we need, at least locally, before we head into our long dry summer season…which is water. The islands of Kauai and Oahu have had the most rainfall during this wet weather episode. The Big Island has had some fairly generous rainfall locally as well, with even a few thunderstorms over the leeward slopes the last several afternoons. Maui County has come up holding the short end of the rainfall stick, having missed most of the heavier rain, at least so far. Maui County has remained under the flash flood watch for many days, despite the lack of precipitation for the most part.
As the upper air low pressure system, with its cold air aloft moves westward, we should see the threat of heavy rain, or at least the larger part of it…easing up in a couple of days. There may be just enough leftover cold air, which suggest continued instability in our overlying atmosphere…to keep some locally heavier showers around for several days beyond Tuesday. As the low and its associated trough migrate away, the bias for showers should move over to the windward coasts and slopes mainly…as our classic easterly trade winds return with time. This much late season rainfall is great news, although it would be good to see more of it shifting eastward, over Maui and the Big Island.
Looking out the window here in Kihei this evening, before I take the drive back upcountry to Kula, it's mostly cloudy. Despite the considerable cloud, I don't spy any showers falling, although here may be a few around the edges. Radar continues to show the heavy precipitation sticking pretty close to Kauai, as it's been doing lately. There are a few minor showers elsewhere across the state, with Oahu showing some action at times too. There's still that chance that some showers will migrate over over towards Maui County, although that hasn't happened over the last several days. I'll be back early Tuesday morning with your next new weather narrative, with more fresh news about this ongoing late season cloudy/rainy episode. I hope you have a great Monday night until then! Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: If an extra terrestrial civilization were to study the history of Earth, they would most likely conclude that this is the planet of the dinosaurs, giant reptiles who ruled the world for hundreds of millions of years. Humans, currently the dominant species, have not even existed for one percent of that time. The iconic species that people associate with dinosaurs are usually the land-based ones: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brontosaurus, Velociraptor.
Equally important were the dinosaurs of the sea. A new study from the University of Bristol examines one of them, a deadly marine predator known as Icthyosaurs. This original sea monster met its demise in a mass extinction event 200 million years ago. Its fossils were first discovered 200 years ago by Mary Anning on the Jurassic coast of Dorset at Lyme Regis in Southern Great Britain.
They were an abundant predator in the Jurassic Era (145-200 million years ago). However, the Jurassic Icthyosaurs were shrunken remnants of their ancestors. The first Icthyosaurs originated in the early Triassic Era (250 million years ago). The Triassic Icthyosaurs grew up to 20 meters long (60 feet), a dolphin-like predator, the size of a whale.
They thrived in their environment as the top predator, and gradually branched off into a large variety of species with many shapes and forms. Their long fish-like bodies were ideally built for speed. Their enormous mouths could gulp down entire schools of prey such as squid. The mass extinction event at the end of the Triassic put an end to the great Icthyosaur.
The event devastated all life on the planet, on land and sea. It was triggered by massive volcanic eruptions from the splitting of North America and Europe to create the Atlantic Ocean. The gases released from under the earth's crust caused flash heating and a loss of oxygen in the oceans. The ichthyosaur survived the event but at a huge price.
Its range of shapes and sizes was only one tenth of its former glory. Research was done by Philippa Thorne, Master in Paleobiology, of the University of Bristol, along with Dr. Marcello Ruta and Professor Michael Benton. "We applied a set of demanding numerical approaches to a data set that contained character codings for all major Triassic and Jurassic ichthyosaurs," said Philippa.
"These methods allow us to explore rates of character change through time, and to compare the amount of variation in all aspects of the body shape and adaptations of different groups and different times. We were amazed at the result." Prior research had already shown that the Early Jurassic period was the heyday for the Icthyosaur.
They bounced back from the mass extinction event to become the dominant marine reptile. However, their evolutionary breadth of form had been drastically cut. This shows how a catastrophic environmental event can unexpectedly alter the course of evolution.
Interesting2: A new UN report predicts that the world's population will surge past 10.1 billion by the end of the century, a forecast that would shatter earlier estimates that the number would stabilize at about 9 billion by mid-century. Much of the population growth will occur in so-called "high fertility" countries — where each woman is having, on average, more than 1.5 daughters — in Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America, according to the report.
While populations in low- and intermediate-fertility nations are expected to peak before the end of the century, the population in high-fertility nations will continue to increase. In Africa, where growth already threatens to overwhelm over-stretched food and water resources, the population could more than triple, from about 1 billion today to more than 3.6 billion.
World population is expected to pass 7 billion later this year. The report, prepared by the UN's Population Division, projects that there will be 9.3 billion people by mid-century, which is 156 million more than the group predicted in a 2008 report.
Interesting3: For the first time in nearly 140 years, the Indian tribes of northeastern Montana are preparing for the return of wild buffalo that are descended from herds that once thundered across the vast American West. The Sioux and Assiniboine tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in coming months will claim dozens of buffalo originating from Yellowstone National Park, home to the last free-roaming, purebred bands of buffalo, or bison, in the United States.
On Monday, Montana wildlife officials plan to inspect 5,000 acres at Fort Peck that have been readied for the arrival of the native buffalo, which for centuries provided food, clothing and spiritual sustenance to American Indians. The inspection marks a milestone in a years-long plan by federal, state and tribal managers of Yellowstone bison to give Native Americans in Montana custody of an assortment of bulls, cows and calves to cultivate new herds on tribal lands.
For American Indians, whose fortunes in the 19th century declined with eradication of the herds they depended on, the buffalo's return symbolizes fresh hope for an ancient culture. "It's the beginning of a whole new chapter for the bison and for us. It brings us right back to where we were," said Robert Magnan, head of Fort Peck's fish and game department.
Systematic hunting of buffalo west of the Mississippi cut their numbers from tens of millions to the fewer than 50 animals that found refuge at Yellowstone in the early 20th century. That population has since grown to some 3,700 head. Unlike other bison in the United States that exist in national parks and refuges and are commercially ranched, the Yellowstone herd has not been crossed with domestic cattle and has roots dating to prehistoric times.
The planned transfer of animals is expected in coming months at Fort Peck, where $250,000 has been spent on preparing pasture and 26 miles of fencing for several dozen buffalo. Fort Peck is to be the first of several reservations in Montana to provide new homes where buffalo can safely roam. The bison to be claimed by the tribes are part of a Yellowstone band the state quarantined in 2005 and culled for brucellosis, a disease that can cause cows to miscarry.
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