Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday:
Lihue, Kauai – 85
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 86 (record for Friday – 91 in 1990, 1995)
Kaneohe, Oahu – 81
Molokai airport – 83
Kahului airport, Maui – 85
Kona airport 84
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 Friday evening:
Barking Sands, Kauai – 86
Hilo, Hawaii – 76
Haleakala Crater – 46 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 32 (over 13,500 feet on the Big Island)
Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Friday evening:
1.15 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.23 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.00 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.50 West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.85 Kawainui Stream, Big Island
Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing high pressure systems to the north, and far northeast of our islands. Our local trade winds will remain rather strong and gusty Saturday…slightly less so Sunday.
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. 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. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here. Here's a tropical cyclone tracking map for the eastern and central Pacific.
Aloha Paragraphs
Gusty trade winds…windward showers at times
High Surf Advisory south and east shores
The trade winds will continue blowing, remaining on the strong side Saturday, then pulling back slightly Sunday…into the new week ahead. Glancing at this weather map, we find high pressure systems located to the north, and far to the northeast of the islands Friday night. The location of these high pressure centers will keep our trade winds blowing. The NWS office in Honolulu has small craft wind advisories active across the entire marine environment here in the islands, plus a wind advisory atop the summits on the Big Island. The winds will gradually moderate, although remain active through the next week…at least.
Our trade winds will remain active…the following numbers represent the strongest gusts (mph), along with directions Friday evening:
35 Port Allen, Kauai – NE
30 Kahuku, Oahu – NE
32 Molokai – NE
31 Kahoolawe – ESE
35 Kapalua – NE
24 Lanai – NE
38 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 Friday night. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we find cumulus clouds evident in all directions out from the islands…although generally scattered with lots open spaces between those clumps. We can use this looping satellite image to see low clouds being carried towards our windward sides by the trade winds. We can see high and middle level clouds to the south…associated with thunderstorms in the deeper tropics. These high clouds look as though they will be streaming up into the state. Checking out this looping radar image we see just a few scattered showers being carried along in the northeast to easterly trade wind flow.
Sunset Commentary: The main events in our Hawaiian Islands weather picture now continue to be the strong trade winds, and the high surf breaking along our south and east facing shores. At the same time, we've been having lots of warm sunshine beaming down during the days. It appears that after not having our common summertime high cirrus cloudiness around lately…that we may see those icy clouds up high returning soon. This looping satellite image shows these clouds just to our south this evening, which are the tops of thunderstorms far to our south, in the deep tropics.
The strong and gusty trade winds have been very breezy in those typically windiest areas around the Aloha state. There have been gusts well up into the 30+ mph range on all the major islands, with those standout spots topping the 40 mph mark. Today likely saw the strongest winds of the week, having worked up to this point the last several days. These winds will very slowly be winding down during the weekend, which will continue on in the moderately strong range as we get into the new week ahead.
As for precipitation, it has pulled back now, at least compared to what we saw the last couple of days. This drier reality will hold firm through Saturday, although with still some passing showers crossing the windward coasts and slopes at times. The leeward sides might see a couple of showers, although will remain generally dry for the time being. The next change that may occur will present itself by Sunday, with a possible increase in windward biased showers through Monday or Tuesday…then back to drier weather thereafter.
The trade winds are strong enough to have triggered small craft wind advisories in all our coastal and channel waters, which should continue into Saturday. The trades have generated wind swell along our east facing beaches, which in turn has prompted a high surf advisory along those beaches. Speaking of high surf, we still have an advisory along our south facing shores now too, caused by a large south swell coming up from the southern hemisphere. The surface waters surrounding the islands will be chalked-up with white caps, as the trade winds continue to be stronger than normal.
This evening I'm going to see a new film, called Transformers: Dark of the Moon…starring Shia LaBeouf and Tyrese Gibson…among many others. Synopsis: the autobots return to action when a mysterious event from Earth's past erupts into the present day, threatening to destroy humanity. Yes, as you see, I'm back into the action/Sci Fi films, which is fine. The critics are giving this film a rather low C grade, while the viewers are providing a somewhat higher B grade. I'm not terribly excited by this film, although I'm going to see it anyway. I'll give you a report Saturday morning, when I return with your next new weather narrative. Here's a trailer just in case you might be interested.
Here in Kihei, Maui at 645pm HST Friday evening, skies were mostly clear, although with some minor partly cloudy areas around the edges. I'm heading over to Kahului now, to get some dinner before the film starts. I hope you have a great Friday night, I'll catch up with you in the morning. Aloha for now…Glenn.
Interesting: For the first time, all scombrid species (tunas, bonitos, mackerels and Spanish mackerels) and billfishes (swordfish and marlins) have been assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Of the 61 known species, 7 are thought to be at serious risk of extinction and are classified in a threatened category. Critically Endangered is the highest risk category assigned by the IUCN Red List for wild species. Critically Endangered means that a species' numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within three generations.
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of 43 mph. Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an oxygen-binding molecule, which tuna express in quantities far higher than most other fish.
Some larger tuna species, such as bluefin tuna, display some warm-blooded adaptations, and can raise their body temperatures above water temperatures by means of muscular activity. This enables them to survive in cooler waters and to inhabit a wider range of ocean environments than other types of fish. The situation appears particularly grim for tunas — three of the eight species are now classified in a threatened category, including the Critically Endangered southern bluefin tuna and the Endangered northern bluefin tuna, while two species are classified as Near Threatened.
Three species of billfishes were classified in threatened or Near Threatened categories; the blue marlin and the white marlin are both Vulnerable, while the striped marlin is Near Threatened. As these scombrids and billfishes are at the top of the marine food web, population reductions of these predators may cause negative effects on other species that are critical to the balance of the marine ecosystem and that are economically important as a source of food. Tuna is an important commercial fish.
The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation compiled a detailed scientific report on the state of global tuna stocks in 2009. According to the report, Tunas are widely but sparsely distributed throughout the oceans of the world, generally in tropical and temperate waters between about 45 degrees north and south of the equator. They are grouped in the family Scombridae.
The Australian government alleged in 2006 that Japan had illegally overfished southern bluefin by taking 12,000 to 20,000 tons per year instead of the their agreed 6,000 tons. Such overfishing has severely damaged bluefin stocks. Japan's Fisheries Research Agency counters that Australian and New Zealand tuna fishing companies under-report their total catches of southern bluefin tuna and ignore internationally mandated total allowable catch totals.
In 2010, Greenpeace International added the albacore, bigeye tuna, blackfin tuna, pacific bluefin tuna, northern bluefin tuna, southern bluefin tuna and the yellowfin tuna to its seafood red list. While many stocks are managed sustainably, it is widely accepted that bluefin have been severely overfished, with some stocks at risk of collapse. According to the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna, Pacific Ocean (eastern & western) bigeye tuna, and North Atlantic albacore tuna are all overfished.
Interesting2: The United States listed the leatherback turtle as an endangered species on June 2, 1970. The leatherback sea turtle is the largest of all living sea turtles and the fourth largest modern reptile behind three crocodilians. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell. Instead, its carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh.
A settlement filed today in federal court between conservation groups and the National Marine Fisheries Service requires the government to make a final rule protecting critical habitat for the endangered leatherback sea turtle by Nov. 15, 2011. As proposed, the rule will protect sea turtles in part of the area off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington.
If made final, it would represent the first sea turtle critical habitat ever designated in ocean waters off the continental shelf. On Jan. 5, 2010, the Fisheries Service proposed to designate about 70,600 square miles (45 million acres) of ocean waters as critical habitat for leatherbacks, which have suffered steep declines in recent decades. The proposal responded to a 2007 legal petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana and Turtle Island Restoration Network to protect key migratory and foraging habitat for these ancient turtles along the West Coast.
On April 19, 2011, the conservation groups sued the government for its delay in finalizing the turtle’s critical habitat. Leatherback turtles have the most hydrodynamic body design of any sea turtle, with a large, teardrop-shaped body. A large pair of front flippers power the turtles through the water. Like other sea turtles, the leatherback's flattened forelimbs are adapted for swimming in the open ocean.
Claws are absent from both pairs of flippers. The leatherback's flippers are the largest in proportion to its body among extant sea turtles. Leatherback's front flippers can grow up to 8.9 feet in large specimens, the largest flippers (even in comparison to its body) of any sea turtle. The leatherback has several characteristics that distinguish it from other sea turtles. Its most notable feature is the lack of a bony carapace. Instead of scutes, it has thick, leathery skin with embedded minuscule osteoderms.
Seven distinct ridges rise from the carapace, crossing from the anterior to posterior margin of the turtle's back. The leatherback turtle is a species with a cosmopolitan global range. Of all the extant sea turtle species, D. coriacea has the widest distribution, reaching as far north as Alaska and Norway and as far south as the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and the southernmost tip of New Zealand. The leatherback is found in all tropical and subtropical oceans, and its range extends well into the Arctic Circle.
In order to survive, leatherbacks need safe passage during their annual migration and protection of important feeding areas. The Fisheries Service included these elements in the proposed rule, which could limit activities that harm the leatherbacks’ main food source or impede the turtles’ migratory path. Habitat protections for the turtle do not take effect, though, until the agency publishes its final rule. "The settlement filed today forces the National Marine Fisheries Service to make a long-overdue decision about protecting Pacific leatherbacks when they are in our waters," said Susan Murray, Pacific senior director at Oceana.
The largest of all sea turtles, leatherbacks can grow to be up to nine feet long and weigh up to 1,200 pounds. Pacific leatherback sea turtles have declined more than 95 percent since the 1980s; as few as 2,300 adult female western Pacific leatherbacks remain. The species dates from the time of the dinosaurs, having survived for 100 million years virtually unchanged.
Every summer and fall, western Pacific leatherbacks migrate from their nesting grounds in Indonesia to the waters of the U.S. Pacific to feed on jellyfish, eating 20 percent to 30 percent of their body weight per day. This 12,000-mile journey is the longest known migration of any living marine reptile. During the trip, leatherbacks run a gauntlet of threats across the Pacific, including capture in commercial fishing gear, ingestion of plastics, poaching, global warming and ocean acidification. Protection of their foraging habitats and migratory corridors is essential to the recovery of this species.
Interesting3: The latest issue of the Monthly Energy Review published by the US Energy Information Administration, electric power generation from renewable sources has surpassed production from nuclear sources, and is now "closing in on oil," says Ken Bossong Executive Director of the Sun Day Campaign. In the first quarter of 2011 renewable energy sources accounted for 11.73 percent of US domestic energy production. Renewable sources include solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, biomass/biofuel. As of the first quarter of 2011, energy production from these sources was 5.65 percent more than production from nuclear.
As Bossing further explains from the report, renewable sources are closing the gap with generation from oil-fired sources, with renewable source equal to 77.15 percent of total oil based generation. For all sectors, including transportation, thermal, and electrical generation, renewable energy production grew just over 15 percent in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the first quarter of 2010, and fully 25 percent over first quarter 2009.
In a break-down of renewable sources, biomass/biofuel accounted for a bit more than 48 percent, hydro for 35.41 percent, wind for nearly 13 percent, geothermal 2.45 percent, and solar at 1.16 percent. Looking at just the electrical generation sector, renewable sources, including hydro, accounted for nearly 13 percent of net US electrical generation in the first quarter of 2011, up from 10.31 percent for the same quarter last year. Non-hydro renewable sources accounted for 4.74 percent of net US production.
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