Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday:
Lihue, Kauai – 79
Honolulu airport, Oahu – 82 (Record high temperature on this date – 84F – 1975, 1995)
Kaneohe, Oahu – 80
Molokai airport – 79
Kahului airport, Maui – 82 (Record high temperature on this date – 85F – 1959, 1993)
Kona airport – 81
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 Sunday evening:
Kailua-kona – 74
Kahului, Maui – 71
Haleakala Crater – 43 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea – 30 (near 13,800 feet on the Big Island)
Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live web cam on the summit of near 13,800 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. This web cam is 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. Here's the Haleakala Crater webcam on Maui…which is working only sometimes lately.
Aloha Paragraphs
Trades winds – a few windward showers –
surf north and west shores larger Monday
As this weather map shows, we have storm systems located far to the north-north, along with an associated cold front approaching the state to the northwest. At the same time, we high pressure systems to the north-northeast, and northeast, with an associated ridge of high pressure to the north and northwest of Kauai. Our winds will be moderately strong trade winds…gradually becoming lighter Tuesday through the rest of the new work week.
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph), along with directions Sunday evening:
21 Port Allen, Kauai – ENE
24 Bellows, Oahu – NE
22 Molokai – NE
36 Kahoolawe – ENE
27 Lipoa, Maui – E
10 Lanai – NE
31 South Point, Big Island – ENE
We can use the following links to see what’s going on in our area of the north central Pacific Ocean Sunday evening. Looking at this NOAA satellite picture we see low clouds over the ocean, which are stretching over the islands locally. At the same time, we find a new cold front offshore to the northwest of Kauai. We can use this looping satellite image to see the lower clouds, especially over and south of the Big Island, moving along in the trade winds. We can also see developing clouds over the ocean to the southeast of the Big Island. Checking out this looping radar image we see generally light showers over the ocean, impacting the islands locally.
Here are the 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Sunday evening:
0.07 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.67 Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.17 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
1.83 Puu Kukui, Maui
1.20 Kawainui Stream, Big Island
Sunset Commentary: There was something called a data corruption that occurred this weekend, according to my web service provider. This caused my website to revert back to December 22-23, 2011. I had no control over this situation, nonetheless…I want to apologize for any inconvenience that this situation may have had for you. I'm scrambling to add at least some new updated information to this site, although I'll have everything back to normal as of early Monday morning. Aloha for now…Glenn.
~~~ I went to see a new film this last Friday evening in Kahului, this one called The Artist, which stars Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo…among many others. The synopsis: Hollywood 1927. George Valentin is a silent movie superstar. The advent of the talkies will sound the death knell for his career and see him fall into oblivion. For young extra Peppy Miller, it seems the sky's the limit – major movie stardom awaits. The ratings are almost off the scale for this film, with the typically hard grading rotten tomatoes website giving it a very impressive 97% out of 100…an almost unheard of rating for that site. I liked this film, although it was very unusual, portraying an old time silent film, which was shot in black and white…and was actually silent 99% of the time. It was just the opposite of your normal action film, which was refreshing for a change. The leading star was very handsome, and the leading lady was very attractive too. They teamed up in a sweet way, and their friendship and caring for each other carried the film in a really nice way. I would give this film a B+ grade, and could recommend it solidly. It was interesting, for being such a talked about film, it was shown in the smallest theater in this megaplex, although all the seats were filled. Here's the trailer for this film.
Interesting: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) today launched the Water Tight 2012 report, which explores the future of the global water sector in the year ahead. The report examines how major global trends such as population growth, increasing economic development, and urbanization, coupled with the changes in climate patterns, underscore the importance of effective public policy and private sector water stewardship in managing this finite and shared resource.
The growing demand for water is making conservation and efficient use central issues, particularly as governments, utilities, and the private sector come under increasing pressure to be stewards of this precious and shared resource. The report states that a clearer water pricing will play an important role in how customers better manage their water usage.
"There is a compelling case for utilities either to increase water prices or create a better pricing system that addresses scarcity issues, allows them to invest in the replacement of ageing infrastructure, and provides them with a satisfactory financial return," says James Leigh, Global Leader for Water, DTTL.
"Increasing water prices, however, is a difficult political decision, as domestic water usage is considered a basic human right. As such, raising awareness of water related issues and educating the public about the necessity of more effective water pricing is crucial."
According to the report, one potential solution for affordable prices and sufficient financial returns is tiered pricing. As water usage increases so would the price. Tiered pricing has already been successfully implemented in Israel, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and parts of the United States.
Interesting2: Even after 100 years have passed a restored wetland may not reach the state of its former glory. A new study in the open access journal PLoS Biology finds that restored wetlands may take centuries to recover the biodiversity and carbon sequestration of original wetlands, if they ever do.
The study questions laws, such as in the U.S., which allow the destruction of an original wetland so long as a similar wetland is restored elsewhere. "Once you degrade a wetland, it doesn't recover its normal assemblage of plants or its rich stores of organic soil carbon, which both affect natural cycles of water and nutrients, for many years," said lead author David Moreno-Mateos, with the University of California, Berkeley, in a press release.
"Even after 100 years, the restored wetland is still different from what was there before, and it may never recover." Looking at over 124 studies on wetland restoration covering 621 wetlands around the world (though 80 percent of them were in the U.S.), the study found that 50-100 years after restoration, wetlands still stored 23 percent less carbon and had 26 less plant species than pristine wetlands.
On average restored wetlands were a quarter less productive than original wetlands. The study also found that wetlands in colder regions took longer to restore ecosystem services than those in warmer areas. "Wetlands accumulate a lot of carbon, so when you dry up a wetland for agricultural use or to build houses, you are just pouring this carbon into the atmosphere," says Moreno-Mateos.
"If we keep degrading or destroying wetlands, for example through the use of mitigation banks, it is going to take centuries to recover the carbon we are losing."
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