Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha paragraphs / April 20-21, 2012

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

Lihue, Kauai –                     81  
Honolulu airport, Oahu –  83  (Record high temperature for Friday – 88 / 1986) 
Kaneohe, Oahu –               83
Molokai airport –                 78
Kahului airport, Maui –          81  
Kona airport –                    82
Hilo airport, Hawaii –           79

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops…as of 5pm Friday evening:

Kaneohe, Oahu – 80
Princeville, Kauai – 75

Haleakala Crater –  50 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea –         41 (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…although this webcam is often not working correctly.

 Aloha Paragraphs

Gusty trades easing up into Saturday, picking up
Sunday onwards…just a few windward showers
through Saturday, increasing some Sunday-Monday

As this weather map shows, we have high pressure systems to the northeast and north-northwest of Hawaii.  At the same time, we have a weak cold front to the north of the islands. Our trade winds will remain slightly lighter through Saturday, then increase a notch again Sunday into the new week ahead.

The following numbers represent the most recent wind gusts (mph), along with directions as of Friday evening:

17                 Lihue, Kauai – NE 
25                 Honolulu, Oahu – NE
29                 Molokai – NE
30                 Kahoolawe – E
23                 Kahului, Maui – NE
23                 Lanai – NE
24                 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.  Here's the latest NOAA satellite picture – the latest looping satellite image…and finally the latest looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands. 

Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Friday night:
 
0.03               Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.11               Kii, Oahu
0.02               Molokai
0.00               Kahoolawe
0.84               Puu Kukui, Maui
1.01              Island Dairy, Big Island  

Sunset Commentary:   A moderately strong high pressure system remains parked in the area east-northeast of Hawaii Friday night, with a new stronger high pressure cell moving into the area north of Hawaii. These two wind generators will keep our moderately strong trade winds active. At the same time, our overlying atmosphere remains stable and dry, which continues to limit showers in most areas. As usual, the windward coasts and slopes are catching a few incoming showers…which are being carried our way on the trades. In contrast, the south and west facing leeward areas are dry. The clouds we saw this morning upstream of the islands, have cleared away for the most part this evening. We see some brighter white high cirrus clouds to the south of the Big Island, although they don't seem destined to interrupt our pleasant weather…even if they make it over the islands this weekend.

Looking ahead, a weakening cold front will push in our direction this weekend, bringing an increase in windward showers to the north and east facing windward sides Sunday into Monday. Through Saturday though, and then again by later next Tuesday onwards…our weather will remain on the dry side. The latest weather outlook calls for fairly normal spring weather conditions to prevail through Thursday or so. The longer range computer model output has been showing a cold front approaching the islands next Friday into the weekend. If the models are correct in this assessment, we could see our trade winds falter and veer to the southeast…followed by frontal showers. It's getting pretty late in the season for cold fronts however, so this threat may evaporate.
 
Friday evening I went to see a new film called Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, starring Amr Waked, Emily Blunt, and Ewan McGregor…among many others. The snapshot of this salmon fishing film is: when Britain's leading fisheries expert (Ewan McGregor) is approached by a consultant (Emily Blunt) to help realize a sheikh's (Amr Waked) vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert, he immediately thinks the project is both absurd and unachievable. But when the Prime Minister's overzealous press secretary (Kristin Scott Thomas) latches on to it as a "good will" story, this unlikely team will put it all on the line and embark on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible, possible. The rotten tomatoes film review site is giving this film a 70-75 grade out of 100, which is pretty good. As it turned out, I enjoyed this film, and feel comfortable giving it a B grade. The story was rather far fetched, although I enjoyed the creative license the director and producer took. The main focus, besides the salmon, was the developing relationship between McGregor and Blunt, which was endearing. I liked the story, and found it to be fun to watch. Here's a trailer for this film if you're interested in taking a peek.

Being a film buff, I'm heading down to Kahului again this evening for yet another film, this one called The Hunger Games, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson…among many others. This is one of those films that has me a bit nervous about seeing, as it looks rather heavy duty in the scare department, at least to me. Here's the synopsis: every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which "Tributes" must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she's ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Rotten tomatoes is giving this film a pretty good 84-85 rating out of 100. I just read some viewers reviews on this film, and now I'm rather skeptical, although I'll likely go see it anyway. I'll let you know if I was disappointed Saturday morning, when I'll be back with a review. Here's the trailer for this film.

Here in Kula, Maui at 515pm, skies were clear to partly cloudy, with light winds, and a warm air temperature of 77F degrees. Today was one of those especially sunny days, although it took until the afternoon for the clouds to clear back more completely for the windward sides. I went down to Paia shopping early in the afternoon, and it definitely felt warm like summer. Here in Kula, it was near totally clear this afternoon, so that the clothes I had on the line dried in no time. I'm going to get some food at Whole Foods in Kahului before seeing the film I was talking about above. I like getting a couple of slices of pizza and a ceasar salad, and then sitting outside to people watch while I eat. I can feel myself gradually getting back into the swing of things here on Maui, after a rather rough month in California. It's so incredible that time heals, even when it seems like this time it won't. I'll catch up with you Saturday morning, I hope you have a great Friday night! Aloha for now…Glenn. 

Interesting: It's not easy being green, but the National Park Service (NPS) has decided it’s worth the effort. On Thursday, the agency that oversees 397 units comprising 84 million acres of land across the country unveiled a new plan to integrate sustainable practices into all aspects of its operations. Announced by NPS Director Jonathan Jarvis, the plan sets out ambitious goals for conserving energy and water, reducing greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions and limiting waste.

"The Green Parks Plan asks each park and office to review routine activities, operations and programs and reflect on how we manage our work to prioritize actions and leverage existing funds to lessen our impact on the environment," said Jarvis. "Much of our success will hinge on adopting sustainability as a guiding value and embedding it in what we do, every day."

The nine-point plan covers everything from purchasing decisions and waste management to vehicle use and construction projects. Among the goals:

– Reduce GHG emissions from on-site fossil fuel and electricity consumption by 35 percent by 2020 from a baseline set in 2008.

– Reduce fossil fuel consumption in NPS vehicles by 20 percent by 2015 from the 2005 baseline.

– Reduce system-wide building energy costs by 35 percent by 2016 from the 2003 baseline.

– Reduce "water use intensity" (gallons per square foot of facility space) by 30 percent by 2020 from the 2007 baseline.

– Divert 50 percent of annual solid waste from landfills by 2015.

It won't be easy given the current budget environment and the fact that the NPS manages more than 4 million acres of maintained landscapes, such as campgrounds and battlefields; more than 3,000 utility systems, and more than 67,000 structures.

Interesting2: Emissions from cars, lorries, planes and power stations causes 13,000 premature deaths in the UK each year, according to a new study by MIT researchers. The research team analyzed data from 2005, the most recent year for which information is available. They found that among the various sources of emissions in the country, car and truck exhaust was the single greatest contributor to premature death, affecting some 3,300 people per year.

By comparison, the researchers note, fewer than 3,000 Britons died in road accidents in 2005. The researchers found that emissions originating elsewhere in Europe cause an additional 6,000 early deaths in the UK annually; UK emissions that migrate outside the country, in turn, cause 3,100 premature deaths per year in other European Union nations.

In some areas on the periphery of the U.K. — such as northern Scotland — almost all air pollution comes from the rest of Europe, the researchers say. MIT's Steven Barrett and his co-author Steve Yim began the study in light of recent events in the U.K.: London is currently in violation of air quality standards set by the E.U., and the British government may face significant E.U. fines if it fails to address its air pollution.

"We wanted to know if the responsibility to maintain air quality was matched by an ability to act or do something about it," says Barrett, the Charles Stark Draper Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. "The results of the study indicate there is an asymmetry there." Barrett worked with MIT postdoc Steve Yim to analyze emissions data provided by the UK Government.

The team divided the country's emissions into sectors, including road transport; power generation; commercial, residential and agricultural sources; and other transport, such as shipping and aviation. The group then simulated temperature and wind fields throughout the country using a weather research and forecasting model similar to those used to predict short-term weather.

Barrett and Yim entered emissions data into the model to see how weather might disperse the emissions. They then ran another simulation — a chemistry transport model — to see how emissions from different sectors interacted.

Finally, the group overlaid their simulation results on population density maps to see which locations had the greatest long-term exposure to combustion emissions. Barrett observed that most of the emissions studied were composed of particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, a size that epidemiologists have associated with premature death.

After road transport, the researchers found that emissions from shipping and aviation were the second greatest contributor to premature deaths, causing 1,800 early deaths annually, followed by powerplant emissions, which cause an estimated 1,700 premature deaths each year.