Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / August 16-17, 2013

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

86  Lihue, Kauai
90  Honolulu, Oahu
83  Molokai
87  Kahului, Maui
87  Kona, Hawaii
80  Hilo, Hawaii

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level – and on the highest mountain tops on Maui and the Big Island…as of 843pm Friday evening:

Kailua Kona – 81
Hilo, Hawaii – 73

Haleakala Summit –   48 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 36 (13,000+ 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 – if it’s working.

Aloha Paragraphs

Small craft wind advisory…windiest coasts and channels
across all of the Hawaiian Islands

Moderately strong trades continuing…stronger at times

Passing showers windward sides of the Big Island and
east Maui…just a few showers elsewhere – drier this
weekend otherwise

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

25  Port Allen, Kauai – ENE
40  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
27  Molokai – NE
36  Lanai – NE
30  Kahoolawe – NE
27  Lipoa, Maui – NE
32  Waikoloa, Big Island – NE

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

0.73  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.17  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.05  Molokai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Lanai
0.59  Puu Kukui, Maui
2.11  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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.

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

The trade winds will continue blowing across through the weekend…then a bit lighter after the weekend for a few days. Here’s a weather chart showing a near 1026 millibar high pressure system located to the north-northwest of the islands. At the same time we have tropical storm Pewa well to the southwest of Kauai…moving away. There are also a tropical disturbance to the southwest. Trade wind speeds will be in the moderately strong category, locally a bit stronger at times. The small craft wind advisory continues to cover most of the state as we head into the weekend. The trades will drop a notch later Sunday into the early part of the new week…as a cold front moves by to our north.

Showers focusing over the windward sides of the Big Island and Maui…drier for the most part during the weekend. Satellite imagery shows scattered low cloud patches over the ocean surround the islands, and being carried into the windward sides at times. Meanwhile. the south and west facing leeward beaches are mostly clear to partly cloudy tonight. At the same time, we can see high and middle level clouds, along with some thunderstorms, associated with tropical systems to the southwest and south of the Hawaiian Islands. Here’s the looping radar image, showing a fairly normal amount of showers falling along the windward coasts and slopes. At the same time, there’s an enhanced area of precipitation bringing passing showers to the south of the Big Island…which will pass by overnight into Saturday morning.

Tropical storm Pewa remains active in the central Pacific, well to the southwest of the Hawaiian Islands. There are two other tropical disturbances in our waters as well, one with a low 0% chance of developing into a tropical cyclone over the next couple of days…to the south. The other is located to the southwest of Kauai, moving west at near 15 mph…with a low 10% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone. Here’s a satellite picture, showing these areas…along with TS Pewa. There is no danger of these tropical systems having any impact here in Hawaii. The northern fringe of one of these disturbances, as it moves westward, continues to drop some showers near the Big Island…and along windward sides of Maui too. I’ll be back early Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative. I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday evening film: I’m going to see one that I’ve been looking forward to ever since seeing the trailer the first time. It’s called Elysium, starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley, Alice Braga, Diego Luna, Wagner Moura, and William Fichtner…among others. The synopsis:  In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. The people of Earth are desperate to escape the planet’s crime and poverty, and they critically need the state-of-the-art medical care available on Elysium – but some in Elysium will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve their citizens’ luxurious lifestyle. The only man with the chance bring equality to these worlds is Max, an ordinary guy in desperate need to get to Elysium. With his life hanging in the balance, he reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission – one that pits him against Elysium’s Secretary Delacourt and her hard-line forces – but if he succeeds, he could save not only his own life, but millions of people on Earth as well. / The reviews are all over the map, ranging from incredible Sci-Fi…to pathetic political propaganda film. The rotten tomatoes film reviewing website shows the critics and the audience both gave it a 68% rating…which isn’t bad for this sometimes tough grading site. I’ll be sure to let you know what I thought Saturday morning.

Interesting:  Big Owls need big trees! The last great primary forests of Russia’s Far East are known for their tigers and bears, but they are also the domain of giant owls. A new study finds that the health of the rare Blakiston’s fish owl is intrinsic to that of these northern forests. The birds rely on old-growth forests along streams for both breeding and to support healthy populations of their favorite prey: salmon.

Large trees provide breeding cavities for the enormous bird, which has a 6-foot wingspan. When these massive trees die and topple into streams, they disrupt water flow, forcing the gushing river around, over, and under these new obstacles. The result is stream channel complexity: a combination of deep, slow-moving backwaters and shallow, fast-moving channels that provide important micro-habitats critical to salmon in different developmental stages.

The study, led by WCS and the University of Minnesota, appears in the journal Oryx. The authors studied the foraging and nesting characteristics of Blakiston’s fish owl in Primorye, Russia, where they looked at nesting habitat over 7,804 square miles. They found that large old trees and riparian old-growth forest were the primary distinguishing characteristics of both nest and foraging sites.

The authors say that management and conservation of old-growth forests is essential for sustaining this species because they are central to the owls’ nesting and foraging behavior. Moreover, conservation of Primorye’s forests and rivers sustains habitat for many other species: including eight salmon and trout species that spawn there; some of the 12 other owl species found in Primorye; and mammals like the endangered Amur (or Siberian) tiger, Asiatic black bear, and wild boar. Listed as Endangered by IUCN, Blakiston’s fish owl is restricted to riparian areas in Russia, China, Japan, and possibly North Korea.