Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / September 22-23, 2013

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

86  Lihue, Kauai
88  Honolulu, Oahu
85  Molokai
86  Kahului, Maui
87  Kona, Hawaii
86  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 543pm Sunday evening:

Port Allen, Kauai – 86
Kapalua, Maui – 79

Haleakala Summit –   52 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 50 (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

Our trade winds will slow down a little over
the next few days…with passing windward
showers at times 

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

21  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
37  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
24  Molokai – ENE
32  Lanai – NE
31  Kahoolawe – NE
24  Kapalua, Maui – NE
30  PTA Keamuku, Big Island – NE

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

0.33  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.46  Pupukea Road, Oahu
0.30  Molokai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Lanai
0.80  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.18  Saddle Quarry, 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 generally in the moderately strong category. Here’s a weather chart showing a near 1024 millibar high pressure center to the north-northeast of the state. The trade winds are forecast to continue into the new week ahead…although be slightly lighter than they have been into Tuesday. The longer range forecast has our trades rebounding a notch around Wednesday, lasting through the rest of the week.

There will be windward showers at times, with just a few on the leeward sides. Satellite imagery shows just a few low level clouds, upstream of the islands to the northeast and east. At the same time, we see thick high cirrus clouds on our western horizon…apparently in some manner of approach. There will continue to be windward biased showers, most notably during the night and early morning hours. Here’s the looping radar image, showing showers moving by, mostly over the offshore waters as is often the case during the day. Also as usual, the showers begin to pick up some along our windward sides…during the after dark hours.

Today was the Autumnal Equinox, as we push into this new season…leaving summer 2013 behind this morning. The trade winds have begun to taper off a little now, although will still remain active.  These winds will become somewhat lighter than they have been, bottoming-out in strength Monday and Tuesday. As a result, we may see a couple of afternoon showers in the leeward upcountry areas Monday and Tuesday. As the trade winds will continue blowing, there will still be some passing windward showers at times too. ~~~   I’ll be back with your next weather narrative early Monday morning, I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday evening film: I’m going to take a chance on seeing what looks to be a good film on opening night. I typically don’t do this kind of thing, as I’m nervous that the theater will either be full, or I’ll have to sit too far forward. Actually, now that I think about it, if I got a bad seat I’d just get my money back and go next week. At any rate,this film is called Prisoners, starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Mellissa Leo, and Paul Dano, The synopsis: Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal in a story that poses the question: How far would you go to protect your child? Keller Dover (Jackman) is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces the only suspect’s release. Knowing his child’s life is at stake, the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?

~~~ This looked like an obviously very intense film, being called a mystery, suspenseful, and dramatic, and it certainly was. The critics are giving this film high marks, and I like both the main actors, so I was looking forward to seeing it…although at the same time it looked pretty disturbing. I ended up liking this film very much, although it certainly wasn’t an uplifting few hours. This film was full of powerful performances, along with very rich story material. It was a penetrating piece of work, and I’m glad I didn’t end up having nightmares! I only had to close my eyes once, as I was too scared to watch this one particular scene. The fact that the story centered on two little girls being kidnapped, made it especially engrossing. The way this film begins, in a light-hearted manner was certainly not the way that it ended…no siree. As for a grade, I’m going to have to give it an A-, as it was totally captivating, a real suspense thriller of the highest degree. Here’s the trailer to this film.

World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

Interesting: Amoebas in Louisiana’s Water – Clean water is essential for human survival. More than half of our body is made up of water, and without it, we can only live for a couple of days. How much do we really know about what we’re drinking, though?

Local governments are charged with keeping our water supplies safe, but as I recently learned in the movie “Unacceptable Levels,” one city’s waste water becomes another city’s drinking water. Also, there’s not a lake or stream left in this country that hasn’t been contaminated in some way.

Unfortunately for the people of Louisiana, something even more sinister is lurking in the waterways, and surprisingly, it wasn’t put there by a polluter.

Local officials have confirmed that a deadly, single-celled amoeba called Naegleria fowleri has infiltrated the drinking water system. Only 1/10th the width of a human hair, this organism is virtually invisible, and “does its damage by causing a devastating immune reaction rather than by actually devouring brain tissue,” according to NPR.

Brain infection caused by the amoeba has already claimed the life of 4-year-old child and caused illness in others. In 2011, two adults died after using contaminated water to rinse out their nasal passages via a Neti pot.

As terrifying as it sounds to have brain-seeking amoebas in the water, scientists say drinking it isn’t exactly a death sentence. From NPR:

Naegleria fowleri is only dangerous when it gains entry into the brain. It does that when water containing the amoeba gets inhaled very deeply, into the area where the roof of the nasal passages meets the floor of the brain.

Drinking amoeba-contaminated water poses no risk, presumably because the single-celled organisms can’t survive in stomach acid. Normal bathing or showering isn’t a risk because even if tap water is contaminated, it doesn’t penetrate into the deepest nasal passages.

With that in mind, the tactics being used by local authorities to purge the amoebas from the water appear a bit more questionable: Officials are pumping extra chlorine into the municipal water supply to kill the bugs. I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly want to drink overly chlorinated water either.

The entire episode, while no particular person’s fault, is just another example of how we take clean water for granted in this country. We dump absurd amounts of it on our inedible lawns, and even more down the drain. Each year, more of America is swallowed up by drought, and some cities are already starting to run out of water.