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

72  Lihue, Kauai
78  Honolulu, Oahu
79  Molokai
83  Kahului, Maui
82  Kona, Hawaii
75  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 943pm Friday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 77
Poipu, Kauai
– 68


Haleakala Summit –   43
(near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 30 (13,000+ feet on the Big Island)


Hawaii’s MountainsHere’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.

 


Aloha Paragraphs


http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif


A cold front is bringing showers to Kauai and
Oahu…some of which will be quite generous

Sun and Moon dimming high cirrus clouds


Locally gusty trade winds over the western
islands…gradually spreading down the
island chain into Saturday

Off and on showery weather Tuesday…
potentially very wet at times locally

Small Craft Wind Advisory…from Kauai
down through Maui County








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


25  Lihue, Kauai – NNE
37  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
21  Molokai – NE
30  Lanai – NE
23  Kahoolawe -ENE
15  Lipoa
, Maui – NE
25  Upolu airport, Big Island – NE


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Friday evening (845pm totals):


3.44  Kapahi, Kauai
4.88  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.05  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.01  Kahoolawe
0.17  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.67  Hilo airport, 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 ~~~



Locally strong trades over the western islands…strengthening statewide into Saturday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. Here’s a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…centered on the Hawaiian Islands. ~~~ We find a low pressure system far to the northeast of the islands…with a trailing cold front near Oahu and Molokai. At the same time, we see high pressure systems well offshore to the northeast of Hawaii, and far northwest…with ridges extending into the area north and northeast of Hawaii. A Kona low pressure system to the west of the state will set up shop this weekend into early next week, bringing locally gusty south and southwesterly winds.

Satellite imagery shows considerable clouds over and around the islands.
Most of this cloudiness, or at least a large part, consists of high and middle level clouds…which will greatly dim our Hawaiian sunshine over the next few days. Here’s the looping radar image, showing light to moderate showers to the west and southwest of the state, coming into our western islands locally. Showers are arriving along the southeast and eastern side of the Big Island too. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see a conveyor belt of high and middle level clouds being carried over the state from the southwest. There are embedded showers in this mass of moisture as well, some of which will become moderately heavy at times. Showers will focus their efforts most effectively over Kauai and Oahu for the time being…while Maui County and the Big Island will see less rainfall than their neighbors to the west.

The trade winds will falter this weekend through much of the new week ahead, with south and southeast winds taking their place.
Prompting this change will be a Kona low pressure system, which will form a couple of hundred miles to the west of the state. Kona low pressure systems are infamous for bringing wet to very wet weather to our islands. Their counterclockwise circulation can bring copious rainfall to the islands at times, and are known for their flooding potential. They can kick up strong south and southwesterly winds in some cases too. The brunt of this inclement weather will arrive late Sunday into next Tuesday, and should bring inclement conditions to much of the state. This Kona low pressure system, and its associated weather will require adjustments in this outlook over the next few days, in terms of discerning exactly what kind of weather will arrive…and where. 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.

Here on Maui, at the 3,100 foot elevation, at my upper Kula, Maui weather tower, the air temperature was 58.3F degrees at 610am on this early Friday morning.
It’s still dark outside, so I can’t see what’s going on, although the full moon is trying to beam down on us. It’s having a difficult time however, as there are those pesky high and middle level clouds, which are dimming its efforts greatly. The next several days certainly aren’t going to be banner days in terms of bright sunshine here in the islands. I can’t tell if the volcanic haze is still around, although will let you know once the sun comes up a little later in the morning. 

~~~ It’s light now at 8am, with almost completely overcast skies, although with a few very minor blue spots. The air temperature is 61 degrees, with hardly a breath of breeze at the moment. Despite all the clouds, it doesn’t feel at all like showers are in this area. There’s all kinds of volcanic haze in the air though, which will preclude my morning walk, unfortunately. The sun is shining at the moment, although I’m afraid it won’t prevail for long. It’s a nice day however, even with the rather muted sunshine, and considerable clouds that are blanketing the islands at this time….It’s a Beautiful Day actually!

~~~ Just before noon, 1145am, and it’s turned very cloudy, with a growing feeling in the air, that some drops could start falling before too long. It’s still very hazy, super voggy in fact as we get ready to push into the afternoon hours. As expected, the looping radar image shows rain falling over Oahu, and getting ready to fall over again on Kauai…pretty soon. The Big Island is getting some less intense shower activity, focused along its east and southeastern slopes and coasts as well. Meanwhile, Maui County is in a dry slot, with just a few showers falling here and there…although remains out of the primary precipitation fields at this point.

~~~ It’s lunch time here on Maui, or at least for me, as I typically eat right around 130pm. The heavy duty cloud cover that we had earlier in the day, has lightened up a little now, with a few weak rays of muted sunshine trying to break through…although it’s not having much luck. For some reason, I just flashed on all the tourists who are here in the islands now, wanting, craving a mostly sunny day, so they can get than awesome tan to take back to the office with them, in Seattle, or Chicago, or New York…or wherever. I’m sure that it must be a bit disappointing on some level, although there is enough sunshine around to get tan I’m sure. I’m having my usual lunch, juiced wheat grass, carrots, beets, kale, and parsley, it feels so healthy to ingest these organic vegetables!

~~~ Were into our early evening now, partly to mostly cloudy conditions prevailing. Here in Kula at 530pm, it was calm with an air temperature of 72.5 degrees. I can still see moderately heavy volcanic haze down the mountain from here. Again, the radar image shows lots of rainfall fall over both Kauai and Oahu, although most of it is of the light variety, with a few medium heavy showers falling here and there. The southeast breezes will bring a few showers to the southeast and eastern sides of both Maui and the Big Island this evening into the night. I’m about ready to take the drive down to Kahului, to see this film that I wrote about below.

Friday Evening Film: This evening I’m going to see a film that hasn’t interested me, not in the least in fact. However, just to be friendly, I’ve accepted an invitation from my neighbor, his daughter, and her boyfriend. I’ve seen the trailer several times, and none of the times had changed my opinion, it just wasn’t my thing so to speak. It’s called The Monuments Men, starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, and Bob Balaban…among others. Le me set the record straight here, these are top notch actors, and several of them are among my favorites. So, it’s not that, I think its more the subject matter somehow.

The synopsis: based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, this film is an action drama focusing on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys – seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M-1 – possibly hope to succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind’s greatest achievements.

You know, I may have made a mistake in this lack of interest, perhaps. The synopsis makes it sound more interesting, than how I was holding it in my mind. So, we’ll see, I’m going to give it a chance, and will share the results with you tomorrow morning. By the way, the critics aren’t feeling all that differently about this film, as I am, apparently…given their generally low grades for The Monuments Men. Here’s the trailer, have a look, and see what you think, I’d be interested to hear your take on it.



World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean:
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th.
Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


Here’s a
satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean


Caribbean Sea:


Gulf of Mexico:


Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico.

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

Eastern Pacific:
The Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15th through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.


Central Pacific Ocean:
The Central Pacific hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Here’s the 2013 hurricane season summary


Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)


Western Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


South Pacific Ocean:
There are no active tropical cyclones


North and South Indian Oceans:
There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)


Interesting: Spotting Whales from Space! –
Counting individuals of a species is important in order to track wildlife trends. Absence or decline of a species could mean detrimental habitat modifications or that parts of the ecosystem are unbalanced. For marine populations though, trying to count and monitor these species is often a daunting and expensive task as finding these individuals in the vast ocean can be like looking for a needle in a haystack.


Thankfully, scientists lead by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have demonstrated how new satellite technology can be used to count whales, and ultimately estimate their population size.


Using Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery, alongside image processing software, scientists were able to automatically detect and count whales breeding in part of the Golfo Nuevo, Peninsula Valdes in Argentina.


Lead author Peter Fretwell from the BAS, which is funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), explains; “This is a proof of concept study that proves whales can be identified and counted by satellite. Whale populations have always been difficult to assess; traditional means of counting them are localized, expensive and lack accuracy. The ability to count whales automatically, over large areas in a cost effective way will be of great benefit to conservation efforts for this and potentially other whale species.”


The BAS team used a single WorldView2 satellite image of a bay where southern right whales gather to calve and mate. Driven to near extinction, these whales have made a limited recovery following the end of whaling. In recent years, however, many deaths have been seen on their nursery grounds at Peninsula Valdes. Their population size is now unknown but with this sharp increase in calf mortality, estimates are needed.


The enclosed bays in this region contain calm, shallow waters which increase the chance of spotting the whales from space. Three main criteria were used to identify whales: objects visible in the image should be the right size and shape; they should be in the right place (where whales would be expected to be) and there should be no (or few) other types of objects that could be mistaken as whales.


As a result of the satellite imagery, 55 probable whales, 23 possible whales and 13 sub-surface features were identified.


Future satellite platforms will provide even high quality imagery. This will allow for greater confidence in identifying whales and differentiating mother and calf pairs.