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

73  Lihue, Kauai
77  Honolulu, Oahu
76  Molokai
80  Kahului, Maui
82  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 1043pm Sunday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 76
Lihue, Kauai
– 69


Haleakala Summit –    41
(near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit –  28 (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


Locally gusty trade winds…gradually giving
way to softer south and southeasterlies

Off and on wet weather through Tuesday…
primarily on Kauai and Oahu – potentially
very wet at times on those western islands

Small Craft Wind Advisory…around Kauai
coasts and channels

Flash Flood Watch…on Kauai until 6pm
this evening

Winter Weather Advisory…Big Island summits








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


35  Mana, Kauai – SE
15  Kii, Oahu – SE
15  Molokai – SE
09  Lanai – NE
27  Kahoolawe – NE
27  Kula 1
, Maui – SE
13  Kaupulehu, Big Island – W


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


5.06  Kapahi, Kauai
1.93 Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.05  Molokai
0.03  Lanai
0.24  Kahoolawe
0.34  Kula 1, Maui
0.80  Honaunau, 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 winds over the islands, although generally lighter in most areas…into the new week. 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 Kona Low pressure system just to the west of the islands, with an associated cold from dipping into the tropics. Meanwhile, there’s the tail-end of stationary cold front not far to the north of the islands as well. At the same time, we see high pressure systems offshore to the northeast, north and northwest of Hawaii…with associated ridges. Winds will remain locally gusty for the time being, and then gradually calm down from the south and southeast.

Satellite imagery shows multi-layered clouds over the entire state.
Most of this cloudiness, or at least a large part, consists of high and middle level clouds…which will keep our Hawaiian sunshine at a minimum Monday. Here’s the looping radar image, showing lots of light to moderate showers over and around Kauai, Oahu and Maui County…finally moving into the Big Island tonight as well. As the NWS flash flood watch remains active over Kauai, there will be persistent showers, along with some intensity to them at times. Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we can see the distinct counterclockwise rotating Kona Low over the ocean to our west-northwest. The circulation is carrying loads of moisture over the state…from the deeper tropics to our southwest! 

The gusty trade winds will falter at some point soon…with softening breezes shifting around to the southeast.
Prompting this change will be this Kona Low pressure system, which continues to deepen several hundred miles to the west and northwest of the state. Kona low pressure systems are infamous for bringing wet to very wet weather to our islands. Their counterclockwise circulation can bring heavy 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 particular Kona Low will arrive today into Tuesday, bringing inclement conditions to Kauai and probably Oahu. Maui County and the Big Island will be too far east to receive very much of this rainfall…although will eventually pick up some of this too. This unsettled weather pattern will continue to make our atmosphere rather shower prone through much of the new week. I’ll be back with your next new weather narrative Monday morning. Please drive very carefully, if and when you find yourself on wet streets! I hope you have a great Sunday 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 57.4F degrees at 635am on this early Sunday morning. 
It’s now 1005am, and I just got back from coffee and a pastry at that little French restaurant here in Kula…with my neighbor Jeff. It’s totally cloudy, although it’s the higher and middle level clouds, leaving the West Maui Mountains in the clear, with even the Haleakala Crater under the cloud deck. The air temperature is a mild 68.4 degrees, with not even a hint of a breeze. It’s as dry as a bone too, with no sign of a shower in any direction. This of course is in contrast to the island of Kauai, which has gone through a flash flood warning earlier this morning, a flood advisory currently in force…and an ongoing flash flood watch through early tomorrow morning!

~~~ We’re into our afternoon hours now, with an air temperature of 70.3 degrees at 1230pm. Taking a look around from my perch here in the weather tower, I see clouds in all directions. There continues to be the high overcast, and now we’re seeing lower clouds beginning to fill in too. I can see those low clouds clipping the tops of the trees not far up the mountain from here. There’s been a little southwest breeze beginning to blow too, and it feels like it wouldn’t be out of the question to see a few drops falling soon. Speaking of rainfall, that’s an impressive amount of wet weather showing up on that radar image up the page, which is mostly over the area from western Molokai, up the chain over Oahu and on to Kauai.

~~~ It’s almost 230pm, and it seems to be working up towards showers. The temperature is plummeting, well…at least its dropped from 70 to 68, which feels cold for some reason. It’s probably because the moisture in the rain has drastically risen, with fog now encircling my house. Looking at this looping radar image, there’s absolutely no lack of rainfall from Kauai down to Oahu, Molokai and Lanai…and now migrating across West Maui. I live in east Maui, and it looks like its just a matter of time before this stuff slices across my area. This evening a friend of mine has invited me over for her birthday, she lives in Haiku, on a 14 acre beautiful piece of property. It will be fun to get out along the windward side of east Maui, and help her celebrate her special day. I can use her computer to do the next update from there.

~~~ I’m in Haiku, and it’s dark around 8pm, although I can hear the light rain falling, as it has been the last several hours. I’m at my friend Sharon’s house, and we’re having dinner together on her birthday. I brought a bottle of French Champagne to celebrate with, and she likes it very much. It’s much warmer over here closer to the ocean, compared to upcountry where I live in Kula. She was playing piano for me a few minutes ago, which was very nice. Her husband is on Oahu, so I am standing in for him on this, her 52nd birthday. 


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. Let 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 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. ~~~ As I thought, I wasn’t terribly taken by this film, although it may have been slightly better than I had anticipated. It just wasn’t my cup of tea, although I kept trying to be entertained, it just didn’t grab me. As for a grade, I would have to give it a B- rating.



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.