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

81  Lihue, Kauai
82  Honolulu, Oahu
80  Molokai
84  Kahului, Maui
85  Kailua Kona
81  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 743pm Sunday evening:

 

Kailua Kona – 79
Hilo, Hawaii
– 74


Haleakala Summit –   45
(near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 36 (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.hawaiilife.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Hanalei-Bay-Pier-View1-600x399.jpg

Kauai

Easing
trade winds through Monday – then rebounding
late Tuesday into mid-week through Thursday…
diminishing again Friday into next weekend


Showers falling along our windward sides…a few
elsewhere 




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


14  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
27  Kuaokala, Oahu – N
25  Molokai – E
32  Lanai – NE
27  Kahoolawe – NE
24  Kahului,
Maui – NE
22  Upolu airport, Big Island – NE


Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Sunday evening (545pm totals):


1.09  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
3.40  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.05  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.06  Kahoolawe
2.55  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.98  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 be softening into Monday…before rebounding Wednesday for a day or two. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profile of the central Pacific…focused on the Hawaiian Islands. ~~~ We see two moderately strong high pressure systems, one far northeast and the other northwest of our islands. An approaching cold front has caused a break in a connecting ridge of high pressure…to our northwest. Our winds will be coming in from the east for the most part, which will diminishing in strength through Monday into Tuesday. This spring time trade wind flow will bounce back into the moderately strong realm Wednesday. Looking even further ahead, the winds will likely ease up again later Friday into next weekend…as another cold front approaches the state.

Satellite imagery shows high level clouds still over and around the state…although now just over parts of Maui County and the Big Island.
Looking at this larger satellite image, which is in the looping mode, we see these cirrus clouds shifting east…with clearing in their wake. The islands of Kauai and Oahu are already out from under these sun dimming clouds, with the rest of the state still under their cover at the moment. There will continue to be a gradual clearing through the island chain…although low clouds and localized showers will continue to be carried our way on the lighter trade winds. The aforementioned cold front to our northwest, will bring increasing clouds and showers later Tuesday into Wednesday too. Here’s a looping radar image, showing a fairly steady stream of generally light showers moving across the island chain, falling locally along our north and east facing windward coasts and slopes…especially around the windward sides at the time of this writing.

Our winds are on the down swing now, as a shower bearing frontal boundary approaches from the northwest. The trades will continue carrying passing showers to our windward sides, and a couple elsewhere locally. A trough of low pressure aloft, passing over the state, will help to enhance whatever showers that are around for the time being. The latest forecast continues to show a shower producing frontal boundary arriving later Tuesday into Wednesday, first on Kauai…and then down the chain to the Big Island on Wednesday.  Looking into next weekend, the models show another late season cold front approaching the state, which may bring some light showers to the Kauai end of the state, although then again, it may stall before arriving. At the same time, it will cause our winds to slow down again. I’ll be back early Monday morning with your next new weather narrative, 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 a relatively warm 61.2 degrees at 710am on this Sunday morning. There are still large streaks of those persistent high cirrus clouds around, although I can see more blue skies beginning to appear now towards the west.

It’s now early afternoon, at 1230pm here in Kula, under cloudy skies, and light misty drizzle. The air temperature is 68.9 degrees, with just light breezes blowing. The upper level low pressure system passing over the state, mentioned above, is currently supporting enhanced shower activity. A couple of the wettest areas on both Oahu and Maui have received 2-3+ inches of rain during the last 24 hours, although generally much less is occurring elsewhere.

We’ve now moved into the early evening hours, at 545pm, under partly cloudy skies…and an air temperature of 73.2 degrees. We had a couple of light sprinkles or showers this afternoon, although they did little more than wet my deck lightly. I can still see a few of those high cirrus clouds around the edges, so we may see some color around sunset. Otherwise, it was a rather cloudy day here in upcountry Maui, with sunshine finally arriving now. It was a nice day for the most part, although likely a bit too cloudy for our serious sun worshippers.

Extra:
Jumping dog video – fun!   

Friday evening film: I’ve only seen one film since I left on vacation over a month ago, so I headed down the mountain to see a new one. I wasn’t thrilled with any of the current movies playing in our local theaters, although I decided to give it a go anyway. This time I went to see one that’s called Divergent, starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Ray Steveson, Ansel Elgort, and Miles Teller…among many others. The synopsis: this
is a thrilling action-adventure film set in a world where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) is warned she is Divergent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader (Kate Winslet) to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust in the mysterious Four (Theo James) and together they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it’s too late. Based on the best-selling book series by Veronica Roth.

I went to see this film with my neighbors, both of whom are college professors and astrophysicists, and we ended up enjoying it way more than we thought we would! As a matter of fact, Jeff gave it an B+, while Svetlana gave it an even higher A+ grade. I came in at B+ myself, and was thoroughly entertained. I suppose one could call this film teenage sci-fi, although with that being said, that certainly didn’t stop this senior citizen from being moved by it. The one part that felt too soft to me was the few final scenes, which left me wanting something a bit more broad shouldered…to match the rest of this big film. Apparently, this first film may be part of an upcoming franchise, which would be alright in my book. I would imagine that most of you won’t be rushing to the theater to see this one, although all three of us were happy to have been drawn in. Here’s the trailer, just in case you’re interested in getting a taste of what we saw.



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)


North Pacific Ocean: Tropical Cyclone 06W is active in the northwestern Pacific. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map of this strengthening tropical storm…along with a NOAA satellite image.


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: Illegal Fishing still a big problem in the US – When people talk about illegal trafficking in wildlife, the glistening merchandise laid out on crushed ice in the supermarket seafood counter — from salmon to king crab — probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But 90 percent of U.S. seafood is imported, and according to a new study in the journal Marine Policy, as much as a third of that is caught illegally or without proper documentation.


The technical term is IUU fishing, for illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. But such improbable allies as members of the U.S. Senate now refer to it as “pirate fishing.” And it ensnares seafood companies, supermarkets, and consumers alike in a trade that is arguably as problematic as trafficking in elephant tusks, rhino horns, and tiger bones.


Among the egregious violations, according to the study: Up to 40 percent of tuna imported to the U.S. from Thailand is illegal or unreported, followed by up to 45 percent of pollock imports from China, and 70 percent of salmon imports. (Both species are likely to have been caught in Russian waters, but trans-shipped at sea and processed in China.) Wild-caught shrimp from Mexico, Indonesia, and Ecuador are also more likely to be illegal, and some illegal wild-caught shrimp may be disguised as farmed shrimp.


In recent months, government agencies and international maritime regulators have begun taking counter-measures to stop the illegal trade. Late last month, the European Union banned the importation of fish from Belize, Cambodia, and Guinea, alleging that those nations either sold flags of convenience — registrations having nothing to do with the location of the actual owners — or otherwise failed to cooperate in efforts to stop illegal fishing. The EU also issued “yellow card” warnings to Curaçao, Ghana, and South Korea.