Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday:
83 Lihue, Kauai
86 Honolulu, Oahu
83 Molokai
87 Kahului, Maui
86 Kailua Kona
82 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 910pm Friday evening:
Kailua Kona – 79
Hana airport, Maui – 73
Haleakala Summit – 52 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea Summit – 43 (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.
Aloha Paragraphs
East to east-southeast winds becoming lighter –
prompting muggy conditions that will feel very
warm during the days…especially near sea level
this weekend
There will be some passing showers along
the windward sides…as well as in the
upcountry areas during the afternoon
hours
Looping satellite image…showing clouds
being carried along by the east to
east-southeasterly breezes
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph), along with directions…as of Friday evening
22 Port Allen, Kauai – NE
28 Honolulu, Oahu – NE
21 Molokai -NE
24 Lanai – NNE
20 Kahoolawe – NE
22 Kapalua, Maui – NE
22 South Point, Big Island – NE
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Friday evening (845pm totals):
1.32 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
2.52 Tunnel RG, Oahu
0.46 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.02 Kahoolawe
1.48 Puu Kukui, Maui
1.40 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 ~~~
Our winds will become softer into the weekend…and then gradually build back from the trade wind direction during the first part of the new work week ahead. 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 have an area of moderately strong high pressure located to the north of the state…which is moving eastward. The winds will become lighter into the weekend, with daytime sea breezes taking over in some areas. The wind direction could actually swing all the way around the southeast, bringing warm and moist air into our area…perhaps with even a bit of haze. The models suggest that this temporary weakening of the winds will rebound early in the new week ahead.
Satellite imagery shows low clouds over and around the islands. Looking at this larger looping satellite image, it shows those low level clouds riding along in the trade wind flow…coming in from the east or even southeast now. There are high cirrus clouds well offshore in most directions…although they’re diminishing before arriving over our area. Here’s a looping radar image, showing quite a few passing showers arriving over our islands. The windward sides will receive most of these showers, although the leeward sides will find some falling on the smaller islands at times too.
We’re moving into a modified convective pattern this weekend. There are moisture areas which continue taking aim on our islands, bringing off and on passing showers. These showers are generally light to moderately heavy. The easing of the trade winds as we get into the weekend will bring an increase in afternoon clouds over our leeward slopes, with some showers falling from them locally. The normal trade winds will return by Tuesday into Wednesday, probably lasting through the following week from there. I’ll be back again 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 a 56.5 degrees at 545am on this Friday morning. Skies are partly to mostly cloudy along our windward sides, where quite a few light showers are falling at the moment…with clear to partly cloudy skies elsewhere. Update at 1050am, under rather dark cloudy skies, light breezes, no rain yet…and an air temperature of 70.9 degrees. The clouds around Maui haven’t diminished as they often do during the day, and if anything, continue to increase. Thus far its turning out to be a cloudier day than I had previously thought it would be.
It’s now early afternoon at 1235pm, under cloudy skies, heavy drizzle, calm winds…and a cool 69.6 degrees. We can use this looping radar image to see quite a few showers passing over the islands…especially the central islands from Oahu down through Maui. The air up here is very moisture laden, although looking down towards Kihei, I can see that it’s still way sunny and dry there in contrast. Update at 430pm, its still cloudy, along with a light shower…with an air temperature of 74.7 degrees.
We’re into the early evening hours now at 525pm, under cloudy skies, light mist, near calm winds…and an air temperature of 72.9 degrees. Looking around the island from up here, its quite a cloudy early evening, with light showers falling here and there. It’s not too bad though, and actually is pretty mellow without the stronger trade winds blowing…as they have most of this week.
Friday Evening Film: There were a couple in the running for tonight’s choice, so I decided on one that wasn’t brand new, and less likely to have a crowded theater. It’s called Jersey Boys, starring Christopher Walken, Francesca Eastwood, John Lloyd Young, Michael Lomenda, Erich Bergen, Vincent Piazza, and Steven R. Schirripa…among many others. The synopsis: Clint Eastwood’s big screen version of the Tony Award-winning musical tells the story of the four young men from the wrong side of the tracks in New Jersey who came together to form the iconic `60s rock group The Four Seasons. Their trials and triumphs are accompanied by the hit songs that influenced a generation, and are now being embraced by a new generation of fans through the stage musical.
The critics are giving this film a just alright 54% liking, while the audience is upping that to a more respectable 72% rating. I’m looking forward to the powerful pleasures of its musical moments. I think most of these songs are slightly before my time, although I’m exactly sure. I’m sure it will be fun to look back into those old days, a much different times than our current reality. I’ll of course let you know what I thought Saturday morning, although until then, here’s a trailer for this film.
World-wide tropical cyclone activity:
Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones
A broad low pressure area located about 120 miles southeast of the coast of South Carolina continues to produce disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions are expected to remain conducive for gradual development of this system while it drifts southward offshore of Georgia and northeastern Florida during the next few days.
* Formation chance through 48 hours…medium…near 40 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…60 percent.
Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean
Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones expected through the next 5 days
Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones expected through the next 5 days
Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico.
Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)
North Eastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones
1.) Satellite images indicate that showers and thunderstorms associated with a low pressure area centered about 350 miles south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, are becoming better organized. Environmental conditions are very conducive for further development and a tropical depression could form later today or tonight while the system moves west-northwestward at about 10 mph.
Here's a
satellite image showing this area and the area #2 below.
* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…90 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…90 percent.
2.) A small area of low pressure is located several hundred miles
south of the Gulf of Tehuantepec and is producing disorganized
showers and thunderstorms. Some development of this system is
possible over the next few days while it moves west-northwestward
or northwestward at 10 to 15 mph.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...medium...30 percent.
* Formation chance through 5 days...medium...50 percent.
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: No tropical cyclones are expected through the next two days
Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)
Northwest 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: MIT study unearths Neanderthal diet – The popular conception of the Neanderthal as a club-wielding carnivore is, well, rather primitive, according to a new study conducted at MIT. Instead, our prehistoric cousin may have had a more varied diet that, while heavy on meat, also included plant tissues, such as tubers and nuts.
Scientists from MIT and the University of La Laguna in Spain have identified human fecal remains from El Salt, a known site of Neanderthal occupation in southern Spain that dates back 50,000 years. The researchers analyzed each sample for metabolized versions of animal-derived cholesterol, as well as phytosterol, a cholesterol-like compound found in plants. While all samples contained signs of meat consumption, two samples showed traces of plants — the first direct evidence that Neanderthals may have enjoyed an omnivorous diet.
We have passed through different phases in our interpretation of Neanderthals,” says Ainara Sistiaga, a graduate student at the University of La Laguna who led the analysis as a visiting student at MIT. She and her colleagues have published their study in the journal PLoS ONE.
It’s important to understand all aspects of why humanity has come to dominate the planet the way it does,” adds co-author Roger Summons, a professor of geobiology in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. “A lot of that has to do with improved nutrition over time.”
While scientists have attempted to reconstruct the Neanderthal diet, much of the evidence has been inconclusive, until now. Researchers looked for fecal remains in El Salt, an excavation site in Alicante, Spain, where remnants of multiple Neanderthal occupations have been unearthed. Samples were then analyzed for coprostanol – a lipid formed when the gut metabolizes cholesterol. While this is evidence of a largely meat-based diet, two samples also held biomarkers of plants which Sistiaga says may indicate a rather significant plant intake. This leads researchers to believe that while Neanderthals had a mostly meat-based diet, they may have also consumed a fairly regular portion of plants, such as tubers, berries, and nuts.
Richard Wrangham, a professor of biological anthropology at Harvard University says that, “These lovely new data on fecal sterols confirm what many people have been increasingly thinking, which is that something is wrong with the inference that Neanderthals were 100 percent carnivores … the Sistiaga data are a wonderful new source for challenging conventional wisdom. In the end it would not be surprising to find that Neanderthals show little difference from sapiens in their diet composition.”
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