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

86  Lihue, Kauai
89  Honolulu, Oahu 
85  Molokai
88  Kahului, Maui 
88  Kailua Kona
80  Hilo, Hawaii

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


0.29  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.46  Kamanaui Stream, Oahu
0.02  Molokai airport, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.29  Puu Kukui, Maui
3.16  Hakalau, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Friday evening:

27  Port Allen, Kauai

27  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
27  Molokai
36  Lanai
37  Kahoolawe
28  Kahului, Maui
35  Kamuela airport, 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/vis.jpg

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/satellite/State_VIS.gif

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

Our trade winds will continue blowing…moderately strong


An area of sultry tropical moisture will bring off and showers
to the state today, mostly along our windward sides – improving
weather Sunday through the middle of the new week… before
another slug of tropical moisture arrives around next Thursday


Small Craft Wind Advisory…windiest coasts and
channels
around Maui County and the Big Island





~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Our trade winds will remain active, blowing in the moderately strong range for the most part…locally stronger at times. 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 moderately strong high pressure systems located to the north and northeast of the state. At the same time, we have lots of low pressure systems that are moving by to the south of the state…and will continue doing so through many days into the future. The forecast calls for the trade winds to remain active, increasing a notch at times..as these tropical disturbances migrate from east to west.

Satellite imagery shows low level clouds moving over the state, especially the windward sides…with high cirrus clouds arriving locally from the southwest too. Looking at this larger looping satellite image, it shows considerable thunderstorm activity over the ocean to the southwest through southeast of the state…some of which are tropical disturbances. We see an area of tropical moisture to the southeast and east, which is now bringing showers our way into Saturday, especially over the Big Island and Maui. Here’s the looping radar, showing showers falling locally along the windward sides and around the mountains, which will keep wet conditions active into Saturday, some areas will find heavy rainfall at times…with some possible localized flooding possible.

A plume of moisture associated with retired tropical cyclone Genevieve, moving by to our south…will bring increased showers to the state through Saturday. There’s a pretty good chance that Maui and the Big Island may end up getting a few good downpours out of this, likely along the windward coasts and slopes. The leeward sides will get some of this stuff too, although the windward sides will benefit the most. There’s the outside chance of some localized flooding, although thunderstorms don’t seem likely. Oahu and Kauai will get into the act this evening into Saturday, although will see less heavy showers more than likely.

As we get into the second half of the weekend, conditions should return to pleasant trade winds through the middle of next week. Thereafter, hurricane Iselle now in the eastern Pacific, may bring showers to our area later next week, it won’t be a hurricane then…and perhaps not even a tropical storm anymore. I’ll continue to track this next tropical cyclone, as it moves generally in our direction. The models are now showing yet another system following closely behind whatever Iselle is later next week (in terms of strength)…this is a really active period of tropical cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific! Here’s what the hurricane models are showing for Iselle, the first of the two. I’ll be back again early Saturday morning with your next new weather narrative. I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.


Friday Evening Film:  There are quite a few good looking films showing here in Kahului now, although one stands out for me, its called Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik, Amr Waked, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Analeigh Tipton…among many others. The synopsis: from La Femme Nikita and The Professional to The Fifth Element, writer/director Luc Besson has created some of the toughest, most memorable female action heroes in cinematic history. Now, Besson directs Scarlett Johansson in Lucy, an action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic. ~~~ I’ll let you know what I thought by Saturday morning, until then…here’s the trailer – by the way, it looks like a very rough film!


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea:
Tropical Storm (Bertha) remains active in the Caribbean Sea, here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a satellite image – Here’s what the hurricane models are showing for this slowly strengthening storm.

Gulf of Mexico:
There are no active tropical cyclones

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:
Hurricane (Iselle) remains active, located about 1370 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California, here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a satellite image – Here’s what the hurricane models are showing 


1.)  An area of low pressure located about 700 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, has changed little in organization during the past few hours. However, environmental conditions are conducive for development, and this system is likely to become a tropical depression over the weekend while it moves westward at about 10 mph.


* Formation chance through 48 hours…
medium…60 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high..90 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: 
Tropical Depression (Genevieve)is active again (for the third time!) to the south of the Hawaiian Islands , here’s the CPHC graphical track map…along with a satellite image


1.)  Disorganized showers and thunderstorms associated with an area of low pressure are located about 1050 miles east southeast of Hilo, Hawaii. Upper-level winds are not currently favorable for development of this system, and any development of this system should be slow to occur while it moves westward at around 10 mph this weekend.


* Formation chance through 48 hours, low, near 20 percent


2.)  Disorganized showers and thunderstorms associated with an area of low pressure are located about 1000 miles west southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. Conditions appear to be less conducive for development of this system as it continues to move slowly toward the west northwest this weekend.


* Formation chance through 48 hours, low…near 0 percent   


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


Northwest Pacific Ocean: Typhoon 11W (Halong)
remains active well to the east of the Philippine Islands, here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a 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:  Nesting Implications for the Northern Gulf Loggerhead Turtle – After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, a massive response to protect beaches, wetlands, and wildlife occurred. Nonetheless, because of the spill, extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats were reported and many studies have been conducted to quantify the affects of the oil spill on specific species.


One study in particular which started in the wake of the spill looks at the nesting loggerhead sea turtles in the northern Gulf and how their feeding areas have been not only affected by the Deepwater Horizon spill, but by commercial fishing operations, and areas used for oil and gas extraction.


The study, which is the largest to date on Northern Gulf loggerheads, examined 59 nesting females, a small and declining subpopulation of loggerheads that is federally classified as threatened.


“With such a large sample of the nesting females, we’re finally getting the big picture of when, where and how females that nest in the northern Gulf of Mexico rely on off-shore waters to survive. This information is critical for halting and reversing their declines,” said USGS research ecologist Kristen Hart, the lead author of the study.


All of the turtles tracked in the study remained in the Gulf of Mexico to feed, and a third remained in the northern part of the Gulf.


“These results show how important the Gulf of Mexico is to this group of loggerheads — they stay here throughout the year, not just during the nesting season,” said USGS research biologist Meg Lamont, a co-author on the study.


The study also revealed specific parts of the Gulf where females feed and spend most of their time. It is believed that an individual turtle will return to these specific feeding areas throughout her life.


Lamont explains, “People think of nesting beaches as their homes, but they don’t really spend much time there. They only migrate to the nesting beaches to lay eggs. The rest of their adult life is spent foraging at sea.”


The next step for USGS scientists Hart and Lamont is to track these nesting Gulf loggerheads long enough to test whether they do indeed re-visit the same feeding areas throughout their life, as they suspect. This would help pinpoint important feeding sites of long-term and high traffic use — in essence, their home ranges.


“Locating long-term feeding areas will really open up new possibilities for the conservation and management of these amazing creatures,” said Hart.


The study, “Migration, foraging, and residency patterns for Northern Gulf of Mexico loggerheads: Implications of local threats and international movements” is published in the journal PLOS ONE.