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

85  Lihue, Kauai
90  Honolulu, Oahu – record highest temperature for Thursday…93 in 1997
86  Molokai
90  Kahului, Maui – record highest temperature for Thursday…93 in 2004
88  Kailua Kona
83  Hilo, Hawaii

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


0.14  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.98  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.14  Molokai 1, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.47  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.24  Puho CS, Big Island

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

14  Port Allen, Kauai

27  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
25  Molokai
30  Lanai
29  Kahoolawe
10  Lipoa, Maui

24  South Point, 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/tpac/vis-l.jpg
Satellite image showing dissipating post-tropical cyclone
Julio to the
north of the islands…and weakening tropical
storm Karina far to the east


http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/tc_graphics/2014/graphics/EP102014W.gif


http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/EP11/refresh/EP1114W5_NL+gif/204735W5_NL_sm.gif


Here’s a real time wind profiler showing retiring
Julio to Hawaii’s north,
and weakening Karina far to the east
…the area closer to the east-southeast
of the islands, is a tropical disturbance that may become a tropical
depression within the next two days – it has a high chance


Trade winds…strengthening into the weekend – carrying just a few
windward showers


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



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative
~~~




Strengthening trade winds, with generally fine weather…along with a few windward showers 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. We have moderately strong high pressure systems located to the northwest and northeast of the state. Post-tropical storm Julio is located to the north of our islands, situated between these two high pressure cells. Our trade winds will strengthen…lasting through the rest of the week into next week.
 
Satellite imagery shows less than the normal amount of clouds upstream of the islands...and they’re patchy at best. Looking at this larger looping satellite image, it shows mostly clear to partly cloudy skies over most of the state…while there are lots of thunderstorms far southwest, south, and southeast. There’s low clouds being carried our way, although the atmosphere is becoming more stable and dry…with any resultant windward showers remaining very limited through the weekend. Here’s the looping radar, showing hardly any showers moving across our island chain…at the time of this writing. 

Post-tropical cyclone Julio is dissipating…while tropical storm Karina is weakening in the eastern Pacific.  The islands are moving into a prolonged period of trade wind weather, with strengthening wind speeds expected into the weekend. We may see some increasing clouds and showers right after the weekend, most of which will take aim on our windward sides. Meanwhile,we aren’t through with tropical cyclones moving into our central Pacific from the eastern Pacific. This means that we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for new activity to our southeast and east-southeast through the next week and longer.  As a matter of fact, we have an area of disturbed weather, with a high chance of developing into a tropical depression…which moved into our central Pacific yesterday  I’ll return with more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Friday wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

~~~ Here’s video footage of the Big Island…showing some of the destruction that recent tropical storm Iselle did to the southern part of that island! [Full screen]



World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones


Here’s a
satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

Caribbean Sea:
There are no active tropical cyclones

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:
Tropical storm 11E (Karina) remains active in the northeast Pacific, located about 770 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California – wind speeds 65 mph. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a satellite imagehere’s what the computer models are showing about this storm.


1.) An area of low pressure is forecast to form a few hundred miles southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula in a couple of days. Some gradual development of this system is possible early next week while it moves northwestward and then west- northwestward.


* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent * Formation chance through 5 day...medium...30 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
: Post-tropical cyclone 10E (Julio) is dissipating in the central Pacific Ocean, located about 765 miles north of Honolulu, Oahu. Here’s the CPHC graphical track map…along with a satellite imageFinal Advisory


1.)  An irregular area of low pressure located about 1100 miles east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, produced persistent showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions may support gradual development of this system during the next two days as it moves slowly toward the west to northwest..


* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…60 percent


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: Bottling Water from Drought Stricken Areas The bottled water industry has grown exponentially the past few decades despite the fact tap water in the United States is generally safe. Never mind the fact bottled water producers have had more than their fair share of safety issues: bottled water has become accepted by consumers. While companies such as Nestlé insist they are taking responsibility for water stewardship and recycling, they also bottle their water at dubious sources, including those in drought stricken regions.


In fact, much of the bottled water produced in the U.S. comes from areas affected by drought. As an article recently posted on Mother Jones illustrates, four of the most popular bottled water brands—Aquafina, Dasani, Arrowhead and Crystal Geyser—come largely from California. True, farming takes up the lion’s share of water in the state, and bottled water in the grand scheme of things is not parching California on its own. But at a time when California is struggling to provide residents, industry and farmers adequate supplies of water, more citizens are asking why it is bottled here and shipped out of state.


Part of the problem is regulation, or lack of it. While most states monitor and restrict groundwater use to ensure they are not depleted, California lacks any such laws. The state’s legislature is finally starting to address this oversight, but even if the legislation in current form is passed, the state will long be in danger if the current drought conditions do not improve. Agencies in charge of groundwater basins will not have to issue sustainability plans until 2020, and those plans would not have to be fully implemented until 2040, according to the Washington Post. Over half of the bottled water churned in California and ending up in PET bottles is groundwater, through the bottling companies prefer the more exotic term, “spring water.”


Whether it is spring water, groundwater, or water coming from other municipal supplies, the point is that the state could be using this water for far better use than allowing the beverage companies to bottle it and mark it up to sell it at obscene profit margins. Despite the bottling industry’s bizarre claims that bottled water production is “ironically” low compared to that of processing other beverages, it still takes almost 1.7 liters of water to produce a liter of bottled water. Add the wasted plastic resulting from the petroleum that could be better used as fuel, plus the energy required to produce bottled water, and we have an oddly unsustainable industry despite these companies’ fervent claims to the contrary.


In the end, consumers need to be convinced tap water really is the cost-effective and safe alternative. While many bottling companies refuse efforts at transparency when it comes to disclosing the actual sources of their water, recent snafus such as the loss of drinking water in Toledo, Ohio (through no fault of the city) give bottlers more ammunition to pitch their product. Nevertheless, the strange spectacle of bottling water in a state entering its third year of drought should give us pause before we spurn the tap in favor of those brightly-labeled bottles.