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

84  Lihue, Kauai
89  Honolulu, Oahu
85  Molokai
90  Kahului, Maui – the record high temperature Sunday was 95…back in 1996
88  Kailua Kona
85  Hilo, Hawaii

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


1.51  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.89  Poamoho RG 1, Oahu
0.30  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.02  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.16  Hana airport, Maui
0.34  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

17  Port Allen, Kauai

18  Kalaeloa, Oahu
18  Molokai
28  Lanai
31  Kahoolawe
27  Kahului AP, Maui

25  Upolu AP, 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 imagery shows tropical depression Karina far to the east…as well as
category 4 hurricane Marie closer to Mexico
neither of which threaten
our islands


Here’s a real time wind profiler showing several counter-clockwise rotating
low pressure systems…along with major hurricane Marie far east


Trade winds continue…windward showers locally at times



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative
~~~




Ongoing trade winds continuing into the new week…although gradually becoming lighter.  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 a moderately strong, near 1029 millibar high pressure system located far to the northeast of the state. At the same time, there’s a major hurricane, and a weakening tropical depression in the eastern Pacific. Our trade winds will remain light to moderately strong into the new week ahead.

Satellite imagery shows scattered clouds over and around the islands...being carried along in the trade wind flow. Looking at this larger looping satellite image, it shows clear to partly cloudy conditions over most of the state…while there are active thunderstorms far to the southwest, south, and southeast.  There’s low clouds being carried our way, which will drop showers locally…mostly along our windward sides during the night and early morning hours. Here’s the looping radar, showing some showers moving across our island chain, which will continue in an off and on manner through the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, the tropical ocean far to our east remains active…in relation to tropical cyclones. However, the computer models are keeping tropical systems well away from Hawaii into the new week. In contrast to our rather quiet reality here in the central Pacific, the eastern Pacific has two tropical cyclones churning the waters now, one of which is a category 4 hurricane offshore from the Mexican coast. ! I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Sunday wherever you happen to be spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Friday Evening Film: There’s several films in Kahului that I’d be willing to see, including The Expendables 3, Sin City: A Dame to Kill, among a couple of others. However, tonight I’ve chosen Guardians of the Galaxy, starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, David Bautista, Lee Pace, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker and Vin Diesel…among many others. The synopsis: from Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team-the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits-Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand-with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.

~~~
Critics and viewers alike are praising this film, with ratings well up into the 90’s (out of 100). Guardians was a good film, although I found myself being a little bored. I actually dozed off a couple of times, as did one of the other friends that I was with. There was certainly no let up in the ongoing action packed adventures, it was just a bit slow for me on some level. It was the kind of film that would typically carry me along without a doubt, although despite the high ratings, I was a little disappointed I must admit. As for a grade, I’ll go with a soft B, which is a little surprising even for me. The opening scenes were great, and there were many good things about the film throughout…it just didn’t grab me all that much for some reason. Here’s the trailer if you’re interested in seeing some scenes of this high action thriller.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:


Atlantic Ocean:
Tropical storm 04L (Cristobal) remains active in the Caribbean Islands, located about 120 miles east-northeast of San Salvador – wind speeds 60 mph. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a satellite imagehere’s what the computer models are showing about this storm.


1.) A tropical wave located about 1100 miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Conditions do not appear to be favorable for development during the next few days, but could become more conducive by the end of the week while the system moves westward to west-northwestward at about 15 mph.


* Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent * Formation chance through 5 days...medium...30 percent


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 depression 11E (Karina) remains active in the northeast Pacific, located about 1240 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California – wind speeds 35 mph. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a satellite imagehere’s what the computer models are showing about this storm.


Hurricane 13E (Marie)
remains active in the northeast Pacific, located about 470 miles southwest of the southern tip of Baja California – wind speeds 145 mph. Here’s the NHC graphical track map…along with a satellite image


Here’s a wide satellite image that covers the entire area between Mexico, out through the central Pacific…to the International Dateline.


Central Pacific
: There are no active tropical cyclones


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:  Levels of Air Toxics decreasing across US Cities – More and more people are living in our cities. They are great places to live, exciting, good jobs, great night life, but also sometimes congestion and unhealthy air quality. The latter problems are improving, however. Efforts to make cities livable without driving are paying off. Bike lanes, bike sharing, and efforts to reduce auto traffic and congestion are helping to improve the air quality in our cities.


The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week released its Second Integrated Urban Air Toxics Report to Congress – the final of two reports required under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to inform Congress of progress in reducing public health risks from urban air toxics.


“This report gives everyone fighting for clean air a lot to be proud of because for more than 40 years we have been protecting Americans — preventing illness and improving our quality of life by cutting air pollution – all while the economy has more than tripled,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “But we know our work is not done yet. At the core of EPA’s mission is the pursuit of environmental justice – striving for clean air, water and healthy land for every American; and we are committed to reducing remaining pollution, especially in low-income neighborhoods.”


Using national emissions and air quality data, the Urban Air Toxics Report shows the substantial progress that has been made to reduce air toxics across the country since the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

– A 66 percent reduction in benzene;
– A nearly 60 percent reduction in mercury from man-made sources like coal-fired power plants;
– An 84 percent decrease of lead in outdoor air, which slows brain development in children;
– The removal of an estimated 1.5 million tons per year of air toxics like arsenic, benzene, lead and nickel from stationary sources and another 1.5 million tons per year (about 50 percent) of air toxics from mobile sources. This is significant because air toxics (also referred to as hazardous air pollutants or HAPs) are known or suspected of causing cancer and can damage the immune, respiratory, neurological, reproductive and developmental systems;
– And, approximately 3 million tons per year of criteria pollutants, like particulate matter and sulfur dioxide, have been reduced as co-benefits of air toxics reductions.


“Reducing toxics is a top priority for EPA, and even with this progress, we continue to improve our understanding of them, so we can effectively reduce remaining risks, particularly in overburdened communities. EPA’s Plan EJ 2014, is making sure environmental justice is addressed in programs and policies across the agency. EPA is working closely with state, local and tribal agencies to promote area-wide and regional strategies to address air toxics and support a number of community-based programs that help communities understand, prioritize and reduce exposures to toxic pollutants in their local environment. For example, in Indianapolis, we are working with partners on the ground through an EPA grant for the “Building Lead Safe Communities” Project in the Martindale-Brightwood and Nearwest neighborhoods. We’re addressing the risk of toxic lead exposure in children through outreach efforts and compiling block level soil lead data, identifying hotspots utilizing air sampling and developing synergistic local solutions.”