Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / May 17-18, 2015

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Sunday…along with the minimums Sunday:

84 – 74  Lihue, Kauai
82 – 71  Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 69  Molokai AP
84 – 70  Kahului, Maui
83 – 72  Kailua Kona
81 – 69  Hilo, Hawaiiii

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

0.04  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.17  Punaluu Stream, Oahu
0.17  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.16  Kula 1, Maui
3.92  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

32  Port Allen, Kauai – NE
36  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
29  Molokai – NE
31  Lanai – NE
35  Kaahoolawe – NE
27  Maalaea Bay, Maui – N
30  Pali 2, Big Island – SE

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



Weak cold fronts well to the northwest…with more high
cirrus clouds moving by to the south

Clear to partly cloudy, locally cloudy – here’s the
looping version of the satellite photo above

Showers are falling over the nearby ocean…arriving
along the windward sides on the trade wind flow

Here’s the looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands

Small Craft Advisory…strong trade winds across coastal
and channel waters around Maui County and the Big Island

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Trade winds will continue…with fairly minor day-to-day variations into the new week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profiler of the central Pacific. We find high pressure systems located to the north and northeast of the state. As a result of this high pressure feature, and low pressure well to the south in the deeper tropics, our winds will continue to come in from the trade wind direction. The look range models continue showing the trade winds finally backing-down during the second half of the new week ahead, likely bringing sultry and perhaps hazy weather too…with returning trade winds next weekend.

Some clouds at times…most common during the nights and early morning hours. The windward sides will generally see whatever showers that arrive on the trade wind flow. There will be a few showers carried over into the leeward sides on the smaller islands locally…in addition to localized upcountry afternoon showers. These interior showers will be most prevalent on the Big Island…and possibly the leeward slopes on Maui. As we move through the first half of the new week, a fairly normal trade wind weather pattern will prevail. As we get into the later part of the week, we’ll see more clouds with afternoon showers, followed by more windward biased showers by the weekend. I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui...early Sunday morning before sunrise, skies are mostly clear, with just the usual clouds over the West Maui Mountains, and banked-up against the windward sides…with some showers.  I see some thin high cirrus clouds lighting up a faint pink off to the north as well. The air temperature here in Kula at 545am was 53.1 degrees, while the summit of the Haleakala Crater was showing a 39 degree temperature. At the same time, it was a warmer 72 at the Kahului airport, with a 73 degree reading out in Hana. 

– We’re into the early hours of Sunday afternoon now, with locally sunny weather, although with lots of clouds too. The air temperature here in Kula was 69.6 degrees, while it was a warmer 79 degrees down in Kahului, with 77 at both Kapalua and Hana…and 48 up on the summit of the Haleakala Crater.  A rain shower just started falling here at my weather tower, even though it is light thus far.

– Hi again, this time at sunset, with the light streaks of high cirrus clouds…all lit up a pretty pink color! Otherwise, there’s not many lower level clouds around as we head into the night. There’s a few pockets of clouds upstream, which will bring a few showers to our windward sides into Monday morning. The temperature is dipping, with a 65 degree reading here in Kula at around 710pm, with a warmer 77 reading down at the Kahului AP and in Kapalua…and a somewhat cooler reading out at the Hana AP. The summit of the Haleakala Crater was a rather chilly 43 degrees, heading down into the 30’s in time for the early bike riders on their way down to Paia in the morning.

Friday Evening Film

– This is a film that many of you will roll your eyes over, and who could blame you? However, I’m drawn to these action films…almost like a bee to honey I’m afraid. I guess one could say that it’s a guy thing. At any rate, this one is called Furious 7, starring Vin Diesel, the late Paul Walker, Tony Jaa, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Elsa Pataky…among many others. The synopsis: Continuing the global exploits in the unstoppable franchise built on speed, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of Fast & Furious 7.

The critics are being pretty generous to this film, and I can see why after sitting through it. It was another of those cartoon type films, with outrageous special effects peppered throughout. It was the kind of film that you just have to cinch your seat belt tight, and hang on for dear life. The director throw out the concept of gravity right from the get go, and the film just kept free falling from there. Despite the fact that it was billed as an action thriller, it could have just as easily been referred to as an action comedy. The essence of this film can be distilled into its strong camaraderie, its intensity, and yes even emotion. I liked this long 2 hour 20 minute speed ride through the absurd! As for a grade, and considering what it was, I’d give it a B+. Here’s the trailer for this film, just in case you’re interested.

>>> Atlantic Ocean: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.

>>> Gulf of Mexico: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.

Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico.

>>> Eastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL

For the eastern North Pacific…east of 140 degrees west longitude:

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days.

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

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

>>> Central Pacific: The central north Pacific hurricane season has officially ended. Routine issuance of the tropical weather outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, special tropical weather outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: Typhoon 07W (Dolphin) remains active, and will continue to gradually strengthen…as it moves out over the open ocean, after passing by between Guam and Rota. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map…along with a satellite image – looping view – here’s what several computer model are showing

>>> 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: New Research Identifies First Warm-Blooded Fish – New research by NOAA Fisheries has revealed the opah, or moonfish, as the first fully warm-blooded fish that circulates heated blood throughout its body much like mammals and birds, giving it a competitive advantage in the cold ocean depths.

The silvery fish, roughly the size of a large automobile tire, is known from oceans around the world and dwells hundreds of feet beneath the surface in chilly, dimly lit waters. It swims by rapidly flapping its large, red pectoral fins like wings through the water.

Fish that typically inhabit such cold depths tend to be slow and sluggish, conserving energy by ambushing prey instead of chasing it. But the opah’s constant flapping of its fins heats its body, speeding its metabolism, movement and reaction times, scientists report today in the journal Science.

That warm-blooded advantage turns the opah into a high-performance predator that swims faster, reacts more quickly and sees more sharply, said fisheries biologist Nicholas Wegner of NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif., lead author of the new paper.

“Before this discovery I was under the impression this was a slow-moving fish, like most other fish in cold environments,” Wegner said. “But because it can warm its body, it turns out to be a very active predator that chases down agile prey like squid and can migrate long distances.”

Gills show unusual design

Wegner realized the opah was unusual when a coauthor of the study, biologist Owyn Snodgrass, collected a sample of its gill tissue. Wegner recognized an unusual design: Blood vessels that carry warm blood into the fish’s gills wind around those carrying cold blood back to the body core after absorbing oxygen from water.

The design is known in engineering as “counter-current heat exchange.” In opah it means that warm blood leaving the body core helps heat up cold blood returning from the respiratory surface of the gills where it absorbs oxygen. Resembling a car radiator, it’s a natural adaptation that conserves heat. The unique location of the heat exchange within the gills allows nearly the fish’s entire body to maintain an elevated temperature, known as endothermy, even in the chilly depths.

While mammals and birds typically maintain much warmer body temperatures, the opah is the first fish found to keep its whole body warmer than the environment.