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

87 – 77  Lihue, Kauai
87 – 78  Honolulu, Oahu – tied the record high temperature Saturday…back in 2005
86 – 72  Molokai
91 – 76  Kahului, Maui – the record high temperature Sunday was 94…back in 1950
88 – 80  Kailua Kona
86 – 73  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.87  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.88  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.33  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.24  Kahakuloa, Maui
0.23  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

18  Poipu, Kauai – NE
31  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
29  Molokai – ENE
37  Lanai – NE
33  Kahoolawe – NE
36  Maalaea Bay, Maui – NNE 
37  Kohala Ranch, Big Island – ESE

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

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
Hurricane Hilda continues to head in the direction
of the Hawaiian Islands…although there will be
a definite decrease in strength as Hilda gets closer

Here’s a real time wind profile of Hilda and our islands

 

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/tc_graphics/2015/graphics/EP102015W.gif
Hurricane Hilda continues on a course towards Hawaii

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Category 1 hurricane Hilda is located to our southeast…
a relatively small compact system


http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Hurricane Hilda is located about 425 miles southeast
from Hilo, Hawaii…clouds out ahead of Hilda could
bring showers to the Big Island as early as Tuesday

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/10E/imagery/ir0-lalo.gif


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers are over the ocean…impacting the
windward sides locally – looping radar image

 

Small Craft Advisory…for the windiest coastal and
channel waters Maui County and the Big Island

High Surf Advisory…east shores of Maui and the
Big Island

Hurricane Warning…far southeast Hawaiian waters

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



The trade winds continue, although will begin to weaken some starting Monday. 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 moderately strong high pressure systems to the north of the state. At the same time we see the approach of weakening hurricane Hilda to the southeast of the Hawaiian Islands. Looking ahead, our trades will gradually weaken as Hilda gets closer to our area. As Hilda moves by to the south of the islands, just clipping the very southern tip of the Big Island in the process…our local trade winds could end up becoming a bit stronger…stay tuned.

As the trade winds continue, we’ll see occasional passing showers…along our windward coasts and slopes. The leeward sides will have far fewer showers, with pleasant, albeit hot summer weather prevailing during the days. The latest CPHC forecast track above, shows what will then be tropical depression Hilda impacting the southern part of the Big Island, which will bring an increase in clouds and showers to not only that island…but perhaps for other parts of the state as well. This change in weather will arrive later Thursday, continuing into next weekend. This situation won’t be a threat, at least in terms of winds…although may bring some summer rainfall to the state then.

Hurricane 10E (Hilda) continues to be active in our central Pacific…although is now a category 1 hurricane. Category 1 hurricanes have sustained winds that range between 74 and 95 mph. Hilda currently has sustained winds of 90 mph…with gusts to near 115 mph. Here’s a satellite image, and what the computer models are showing. It appears that this tropical cyclone, in whatever form that it will be in during this new week, will influence our local weather conditions in the Thursday through Saturday time frame. It’s beginning to look more and more like Hilda may slide by to the south of the islands, perhaps giving the trade winds a nudge upwards in strength, with the northern fringe of clouds and showers…spreading into the island chain.

It’s too early to know the exact details, although looking at the situation from here, we’ll find rough surf along our southeast and east facing shores…starting already now. It will take until Thursday before tropical depression (<39 mph) level winds may arrive on the Big Island, and rainfall of course too. The anticipated weakening trend of this storm will be a result of cooler sea surface temperatures below, and strong near 40 mph wind shear aloft, as it moves under the subtropical jet stream. As we all know however, these outlooks can and do change with time…please stay tuned for additional updates.

I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Sunday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui…It’s 555am Sunday morning, skies are mostly clear with a few clouds around the edges. The air temperature here in Kula, at my upcountry weather tower was 58.1 degrees, while it was 77 down at the Kahului airport, 75 out in Hana…with a cooler 50 up at the summit of the Haleakala Crater at about the same time. Now at about 11am, skies are partly cloudy, mixed with cloudy and sunny conditions in places. There are a few showers falling along our windward sides, although nothing heavy that I can see using radar…or visually.

Friday Evening Film: I’m happy to report that I saw another film, which was such a treat, after a long week of rather intense weather work. Seeing these films each week with my friends is very fun for me, one of my favorite outside activities! My friends Jeff and Svetlana and I saw the new film called Irrational Man, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Jamie Blackley, Meredith Hagner and Parker Posey…among many others. The synopsis: when a burned-out, brilliant professor – one who believes in lessons from life rather than textbooks – takes a job at a small college, everyone there is abuzz. He becomes involved with a teacher as well as a precocious student, but it takes a dramatic, existential act to turn his life around, and make him see the world through a much rosier and more positive perspective. Woody Allen directed and wrote this film.

This was a rather intense film, ranging between light and airy, to downright murderous. Obviously Woody Allen continues to pump out these very interesting films, and this one was no exception. I’ve seen many of his films, and I typically find them entertaining, sometimes very…and other times not quite as much. The acting was very good and engaging, really pulling one into the lively story. We remarked after the film that we all noticed Woody Allen’s personality being woven through much of the film…giving his famous touch to situations along the way. I especially enjoyed the dynamics between Joaquin Phoenix and very attractive Emma Stone. It was a very good film, with Svetlana thinking highly enough of it, to give an impressive A+ grade! Jeff and I were both a little reluctant to go that far, although thought enough of it to give B+ ratings. If you’re curious…here’s the trailer.


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

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days over the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea or Atlantic Ocean

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

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

1.)   A trough of low pressure located about 1200 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula is producing disorganized cloudiness and showers. Development of this system is unlikely due to an increasingly unfavorable environment while it moves westward at around 10 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…10 percent

Here’s the NHC 5-day outlook

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:

Hurricane 10E (Hilda) remains active, with sustained winds of 90 mph, and is located about 425 miles southeast of Hilo, Hawaii. Hilda will continue to drop down through the stages of the hurricane wind scale over the next several days…heading towards a tropical storm designation well before reaching Hawaii. Here’s the CPHC graphical track map, a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing.

Here’s a satellite image, with Hilda described above

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: History of Agriculture Revealed – Open any history book and you’re likely to find that the practice of agriculture was invented 12,000 years ago in the Levant, an area in the Middle East that was home to some of the first human civilizations. But a new discovery recently made in Northern Israel seems to have shattered the myth on the advent of agriculture, offering up exciting evidence that trial plant cultivation, what we call agriculture, began far earlier – some 23,000-years-ago.

Researchers from Israel’s Tel Aviv, Bar-Ilan and Haifa Universities, with participation from Harvard, recently uncovered the first weed species at the site of a sedentary human camp on the shore of Israel’s Sea of Galilee, the location where prehistoric communities cultivated the first plants for human consumption.

“While full-scale agriculture did not develop until much later, our study shows that trial cultivation began far earlier than previously believed, and gives us reason to rethink our ancestors’ capabilities,” TAU’s Prof. Marcelo Sternberg said in a statement. “Those early ancestors were more clever and skilled than we thought.”

‘Our ancestors were more clever and skilled than we thought’

Though weeds are typically considered a threat or nuisance in contemporary farming, their presence at the site of the findings revealed the earliest signs of trial plant cultivation — some 11 millennia earlier than conventional historical thought regarding the onset of agriculture.

The site, which was built by fisher-hunter-gatherers, was found to be unusually well-preserved, having been charred, covered by lake sediment, and sealed in low-oxygen conditions — ideal for the preservation of plant material. Hence, weed species and harvesting tools found at the site provide clear evidence of early farming.

“This uniquely preserved site is one of the best archaeological examples worldwide of the hunter-gatherers’ way of life,” Sternberg says.

Prehistoric plant cultivation

The site bears the remains of six shelters and a particularly rich assemblage of plants. Upon retrieving and examining 150,000 plant specimens, the researchers determined that early humans there had gathered over 140 species of plants. These included 13 known weeds mixed with edible cereals, such as wild emmer (wheat), wild barley, and wild oats.