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

82 – 73  Lihue, Kauai
85 – 73  Honolulu, Oahu
82 – 66  Molokai
85 – 62  Kahului AP, Maui
84 – 72  Kailua Kona AP
84 – 66  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.46  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.17  Tunnel RG, Oahu
0.05  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.06  Hana AP, Maui
0.02  Mountain View, Big Island

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

18  Port Allen, Kauai – SE
18  Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
21  Molokai – ENE
17  Lanai – NE
31  Kahoolawe – ENE
13  Kaupo Gap, Maui – SE
22  South Point, 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

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
The Pacific storm track remains well north of our islands…
with associated cold fronts staying north as well

Here’s a wind profile…of the offshore waters
around the islands – with a closer view

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Active thunderstorms well offshore southwest through
southeast of Hawaii

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Off and on increasing low clouds…mixed with clear skies


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Just a few showers falling locally windward…otherwise mostly dry
looping radar image

High Surf Advisory…along the north and west shores from
Kauai to Maui, gradually lowering today – rising Tuesday

Small Craft Advisory in coastal and channel waters over
Maui County and the Big Island


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Our trade winds are giving way to lighter southeasterly breezes…with trade winds returning later Tuesday into Wednesday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a moderately strong high pressure system far to our east-northeast…with its associated ridge running west to near Hawaii. At the same time, we find numerous storm and gale low pressure systems far to our northeast through northwest. The trade winds are easing up in strength, and veering to the southeast Monday into Tuesday…bringing volcanic haze our way locally. The models show the trade winds picking up again thereafter, lasting through Thursday. An approaching cold front will tamp down our trade winds again Friday into next weekend.

A few showers will fall along our windward sides locally…although most areas will remain generally dry. We’ll find dry weather continuing, especially along our leeward sections…with an occasional passing shower over the windward sides. This drier than normal weather pattern is being supported by a ridge of high pressure aloft over the state…in addition to limited low level moisture across our tropical latitudes. We see a weak front approaching the state, although it will pass by to our north, or stall before arriving…as they have been doing for the last several weeks. The long range models are suggesting that our drier than normal weather conditions will extend all the way through the new week ahead. There are no cold fronts expected to arrive over the islands for the time being…with fair weather prevailing in general.

Here on Maui…It’s mostly clear across the island early this Sunday morning, with just a few clouds and a couple of random showers along the windward sides. Here in upcountry Kula, it’s calm and clear…with an air temperature of 50.9F degrees at my place here in upcountry Kula. This temperature is in contrast to the 65 degree reading down near sea level in Kahului, with 72 in Hana, 64 at Maalaea Bay…and 61 in Kaupo Gap.

– We’re into the mid-afternoon time frame, with a range of cloud conditions here on Maui. Upcountry Kula is cloudy and cool, although I can see what looks like mostly clear skies down along the north shore, with partly sunny conditions along our leeward beaches for the most part. According to radar, there are no showers falling, as the dry conditions continue…with no change in this regard into the new week ahead.

– It’s early evening now at this last update of the day, just before sunset in fact. The winds have become quite light now, so clouds gathered around the mountains during the afternoon, although with no showers noted. These clouds will dissipate during the night, with another cool start to our day Monday. Looking down into the central valley, specifically for any sign of volcanic haze…there’s little that I can see for the time being.

I’ll be back with many 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


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> 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 if 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 if 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 if conditions warrant.

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: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 North Pacific hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on May 15, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

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 if conditions warrant.

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 / Arabian Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)


Interesting: Global food system faces threats from climate change – Climate change is likely to have far-reaching impacts on food security throughout the world, especially for the poor and those living in tropical regions, according to a new international report that includes three co-authors from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

The report, issued today at the Paris 2015 United Nations Climate Conference (also known as COP21) warns that warmer temperatures and altered precipitation patterns can threaten food production, disrupt transportation systems, and degrade food safety, among other impacts. As a result, international progress in the past few decades toward improving food security will be difficult to maintain.

The report, Climate Change, Global Food Security, and the U.S. Food System, provides an overview of recent research in climate change and agriculture. Led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and published under the auspices of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, it includes contributors from 19 federal, academic, nongovernmental, intergovernmental, and private organizations in the United States, Argentina, Britain, and Thailand.

“If society continues on a path of high emissions of greenhouse gases, there is no way around the fact that climate change is going to be a primary challenge for producing and distributing food,” said NCAR scientist Claudia Tebaldi, a co-author of the report. “If society lowers emissions, climate change will still be a stressor on food security, but other factors such as socioeconomic conditions could be more critical.”

Two other NCAR scientists—Caspar Ammann and Brian O’Neill—also served as co-authors. The report was produced as part of a collaboration between NCAR, the Department of Agriculture, and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which manages NCAR on behalf of the National Science Foundation.

The report focuses on identifying climate change impacts on global food security through 2100. The authors emphasize that food security – the ability of people to obtain and use sufficient amounts of safe and nutritious food – will be affected by several factors in addition to climate change, such as technological advances, increases in population, the distribution of wealth, and changes in eating habits.

“Changes in society and changes in climate will both be critically important to food security in the coming decades,” O’Neill said. “This means we have to do a better job of anticipating possible changes in income, governance, inequality, and other factors, and a better job understanding how they interact with food security and climate change.”

Among the report’s key findings:

  • The impact of climate change on crop and livestock productivity is projected to be larger for tropical and subtropical regions such as Africa and South Asia, although there will be regional variations. Wealthy populations and temperate regions are less at risk, and some high-latitude regions may temporarily experience productivity increases, in part because of warmer temperatures and more precipitation. However, if society continues to emit more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that cause climate change, even those regions will face damaging outcomes during the second half of this century.

  • Climate change has important implications for food producers and consumers in the United States. The nation is likely to experience changes in the types and cost of food available for import. It can also expect to face increased demand for agricultural exports from regions coping with production difficulties.

  • Climate change risks extend beyond agricultural production to critical elements of global food systems, including processing, storage, transportation, and consumption. For example, warmer temperatures can have a negative impact on food storage and increase food safety risks; higher sea levels and changes to lake and river levels can impede transportation.

  • Risks to food security will increase with a higher magnitude and faster rate of climate change. In a worst-case scenario based on high greenhouse gas concentrations, high population growth, and low economic growth, the number of people at risk of undernourishment would increase by as much as 175 million by 2080 over today’s level of about 805 million. This would reverse recent gains, as the number of people at risk of undernourishment has dropped from about 1 billion since the early 1990s.

  • Society can take steps to reduce the food system’s vulnerability to climate change, ranging from more advanced growing methods to cold storage, improvements in transportation infrastructure, and other strategies. Such adaptations, however, may be difficult to implement in some regions due to availability of water, soil nutrients, infrastructure, funding, or other factors.