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

78 – 67  Lihue, Kauai
82 – 71  Honolulu, Oahu
78 – 59  Molokai AP
84 – 59  Kahului AP, Maui
82 – 69  Kailua Kona
89 – 67  Hilo AP, Hawaii – tied high temperature record…set back in 1968

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

0.89  Wainiha, Kauai
0.88  Kawailoa, Oahu
0.06  Molokai
0.01  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.00  Maui
0.34  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

14  Waimea Heights, Kauai – SW
20  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – NW
08  Molokai – SE
11  Lanai – SW
14  Kahaloowe – SSW
14  Kaupo Gap, Maui – SSW
18  PTA Range 17, Big Island – NW

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
Active Pacific storm track well to our north…showing  a
weak cold front over the central islands, with a second
front quickly approaching from the northwest

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
Northeast to southwest frontal cloud band over Hawaii…
with the next cold front approaching to the northwest

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
A dissipating frontal band of clouds is over the state, although
is falling apart…before another cold front arrives Tuesday

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Very limited showers – looping radar image


Gale Warning…for Hawaiian offshore waters beyond
40 nautical miles out to 240 nautical miles

High Surf Warning…a very large northwest swell will
fill into the state, peaking today into the night

High Surf Advisory…north and and west shores of the
Big Island of Hawaii

Small Craft Advisory…for a large northwest swell causing
elevated seas

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Generally light breezes…then cooler from the north Tuesday into Wednesday. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find high pressure systems far northeast and northwest. At the same time, there are weak ridges of high pressure offshore from the islands. In addition, there’s numerous low pressure systems to the northeast through northwest of Hawaii. There’s the first of two cold fronts over the state, which seems to be stalling over Maui County. Our winds will be light and variable today. As the the next cold front moves through the state Tuesday into the night…we’ll find chilly northerly breezes in the wake of the front for a day or two. It looks likely that we’ll find a brief period of trade winds Wednesday into Friday. Yet another cold front moves towards, and perhaps down into the state during the weekend, bringing back more light winds.

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

Here’s the Hawaiian Islands Sulfate Aerosol…animated graphic – showing vog forecast

Just a few scattered showers, associated with a dissipating frontal cloud band…with a second cold front arriving Tuesday.  A weak frontal band of clouds will bring a few light showers through the central islands locally tonight. Then, the second cold front, showing up on our satellite images above, will drop down through the state Tuesday into the night. Northerly winds in the wake of this weak front will bring cool conditions, and potentially a few more showers into the middle of the week. Looking even further ahead, yet another cold front will approach Kauai and Oahu during the weekend…ushering in some more possible showers locally then. In sum, there will be these periodic showers coming our way, although rainfall across the Aloha State will continue to be uneventful. By the way, looking way out there, another weak cold front approaches the state early next week.

High surf details: A new high impact northwest swell will arrive tonight, with surf heights over most north and west facing shores reaching well above high surf warning levels Tuesday. This giant north-northwest swell will be generated by an explosively developing low pressure system that will pass about 1000 miles north of the islands. There is potential for significant coastal impacts Tuesday and Wednesday.

Surf along north and west facing shores will remain elevated for the remainder of the week, as this swell gradually diminishes, with surf large enough to warrant a high surf advisory…until another possible warning level northwest swell arrives by the weekend time frame. A series of moderate, out-of-season south-southwest swells will bring below high surf advisory level surf to south facing shores during the second half of this week.

 http://bjpennhawaiinews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/surf-pipeline-north-russell-saito.jpg


Here in Maui County...It’s mostly clear to partly cloudy early this Monday morning…with still some volcanic haze around. Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 49.1F degrees well before sunrise. The temperature at near the same time was 59 degrees down in Kahului under clear skies, 59 out in Hana also under clear conditions, and 43 atop the Haleakala summit. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe was 66 degrees, 61 at Lanai City, with 65 at the Molokai airport.

– We’re into the middle of the afternoon, with light breezes, partly cloudy skies, and still moderately thick volcanic haze over us. / 445pm and the clouds are increasing, it looks like showers are starting to break out locally…now that this first of two cold fronts arrives over the County.

– Early evening, under clear to partly cloudy skies, and these clouds seem to be fading rather quickly. As for the volcanic haze, yep…its still rather thick!

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Monday 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 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. 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 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. 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 2015 North Pacific hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on May 15, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

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, 2016. During the off-season, special tropical weather outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

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: Scientists fight deadly banana fungus – Scientists in developing countries are scrambling to find a cure for a devastating fungus that threatens to wipe out the global banana trade and plunge millions of farmers into poverty.

Around the world, banana farmers are fighting a losing battle against Tropical Race 4, a soil fungus that kills Cavendish bananas, the only type grown for the international market. The disease was first spotted in the early 1990s in Malaysia, but has now started to wipe out crops in large parts of South-East Asia as well as in Africa and the Middle East.

The Tropical Race 4 pathogen, a new strain of what is known as Panama disease, escaped from Asia in 2013. By 2015, it had infected plantations in Jordan and Mozambique, as well as Lebanon and Pakistan, with many scientists fearing an epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa.

“The impact on affected farms is immense, with significant losses of plants and the inability to eradicate the fungus from affected fields,” says Altus Viljoen, a plant pathologist at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.

The disease can be devastating for small banana farmers, who provide much of the 17 million tonnes of Cavendish bananas traded every year — mostly to rich countries where the fruit is popular as a healthy snack. [3] Bananas are also a staple food in many tropical countries, and the main source of protein for more than half a billion people around the world.

Tropical Race 4, a variant of the Fusarium oxysporum fungus, is transmitted by infected plant matter, but also from the clothes and shoes of plantation workers.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, the fungus wiped out more than 5,000 hectares of Cavendish bananas in 1992/93, says Agustin Molina, who leads the banana research efforts in the Asia-Pacific region for Bioversity International, a global research organisation.

“The banana export trade in Malaysia and Indonesia failed to prosper because of Tropical Race 4,” he says. “Now tens of thousands of banana farmers in the Philippines, China and Taiwan could be affected.”

Molina and his team try to work with local farmers to raise awareness of the threat and contain the spread of the fungus. He advocates foot baths, regulating the movement of workers and tough quarantines for seedlings and other imported plant matter.

But despite such efforts, Tropical Race 4 has crossed the Pacific Ocean. With the fungus now in Mozambique, other East African countries largely dependent on Cavendish exports — such as Uganda — fear for their crop.

“If nothing is done in the next ten years, billions of dollars worth of crop will be lost,” says Enoch Kikulwe, an associate scientist at Bioversity International’s Uganda branch.

The reason for Tropical Race 4’s rapid spread is globalized trade. Uganda, the world’s third largest banana producer, imports second-hand trucks and farming equipment from China, but these are rarely disinfected before shipping — putting the country at risk. Likewise, Sudan exports bananas by lorry to Lebanon and Oman, while seedlings grown in Jordan or Pakistan are sold to Mozambique.