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

85 – 76  Lihue, Kauai
85 – 73  Honolulu, Oahu
87 – 76  Molokai AP
85 – 74  Kahului AP, Maui
88 – 76  Kona AP
83 – 73  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

2.87  Wainiha, Kauai
2.02  Nuuanu Upper, Oahu
0.64  Molokai
0.24  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
1.94  West Wailuaiki, Maui
1.04  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

24  Lihue, Kauai
23  Kuaokala, Oahu
25  Molokai
18  Lanai
32  Kahoolawe
27  Kahului AP, Maui
24  South Point, Big Island

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

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High Cirrus clouds moving over the state from the west-southwest…with Tropical Storm Howard far east-southeast of the islands

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What the computer models are showing

 

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Thunderstorms far southwest of Hawaii

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Clouds being carried towards the islands from the east…with high clouds around locally too

 

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Showers locally…some are heavy around Oahu and Kauai – Looping radar image


Small Craft Advisory…windiest coasts and channels Maui County and the Big Island

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Moderately strong trade winds will become gradually stronger through the middle of the week…then likely lighter by next weekend. Here’s the latest weather map, showing moderately strong, near 1033 millibar high pressure system far north of Hawaii. The trade winds are forecast to remain slightly today…as a low pressure system approaches from the east. The longer range outlook shows the continuation of the trade wind flow through the next week, likely peaking in strength towards the middle of the week. If any retired tropical cyclones come close to the Hawaiian Islands with time, all bets are off in terms how our local winds will respond then.

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

Areas of moisture carried by the trades, will keep an on and off wet pattern over windward coasts and slopes, with showers carrying over into leeward areas locally…some will be quite generous at times. Meanwhile, a low pressure system aloft will provide enough instability, to produce a few heavier showers through Monday, perhaps even some localized flooding. The models go on to suggest an increase in showers around Thursday and Friday, as another slug of tropical moisture, associated with former tropical cyclone Frank arrives on the trade wind flow. Then, in the way out there realm, by later next weekend we could see yet another area of tropical moisture arriving, associated with current tropical cyclone 09E (soon to be called Tropical Storm Howard)…some of which could bring locally generous showers by Sunday into early the following week.

Marine environment details:  Winds and seas are expected to remain below small craft advisory (SCA) levels for the next couple of days, due to the presence of a nearby low aloft and its weak surface reflection. As the low moves north around the middle of the week, the trade wind speeds will increase. Winds may become sufficiently strong at that time, to support the issuance of a SCA for the windier marine zones around Maui County and the Big Island.

There will be a series of small south-southwest swells through the next week, but surf will remain below advisory levels on leeward shores. Trade winds will drive  wind waves toward the islands from the east, producing moderate and below advisory surf along east facing shores through the forecast period.


Friday Evening Film: There were three films that I wanted to see, and the one we decided on…was the lowest on the list. However, being that both Jeff and Svetlana are both Astrophysicists, they REALLY want to see the film called Star Trek Beyond, starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, Sofia Boutella, and Lydia Wilson...among many others. The synopsis: Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise encounter an alien warrior race when marooned on a distant planet, after the destruction of their spaceship in this thrilling sequel.

Let me start off by saying that of the five of us who saw this film together, there were 4 B minus grades, with one B+ in the bunch. For me personally, the film was too long, and with too many slow parts, mixed in with some great action oriented special effects. The critics were more generous with their praise. Here’s one critics reaction: “The movie bounces along, hurtling its heroes over colliding wreckage and into currents of artificial gravity, pausing just long enough for a punchline or a knowing exchange of looks.” I just couldn’t get into this film, and I actually went through a period of nodding off, which is unusual for me. Oh well, as I mentioned above, there are several other films that I’m really looking forward to seeing. Here’s a quick peek using the trailer for this film.

 

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Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwo’ole – Somewhere Over the Rainbow

World-wide tropical cyclone activity


>>> Atlantic Ocean: No active tropical cyclones

1.)  Thunderstorm activity associated with a strong tropical wave located over the central Caribbean Sea about 350 miles east-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, continues to show signs of organization. Earlier satellite wind data indicate that the system is producing winds of 40 to 45 mph, and recent satellite and ship observations suggest that a circulation is gradually becoming better defined. If this development trend continues, a tropical storm is likely to form later today or tonight as the system moves westward over the west-central Caribbean sea at 20 to 25 mph. Regardless of development, locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds, perhaps to tropical storm force, are likely along the southern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti today. Tropical storm conditions are likely to occur over Jamaica by this afternoon or evening, and could reach the Cayman Islands overnight. Interests in these areas and elsewhere in the western Caribbean Sea should continue to monitor the progress of this disturbance.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…70 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…80 percent

This disturbance is being referred to as Invest 97L (soon to be called Tropical Depression 01L, then possibly Tropical Storm Alex if there’s enough time over the warm ocean), here’s a satellite image...and the computer models

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/xgtwo/two_atl_5d0.png

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days

>>> Gulf of Mexico: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days

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 Storm 09E (Howard) remains active in the eastern Pacific…located 985 miles west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Here’s a NHC graphical track map, with a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing.

1.)  A tropical wave, accompanied by a broad area of low pressure, continues to produce widespread cloudiness and disorganized showers several hundred miles south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for gradual development, and a tropical depression is likely to form later this week while this system moves west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph.

If this system becomes a tropical depression, it will be called 10E, and if it goes on to become a tropical storm…will take on the name Ivette.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…30 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…80 percent

 http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/xgtwo/two_pac_2d0.png

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: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 2-days

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Typhoon 06W (Nida) remains active in the South China Sea…located about 103 miles east-southeast of Hong Kong, here’s the JTWC graphical track map, with a satellite image…and the computer models

>>> South Pacific Ocean: No active tropical cyclones


>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: No active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting: The US Is Finally Getting Its First Offshore Wind Farm – Building in Rhode Island isn’t easy. Hurricanes and tropical storms barrel through its quaint coastline towns, interrupting perfect summer weekends. Freezing winters bring blizzards that can shut down the entire state. And every season features corrosive salty winds, biting at the coast as if sent by a Britain still seething at the first American colony to declare independence.

But one company sees the state’s incessant wind as a utility. Deepwater Wind has partnered with General Electric Renewable Energy to build the first offshore wind farm in the United States, off the coast of Block Island. Hooked up to the grid by the end of 2016, the system could supply 90 percent of the tourist destination’s power within the next few years. But it hasn’t been easy. Designing and building spinning fans hundreds of feet tall that stay sutured to the ocean floor in the face of currents and wicked winds has taken almost three years of work.

The blades on Deepwater Wind’s turbines, which have been arriving at Block Island over the last month, will be almost 250 feet long. That means the top and the bottom of the rotors will be separated by 500 feet or more. Anything covering that much area will have to deal with widely variable wind conditions, says Cristina Archer, a professor at the University of Delaware who studies offshore wind farms. Sometimes the wind will be the same speed across the whole turbine, but that speed will change dramatically over the course of the day. Other times, the winds can be steadily 10 miles per hour faster at the top than at the bottom.

To help protect the turbines’ machinery and electronics, engineers can lock their rotors to keep them from spinning too fast or chaotically. “If we reach some level of wind which is not acceptable,” says GE Renewable Energy project director Eric Crucerey, “then we stop the machine and the machine is put in standby.” The same happens if it gets too cold, he says. The turbines can keep working down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit; below that, they’ll go into hibernation.

But stopping the rotors doesn’t stop the wind. The surface area of each blade is about the same as a football field, so there’s a lot of air hitting the turbine and trying to topple it. To stay steady, turbines are anchored to the seafloor and to a narrow foundation dug 200 feet underground. That anchoring, with help from very strong building materials with a corrosion-resistant coating, make the turbines stable enough to hold their own against wind and storms. Crucerey says that the insides of the turbines are also pressurized, forcing out any bits of wind or salt that might try to break the wind farm up from within.

After they’re done at Block Island, Deepwater Wind will push even farther out to sea with a larger wind farm called Deepwater ONE, which will provide 30 times the power of the Block Island Wind Farm (assuming they both go online without a hitch). It’s not the only company trying to build wind farms off American shores, either. The Department of Energy estimates that about 80 percent of the country’s power demand comes from coastal states, and it’s pledged up to $40 million to help coastal city-dwellers get their power from closer to home.

And there are plenty of available locations. “The East Coast is actually pretty much all amazing” for offshore wind farms, says Archer—especially in New England, where projects in New Jersey and Virginia are currently in development.

The West is also no sleeper. One of the projects funded by the Department of Energy is a floating wind farm company in Oregon, and a different company called Trident Winds has just started working on a wind farm off the coast of California’s Morro Bay. It’s projected to supply about 20 times the power of the Block Island Wind Farm.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. But the coming generation of offshore wind farms are positioned to play a large role in the power used in coastal regions around the United States. In 1775, Rhode Island led the charge to independence. In 2016, it’s leading the way to independence from fossil fuels.