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

85 – 77  Lihue, Kauai
89 – 76  Honolulu, Oahu
88 – 76  Molokai AP
90 – 76  Kahului AP, Maui – record high 94…back in 1952
89 – 79  Kona AP
86 – 72  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

0.12  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.15  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.08  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.29  West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.89  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

25  Port Allen, Kauai
36  Kuaokala, Oahu
28  Molokai
29  Lanai
32  Kahoolawe
31  Maalaea Bay, Maui
32  Kealakomo, 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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Post-Tropical Cyclone Howard is retiring now, while Tropical Storm Ivette is gradually winding up…in the eastern Pacific

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What the computer models are showing for Tropical Storm Ivette…which may become a category 1 hurricane this weekend

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Weakening and now retired Howard is still a rather pronounced swirl of clouds with a few thunderstorms…with lots of thunderstorms south of Hawaii


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Clouds associated with former Frank moving through the state…mostly along the windward sides

 

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Passing showers over parts of the island chain…a few will be rather generous – Looping radar image


Small Craft Advisory…windiest coasts and channels southeast of Oahu to Maui County and the Big Island

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Moderately strong and gusty trade winds will remain active…then likely lighter as we move into the weekend. Here’s the latest weather map, showing a strong, near 1039 millibar high pressure system far north-northeast of Hawaii. The trade winds will continue, likely peaking in strength Thursday. The models suggest that by the weekend into early next week, our local trade winds may go through some changes, likely becoming a bit lighter. It’s still too early to know what kind of wind conditions that Tropical Cyclone Ivette brings our way next week…stay tuned.

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

Passing showers, especially windward sides…

 http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/satellite/latest/State_VIS.gif

These showers will be associated with tropical moisture (from former TC Frank), which are arriving on the trade wind flow. Friday and part of Saturday should turn drier again, with a typical trade wind weather pattern moving back over us briefly. Thereafter, we should see another area of tropical moisture (associated with what is now former TC Howard arriving. What’s left of Howard is forecast to track more or less westward during the next few days. At this point, it looks like rains may become quite generous during the later part of the weekend into early next week. This will occur as deep tropical moisture associated with the remnants of Howard…moves over parts of the island chain.

We may see yet another area of tropical moisture moving by around next Wednesday or Thursday…as whatever is left of TC Ivette approaches. Based on what some of the models are suggesting now, we could see Ivette bring the threat of another episode of rainfall, and possibly breezy conditions…stay tuned as this outlook will go through many changes between now and then. 

Marine environment details:  The Small Craft Advisory (SCA) has been expanded to include the Kaiwi Channel, in addition to the typically windier areas around Maui County and the Big Island. Model guidance shows winds remaining elevated for the next few days…and the SCA remains active through Friday afternoon.

Small south swells will keep below advisory swells along the leeward shores for the foreseeable future. The elevated trade winds will keep seas choppy along the windward sides into Friday. Increasing east swells, from Howard, and the more distant TS Ivette, are expected to begin affecting east facing shores Friday and continue into next week. East facing shore will likely see near advisory or above surf conditions at that time.

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World-wide tropical cyclone activity


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>>> Atlantic Ocean: No active tropical cyclones

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea:

Hurricane Earl remains active over northern Guatemala …located just 115 miles west of Belize City. Here’s a NHC graphical track map, with a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT05/refresh/AL0516W5_NL+gif/155812W5_NL_sm.gif


>>> 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: No active tropical cyclone

Tropical Storm 10E (Ivette) remains active in the eastern Pacific…located 1190 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.

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/10E/imagery/vis0-lalo.gif
Tropical Storm Ivette still hasn’t become more organized…and will likely move into our central Pacific as a weakening tropical storm early next week


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: No active tropical cyclones

>>> 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: Do eco-friendly wines taste better? – It’s time to toast environmentally friendly grapes. A new UCLA study shows that eco-certified wine tastes better — and making the choice even easier, earlier research shows it’s often cheaper, too.

Though consumers remain reluctant to spend more on wine from organic grapes, the new study from UCLA researchers shows that in blind taste-tests professional wine reviewers give eco-certified wines higher ratings than regular wines.

The study, published today in the Journal of Wine Economics, looked at reviews and scores for more than 74,000 California wines from the magazines Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator. On a standardized 100-point scale, eco-certified wines scored an average of 4.1 points higher. The standardized scale controlled for differences between the scoring systems — for example, easy graders versus hard graders.

“The bottom line is that however we look at it, we find that organic and biodynamic farming has these small but significant positive effects on wine quality,” said lead author Magali Delmas, a UCLA environmental economist and professor in the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Though the paper studied only California wines, the research team expects the results to apply broadly, since California produces 90 percent of the wine in the United States. The preliminary findings on a study looking at French wine show similar results, added Delmas, who is also part of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Her co-authors include Jinghui Lim, a UCLA postdoctoral researcher with IoES and UCLA Anderson, and Olivier Gergaud, an economics professor at the Kedge Business School in Bordeaux, France.

The study looked at eco-certified wines, which included wine made with grapes from organic and biodynamic farms, but did not include a third kind of eco-certified wine: organic wine. Organic wine refers not only to how the grapes were grown but also how the wine was made. Most notably, organic wine cannot contain added sulfites, an important preservative, Delmas said. Perhaps because even the experts shy away from strictly organic wine, the reviewing magazines had only wine from organic grapes or biodynamic farms in the 74,000-bottle sample used by the study, Delmas said

Delmas believes preservative-free organic wine, which was once known for souring quickly, may be one culprit behind consumers’ unwillingness to pay more for any kind of eco-certified wine, even as wine growers and wine reviewers praise the quality of vino from organic grapes and biodynamic farms, Delmas said.

But the misperception that all eco-certified wine is worse “is good news for consumers, because they will get higher-quality wine at a lower price,” she said.

Delmas hopes the research will inspire vintners to show off their eco-certifications more boldly, and encourage more wineries to take up environmental practices. A meager 1 percent of wines in the study were eco-certified, and two-thirds of eco-certified California wineries do not showcase the seals on their bottles because of the general customer sentiment that eco-labeled wines are of lower quality, Delmas said. But even though a 2014 study by Delmas showed that consumers won’t pay more for eco-wine — depressing the price — many vineyards still take on the expense of getting certified, facing 10–15 percent higher costs for three to four years.

“Wine makers say it’s better for the quality of the wine,” Delmas said. “It’s a purer taste with more sense of the terroir, because when you replace pesticides with labor, you have hands-on care for the vines and you improve the composition of the soil and you get back all the life — the microbes, insects, bees and worms that you need in agriculture.”

The study also found a larger effect for red wine than for white wine, with eco-certified red wines gaining 5.6 extra points, compared to 1.3 points for white wines. While the increase for white wines wasn’t statistically significant, Delmas suspects that mainly reflects the smaller sample size for white wines, and explained that the while the study was not conclusive, it does indicate that white wines also see a positive effect from eco-certification.

While Delmas’ previous research has shown that vintners’ top motivation for using environmental practices is to improve the quality of their wine, it’s of course not the only reason. Particularly at family farms, where the owners plan to pass the property on to their children, a key motivation is to provide a cleaner environment for future generations, her research has found.

So drink up your eco-wine, red or white. It’s good for the environment, cheaper than the alternative — and science shows it tastes just a little bit better.