Air Temperatures – The following high temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday…along with the low temperatures Monday:
81 – 67 Lihue, Kauai
82 – 70 Honolulu, Oahu
82 – 61 Molokai
84 – 65 Kahului AP, Maui
83 – 70 Kona Int’l AP
83 – 65 Hilo AP, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands as of Monday evening:
0.41 Lihue, Kauai
0.29 Waiawa, Oahu
0.02 Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.01 Pukalani, Maui
0.70 Saddle Quarry, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) as of Monday evening:
15 Poipu, Kauai
12 Kahuku, Oahu
10 Molokai
16 Lanai
13 Kahoolawe
14 Maalaea Bay, Maui
20 South Point, Big Island
Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of our tallest mountain Mauna Kea (nearly 13,800 feet high) on the Big Island of Hawaii. This webcam is available during the daylight hours here in the islands, and at night whenever there’s a big moon shining down. Also, at night you will be able to see the stars — and the sunrise and sunset too — depending upon weather conditions.
Aloha Paragraphs
A large area of clouds are located well north of Hawaii
A cold front…is embedded in the clouds north of Hawaii
Clear to partly cloudy…with higher level clouds northwest of Hawaii
Showers locally – Looping radar image
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Broad brush overview: A weak ridge of high pressure will persist over or just north of the islands through Thursday, maintaining light winds, along with humid and hazy conditions. Localized afternoon onshore sea breezes will prompt clouds to form, with a chance for showers over the upcountry areas of the islands each day. In contrast, offshore flowing land breezes will keep showers confined primarily to the windward and coastal waters at night. Trade wind weather is expected to return by the end of the work week, as a cold front moves down the island chain.
Details: As we start this work week, a high pressure system is centered far east-northeast of Hawaii, with an associated ridge axis extending west-southwestward through the central islands. This in turn is continuing the long lasting light wind regime over the state. Satellite imagery shows mostly clear to partly cloudy skies across the island chain. Meanwhile, radar imagery shows some isolated showers here and there…with rain free conditions across the rest of the state.
The high pressure ridge will remain over or just north of the island chain through Thursday, keeping a light breezes in place. Generally, a fairly stable atmosphere is expected to remain over the islands, which should limit shower coverage, and keep rainfall amounts generally on the light side. Showers will favor windward areas during the overnight and morning hours, while the interior of the islands see the best chances for rainfall during the afternoon and early evening hours. The light winds will keep the overlying airmass stagnant through the period as well…with muggy and voggy conditions expected to continue.
Looking ahead: Thursday night through the rest of the week, the models are in fairly good agreement. Overall, high pressure building north of the state will shift a weakening cold front southward over Kauai Thursday night, with the front then progressing slowly southward across the central and eastern islands Friday through Saturday. A band of light showers is expected to accompany the front, with most showers falling over windward areas. The front will also bring a return of light to moderate trade winds by Friday, with the trades strengthening to moderate levels by Sunday. With the returning trades, humidity levels are expected to decrease making it feel more comfortable, and any lingering volcanic haze will be shifted to the south of the smaller islands…thank goodness!
Here’s a wind profile of the Pacific Ocean – Closer view of the islands / Here’s the vog forecast animation / Here’s the latest weather map
Marine environment details: A moderate west-northwest swell, associated with a gale to storm force low pressure system, has arrived across our coastal waters, and will peak today…likely reaching low end advisory levels. This swell will gradually lower Tuesday through Wednesday.
A small reinforcing swell out of the west-northwest will arrive Thursday night and hold through Friday.
A moderate northeast swell will fill in across the local waters during the weekend.
Local winds will remain light through much of this new week, as a weak ridge of high pressure remains in place across the islands. Land and sea breezes will remain likely each day near the coasts, especially for Kauai and Oahu (offshore winds early mornings/onshore winds afternoons). Models indicate trades returning next weekend as high pressure builds north of the coastal waters…in the wake of a weak cold front moving through the area later in the week.
Remaining muggy and voggy (volcanic haze)
Southern California Weather Summary: Weak offshore flow beneath high pressure aloft over the region, will bring near record heat away from the coast today. A shallow marine layer in place will continue night and morning low clouds and dense fog…along with cooler conditions along the coast. A slight cooling trend is expected to develop between Tuesday and Thursday, as a weak weather system brushes the area Thursday. Better cooling is expected for the weekend and into next week.
Low clouds and fog along the immediate coast
World-wide tropical cyclone activity
>>> Atlantic Ocean: The 2017 hurricane season begins June 1st
Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean
>>> Caribbean: The 2017 hurricane season begins June 1st
>>> Gulf of Mexico: The 2017 hurricane season begins June 1st
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 2017 hurricane season begins May 15th
Here’s the NOAA 2016 Hurricane Season Summary for the Eastern Pacific Basin
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 2017 hurricane season begins June 1st
Here’s the NOAA 2016 Hurricane Season Summary for the Central Pacific Basin
Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)
>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: No active tropical cyclones
>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: No active tropical cyclone
Here’s a link to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)
Interesting: Neanderthals Munched on ‘Aspirin’ and Woolly Rhinos – Neanderthals once dined on woolly rhinoceroses and wild sheep, and even self-medicated with painkillers and antibiotics, according to a new analysis of their dental plaque.
But the diets of Neanderthals — the closest known extinct human relative, which co-existed and sometimes bred with humans before going extinct about 40,000 years ago — varied depending on where they lived.
Researchers sequenced the ancient DNA of dental plaque from five Neanderthal skeletons — two from Spain’s El Sidrón Cave, two from Belgium’s Spy Cave and one from Italy’s Breuil Cave.
Dating back between 42,000 and 50,000 years, the plaque is the oldest dental plaque on record to be genetically examined. The analysis revealed that some, but not all, Neanderthals were meat lovers.
The Neanderthal at Spy Cave dined heavily on meat, including the woolly rhinoceros and wild sheep — an unsurprising discovery, given that the bones of woolly rhinoceroses, reindeer, mammoths and horses were found within Spy Cave, and wild sheep lived throughout Europe during that time period, the researchers said. This Neanderthal also ate edible gray shag mushrooms, the analysis showed.
In contrast, the Neanderthals from the cave in El Sidrón were largely vegetarian. Their dental calculus (hardened plaque) indicated that they ate edible mushrooms, pine nuts, moss and poplar, likely foraged from the surrounding forest, the researchers said. Moreover, the calculus also showed evidence of fungal pathogens, suggesting that the El Sidrón Neanderthals might have munched on mold, the researchers said.
The findings show “quite different lifestyles” between the El Sidrón and Spy Cave groups, study senior researcher Alan Cooper, director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at The University of Adelaide in Australia, said in a statement.
Self-medication
One of the Neanderthals at El Sidrón wasn’t in good health: The hominin had a dental abscess (a painful tooth infection) and a diarrhea-causing intestinal parasite. However, the individual was self-medicating, the dental plaque analysis indicated.
The individual’s plaque showed evidence of poplar — a tree that contains the natural painkiller salicylic acid, aspirin’s active ingredient — as well as DNA sequences of a natural antibiotic found in mold, the researchers found.
“Apparently, Neanderthals possessed a good knowledge of medicinal plants and their various anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, and seem to be self-medicating,” Cooper said. “The use of antibiotics would be very surprising, as this is more than 40,000 years before we developed penicillin. Certainly our findings contrast markedly with the rather simplistic view of our ancient relatives in popular imagination.”
Mouth bacteria
The scientists also examined the Neanderthals’ mouth bacteria, known as the oral microbiome, and compared the results with oral bacteria from other groups. The oral microbiome of the El Sidrón Neanderthals was more similar to that of chimpanzees and foraging human ancestors from Africa, while the Spy Cave Neanderthals’ mouth bacteria looked more like those from early hunters and gatherers and modern humans, the researchers found.
“Not only can we now access direct evidence of what our ancestors were eating, but differences in diet and lifestyle also seem to be reflected in the commensal bacteria that lived in the mouths of both Neanderthals and modern humans,” study co-author Keith Dobney, a professor of human paleoecology at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom.
The study was published online today (March 8) in the journal Nature.
Email Glenn James: 
Teri Says:
Hi Glenn, the vog forecast animation has not been working on my computer (IPad) or my husband’s PC in the last few months. Do you know what the problem is? Mahalo, Teri
~~~ Hi Teri, not sure why, it seems to be working fine for me on my desk top computer. Is this the URL you are using? (http://weather.hawaii.edu/vmap/hysplit/hawso4.cgi)
Aloha, Glenn