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

83 70  Lihue, Kauai
85
– 71  Honolulu, Oahu
8264  Molokai
85 – 66  Kahului AP, Maui
83 74  Kona Int’l AP
8366  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

2.07  Hanalei, Kauai
3.90  Moanalua RG, Oahu
1.10  Molokai
0.00  L
anai
0.02  Kahoolawe
1.83  Kula 1, Maui
0.84  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

16  Poipu, Kauai
23  Kuaokala, Oahu
23  Molokai
18  Lanai
18  Kahoolawe
22  Maalaea Bay, Maui

22  Kealakomo, Big Island

Hawaii’s MountainsHere’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

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A cold front far northwest of Hawaii

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A few thunderstorms far southeast and northeast

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High cirrus over the Big Island

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Showers locally…some are quite heavy
Looping radar image

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Broad brush overview: Showers are expected over some parts of the islands, as an upper level disturbance works its way across the state from west to east. Showers will remain active, with some locally heavy at times. The weather should turn drier Saturday, before a series of cold fronts bring a period of wet weather during the second half of next week. A ridge of high pressure will strengthen north of the islands Sunday through Tuesday, resulting in moderate to strong trade winds. The trades will turn southeast to south, ahead of a possible cold front Thursday…which could also bring a short period of volcanic haze (vog) preceding its arrival.

Details: As the trough of low pressure moves away Saturday, the atmosphere will become drier and more stable, especially across the smaller islands. There will still be some weakness in the trade flow, which will keep an onshore flow across the leeward sides…resulting in localized afternoon showers. Showers may pick up Monday as the remnants of a front move down through the state. The trades will decrease a notch Tuesday, as another cold front approaches the state.

Looking ahead: The trade wind will veer to the southeast and south ahead of yet another cold front approaching the state Wednesday. The front may arrive, while stalling over the western islands Thursday…keeping our weather showery over part of the island chain. It should be noted that despite the fact that several of our reliable models are pushing the idea of this cold front making it down into the state, it’s getting to be rather late in our rainy season for such an event. Nonetheless, as we move towards our dry season ahead, we would welcome the additional moisture this front could provide.

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: We have light to moderate trade winds over the islands, south of a ridge of high pressure. Winds are expected to remain light into Saturday as a cold front passes far north of the state. Land-sea breeze conditions will result over portions of the area. Trade winds will steadily increase this weekend as high pressure builds north of the area…in the wake of the passing cold front. Small craft advisory winds will become a possibility early next week over the windier channel waters.

A new northwest swell has arrived at the nearshore buoys. As this swell continues to build down the island chain, surf will steadily rise along exposed north and west facing shores, peaking through the day today. This swell will hold into Saturday, before gradually lowering through the rest of the weekend. Surf is expected to remain below advisory levels.

Surf along south facing shores will build through the day today, and continue over the weekend as a south swell fills in. Surf will remain below advisory levels through this period. A similar south swell will be possible early next week through the mid-week period, due to a recent active pattern across the South Pacific.

Surf along east facing shores will remain small into Saturday, due to the light winds, although will begin to rise once again by the end of the weekend, as the trades return.

A large northwest swell will impact the islands beginning next Thursday. If this feature evolves as projected, surf along exposed north and west facing shores could near…if not reach warning levels at some point Thursday through Friday.

 

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Generally nice weather this weekend…trade winds

Southern California weather summary: High pressure will bring mostly clear skies and a warming trend through Saturday. A couple of low pressure systems will arrive Sunday through Tuesday, and will bring a chance of precipitation to the area…mainly for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. Mostly clear skies with offshore breezes and a warming trend can be expected Wednesday through Friday.

.

 

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Generally clear skies over Southern California

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/wfo/lox/cvis.jpg
Mostly clear



World-wide tropical cyclone activity


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>>> 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:

Tropical Depression 02W is active in the Philippine Sea, on its way to moving through the central Philippines, here’s the graphical track map, a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing

>>> 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:
New study emphasizes the relative scarcity of lake water
– What is the volume of water in lakes on Earth? Using a mathematical analysis, researcher David Seekell, at Umeå University, and his American collaborators now suggest that the mean depth of lakes is 30 per cent lower than previously estimated. Shallower lakes implies less fresh water and has consequences for our understanding of climate change and the carbon cycle. The results have been published in Geophysical Research Letters.

“Our estimations measure around 190,000 km3, which is a very small amount of water. In comparison, the ocean contains 1.3 billion km3 of water. If we poured the water of all lakes on Earth together into one big lake, the mean depth of the lake would be 42 metres. The mean depth of the ocean is 3,682 metres,” says David Seekell, associate professor at the Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences and the Climate Impacts Research Centre (CIRC) at Umeå University in Sweden.

A possible conclusion is if lakes are shallower, they release more methane into the atmosphere than previously estimated.

Measuring the volume of the lakes on Earth seems like a simple task. Nevertheless, the challenges to carry out a measurement on a global scale are huge. Satellites can measure the volume of very large lakes, such as for instance Lake Vättern in Sweden or Lake Superior in the United States and Canada, but measuring the tens of millions of small lakes spread across the surface of the Earth requires time-consuming field work. A commonly used method is GPS positioning and depth sounder by boat. The researcher is required to row around on the lake until he or she has collected a large number of depths. The depths and coordinates are later used to build bathymetric maps which the volume and mean depth can be derived from. The approach works well for small lakes, but is expensive due to the time-consuming process and only a small number of lakes can be mapped.

A model in theory

So far, there have been few estimates of the volume of fresh water in lakes on Earth, and those that exist vary greatly and are typically presented without any data or methods.

“We decided to use a theory driven approach. We assumed that the surface of the Earth is self-affine. This basically means that if you zoomed in and out of a cross-section of the Earth’s surface, the statistical characteristics of the vertical topography are predictable based upon a stretching factor,” says David Seekell.

The researchers evaluated their model with measured volumes from thousands of lakes from diverse landscapes. The presumptions proved accurate and based upon this model, the researchers were able to deduce a theoretical volume-area relationship.

“We were able to use the model to estimate the mean volume of lakes at each given lake surface area, but also for variations in volume of lakes with the same surface area. Given the total lake surface area on Earth – which can actually be accurately recorded by satellite, even for small lakes – we were now able to estimate the total volume and assess the uncertainty in the estimate,” says David Seekell.

The research team assessed that there are 184,000-199,000 km3 of lake water. The reason behind the variation can be explained by how lakes are counted and how their surface area is measured, particularly the smaller ones.

The majority of lake water can be found in a few very large lakes such as the Caspian Sea, Lake Superior, and Lake Baikal. In fact, about 80 percent of lake water can be found in the 20 largest lakes alone.

A scarce natural resource

The quality and quantity of lake water can rapidly change due to human activities. For example, in some regions many ponds and reservoirs have been built for ornamental purposes, for irrigation, to generate electricity, or to store drinking water, which increasing the volume of fresh water.

On the other hand, some large lakes have dried up and disappeared. For example, Lake Poopo in Bolivia previously had a surface area of about 3,000 km2 and was one of the largest lakes in Bolivia. Due to climate change and water diversions for agricultural production, there is almost no water left, which greatly affects local communities. A very similar story can be told about the Aral Sea – once the fourth largest lake on Earth – where climate change and water diversions for agriculture have left only a tiny fraction of its former surface.

It is not only quantity that is of great concern at the moment. The water quality of the largest lakes on Earth are subject to degradation due to human activities. For example, Lake Erie in the United States and Canada with a surface area of about 25,667 km2 has been exposed to nutrient pollution and harmful algae blooms. This has rendered the lake an unreliable source for drinking water for communities along the shoreline. As a consequence, over 400,000 people even lost access to drinking water due to neurotoxins in the lake water associated with algae bloom in 2014.

“Our study emphasizes the relative scarcity of lake water, and how rapidly human activities can change the quality and quantity of water resources,” says David Seekell.