Hawaiian Islands Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs / April 12-13, 2018

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

80 – 72  Lihue, Kauai
85 – 74  Honolulu, Oahu
83 – 72  Molokai AP
86 – 65  Kahului AP, Maui
83 – 74  Kailua Kona
83 – 70  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

5.45  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.92  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.35  Molokai
0.10  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.47  West Wailuaiki, Maui
2.74  Puho CS, Big Island

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

23  Port Allen, Kauai
21  Kuaokala, Oahu
24  Molokai
22  Lanai
33  Kahoolawe
22  Maalaea Bay, Maui
25  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. Here’s the webcam for the Haleakala Crater on Maui. These webcams are 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

High pressure northeast of the state…providing our trades

Higher clouds west…and far south of the state

Clear to partly cloudy…some cloudy spots

Showers locally and offshore
Looping image

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Small Craft Advisory…all coastal and channel waters / starting this evening

 

Broad Brush Overview: A moderately strong high pressure system to the northeast of the islands will keep trades blowing through the middle of next week, with locally windy conditions expected this weekend. Lingering moisture will keep the trades rather wet through the weekend, with most rainfall falling over windward and mountain areas. An upper low to the northwest of the islands Friday through Sunday morning may provide additional enhancement to the trade wind showers.

Details: The high pressure center to our northeast will move eastward, as a cold front pushes eastward well to the north of the island chain. As a result, our trade winds will soften some, although remain within the moderate range generally. Meanwhile, the overlying airmass will remain rather moist and somewhat unstable. A fairly typical although wetter than normal trade wind pattern is expected, although with showers breaking out over the upcountry slopes locally too. Trade wind shower coverage and intensity should increase tonight, as the airmass destabilizes…with an upper trough of low pressure just to the west of the state.

A strong area of high pressure building north of the state Friday night through Saturday night, will result in strengthening trade winds, with windy conditions statewide Saturday and Saturday night. A Wind Advisory may eventually be needed for portions of the island chain Saturday and Saturday night. At the same time, the airmass will become more moist and unstable across the island chain during this period, leading to an increase in shower coverage and intensity. We could even see an isolated thunderstorm, which can at times result in localized flooding issues.

Looking Ahead:  Strong high pressure north of the state will weaken as it slides southeastward Sunday and Monday, with another high then sliding southeastward well to the north of the islands Tuesday and Wednesday. Strong and gusty trade winds are expected to continue Sunday, with the trades weakening slightly Monday through the middle of next week. Aloft, the upper level low will keep conditions somewhat unstable, so a wetter than normal trade wind pattern is expected to continue. Clouds and showers will continue to favor windward areas, although there will be some leeward showers at times as well.

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: The trades are forecast to briefly lower through tonight, as a weakness develops within the ridge in response to a front passing to the north. Despite the expected downward trend, advisory level winds are forecast to hold over the typically windier waters around Maui County and the Big Island. Trades are forecast to quickly trend back up and become strong late Friday and hold through the weekend across most waters, as a strong high builds to the north…in the wake of this passing front. This combined with a large northwest swell expected to arrive late Friday and persist through the weekend, will translate to small craft advisory conditions over all Hawaiian waters due to winds and seas, likely beginning Friday night.

A reinforcing north-northwest swell is forecast to arrive, then lower late tonight through Friday. If this source spikes well above guidance, similar to this past Monday night, surf along north and west facing shores could near advisory levels briefly peak locations.

A second larger north-northwest swell is expected to arrive late Friday, peak early Saturday, then gradually fade Sunday into early next week. This will likely push surf heights to warning levels along north and west facing shores late Friday night through Saturday. A lowering trend is expected Sunday, which will continue into next week.

Rough east shore surf will remain below the advisory level during the next couple of days. As trades strengthen this weekend, east shore surf will build and likely reach advisory levels Sunday. The elevated surf is expected to persist into the first half of next week.

Small south and southwest swells will continue to generate small surf along south facing shores through the week. A larger pulse is possible on Monday.

 

Oahu

World-wide Tropical Cyclone activity

Here’s the latest Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) Weather Wall Presentation 

>>> Atlantic Ocean:

>>> Caribbean Sea:

>>> Gulf of Mexico:

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:

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:

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 cyclones

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


Interesting: German Scientists Harvest Their 1st Antarctic Salad, and It Looks Amazing – Antarctica is not the most likely place to find fresh ingredients for a salad.

But German scientists have just collected — and eaten — their first batch of lettuce, cucumbers and radishes from a new greenhouse on the frozen continent.

“It tasted as if we had harvested it fresh from the garden,” Bernhard Gropp, the manager of the Neumayer Station III, a German research facility in Antarctica, said in a statement.

The shipping container-size greenhouse, called EDEN ISS, was installed in February about a quarter-mile (400 meters) from the research station, which is located on the Ekström Ice Shelf. The food-growing lab is providing welcome fresh veggies for Gropp and his other isolated colleagues during long missions in Antarctica. But EDEN ISS has a loftier mission; the facility is  an experiment led by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) designed to test the best methods for cultivating crops for astronauts.

Space-grown plants could help sustain crews on long missions inside the International Space Station (ISS), or at farther destinations like the moon or Mars, where deliveries of fresh food would be less practical.

With such a hostile environment outside, the Antarctic greenhouse indeed has conditions like those of a spacecraft: It has no soil and no natural sunlight, and it has to operate as a totally closed system, with its water distribution, purplish artificial lighting and carbon dioxide levels tightly controlled.

Many of the systems can be managed remotely from Europe. But DLR scientist Paul Zabel is in Antarctica with the greenhouse, spending about 3 to 4 hours each day taking care of the plants. Zabel has so far collected 8 lbs. of lettuce, 70 radishes and 18 cucumbers in the first harvest, according to the DLR’s announcement April 5.

The researchers are also growing herbs like basil, parsley, chives and cilantro. They’ve posted photos of tiny tomatoes growing on the vine. The scientists said they are still waiting, however, for a successful sowing of strawberries, the most sensitive of the plants being tested inside EDEN ISS. The team said it hopes the greenhouse will be fully operational by May, producing up to 11 lbs. of fresh veggies each week.

“We have learned a lot about self-sufficient plant breeding in the last few weeks,” project manager Daniel Schubert said in the statement. “It has become clear that Antarctica is an ideal test field for our research.”

The EDEN ISS greenhouse is just the latest in a long tradition of plant-growing attempts in Antarctica. During Capt. Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery expedition to Antarctica from 1901 to 1904, a botanist was able to grow plants like cress and mustard in soil boxes placed under the ice-trapped ship’s skylight during the summer; he even tried growing plants on flannel. Since then, at least 46 different plant-production facilities have sprouted in Antarctica, according to a 2015 study.

Plant-production experiments are already flying in space, too. Astronauts aboard the ISS recently harvested small batches of lettuce from growth chambers.