Hawaiian Islands weather details & Aloha paragraphs / April 30-May 1, 2010

April 30-May 1, 2010

Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday afternoon:

Lihue, Kauai – 82
Honolulu, Oahu – 84
Kaneohe, Oahu – 81
Kaunakakai, Molokai – 82
Kahului, Maui – 89
Hilo, Hawaii – 86
Kailua-kona – 79

Air Temperatures ranged between these warmest and coolest spots near sea level around the state – and on the highest mountains…at 5pm Friday evening:

Kahului, Maui – 81F
Barking Sands, Kauai – 76

Haleakala Crater –    52 (near 10,000 feet on Maui)
Mauna Kea summit – 37 (near 14,000 feet on the Big Island)

Precipitation Totals – The following numbers represent the largest precipitation totals (inches) during the last 24 hours on each of the major islands, as of Friday afternoon:

1.76 Mount Waialaele, Kauai  
0.58 Manoa Valley, Oahu
0.00 Molokai 
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.05 Kaupo Gap, Maui
0.13 Kealakekua, Big Island

Marine Winds – Here’s the latest (automatically updated) weather map showing a 1037 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of the islands. The winds be southeast…becoming light and variable into Sunday.

Satellite and Radar Images: To view the cloud conditions we have here in Hawaii, please use the following satellite links, starting off with this Infrared Satellite Image of the islands to see all the clouds around the state during the day and night. This next image is one that gives close images of the islands only during the daytime hours, and is referred to as a Close-up visible image. This next image shows a larger view of the Pacific…giving perspective to the wider ranging cloud patterns in the Pacific Ocean. Finally, here’s a Looping IR satellite image, making viewable the clouds around the islands 24 hours a day. To help you keep track of where any showers may be around the islands, here’s the latest animated radar image.

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of near 14,000 foot Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. The tallest peak on the island of Maui is the Haleakala Crater, which is near 10,000 feet in elevation. These two webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands…and when there’s a big moon rising just after sunset for an hour or two! Plus, during the nights and early mornings you will be able to see stars, and the sunrise too…depending upon weather conditions.

Tropical Cyclone activity in the eastern and central Pacific – Here’s the latest weather information coming out of the National Hurricane Center, covering the eastern north Pacific. You can find the latest tropical cyclone information for the central north Pacific (where Hawaii is located) by clicking on this link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Here’s a tracking map covering both the eastern and central Pacific Ocean. A satellite image, which shows the entire ocean area between Hawaii and the Mexican coast…can be found here. Of course, as we know, our hurricane season won’t begin again until June 1st here in the central Pacific.

 Aloha Paragraphs

  Hawaiian Hula Dancers

The trade winds have given way to east-southeast and southeast winds Friday night…likely bringing volcanic haze over some parts of the island chain this weekend. These winds are still locally quite strong and gusty around the Big Island. These areas in particular are where the exposure to the southeast air flow is most direct. The islands of Oahu and Kauai are now positioned for the most part, in the lee of the Big Island…which could also be considered the wind shadow. The two most obvious examples of being out in the wind, can be considered Kahoolawe, and South Point, which have no obstruction to the blustery southeast winds. Looking at this weather map, we see a 1037 millibar high pressure system to the northeast of the islands. At the same time, we find a 1020 millibar low pressure system to the northwest of here….associated with an approaching cold front. This cold front is about 250 miles wide, and moving 15 mph in our direction. 

The weather here in the islands Friday was still pretty good, despite the days and days worth of discussion about a rainy period coming up. This precipitation is still expected to arrive, although for the most part it may hold off during the first part of the upcoming weekend. The overlying atmosphere is still rather dry and stable, limiting cloud growth and shower activity. We can see a long line of clouds paralleling the windward sides, by checking out this IR satellite image. These somewhat showery clouds are missing the islands for the most part, although a few are falling here and there. If we open up our view more so, by shifting to this satellite photo, we can see this band of clouds trailing off far east and east-southeast of our islands. This larger view also shows the approaching late season cold front as well, the leading edge of which was located to our northwest. This is very late in the season for such a strong cold front to be moving in our direction. The upper level support above the surface front, is helping to draw it so far into the tropics this time of year.

Showers should remain restricted to a few along the windward sides, and then perhaps a few in the leeward upcountry areas during the afternoon hours locally too. This will remain the case perhaps even into Saturday, this is before the cold front, and the upper trough of low pressure arrives Saturday evening into Sunday. This upper trough will bring colder air than we’re used to seeing during the first part of the month of May. This will help to destabilize the overlying atmosphere enough, that the chance of some locally heavy showers should move into our Hawaiian Island weather picture Sunday, and perhaps into Monday. This all hinges on whether the cold front, with its moisture, and the cold air above, arrive at about the same time. If one or the other was missing, all bets would be off, which we won’t know for sure until it actually happens. We could sure use the rainfall, although the best chances for that are looking more like Kauai and Oahu…rather than the drier islands of Maui and the Big Island. Thereafter, the trade winds will return on Tuesday, ushering in a fairly dry trade wind weather pattern.









It’s Friday evening as I begin writing this last section of today’s narrative. The chance of heavy rains are still on our horizon to the northwest, in the form of that cold front approaching from the northwest. The NWS is taking this threat quite seriously, as they have issued a flash flood watch for the islands of Niihau, Kauai, and Oahu Saturday night into Sunday. This obviously leaves out the islands of Maui County and the Big Island, although these islands might still see some rainfall too…lets hope! ~~~ Since its Friday evening, after a long week of weather work, I’ll be heading out soon, for the drive over to Kahului, for a quick dinner at the food court, and then to take in a few film. This one is called War Lords (2010), starring Jet Li and Andy Lau…among others. The most brief synopsis is: a heroic tale of three blood brothers and their struggle in the midst of war and political upheaval. The critics are giving this long 2+ hour film good grades (B+), so I have high hopes. I’ll be back Saturday morning with my reflections, although I know that this isn’t going to be a light hearted piece of work…not with that title! Here’s a trailer, just in case you had a wild desire to take a peek. I hope you have a great Friday night wherever you happen to be spending it! I’ll be back in the morning too with more updated information on the impending heavy rainfall event for Sunday, at least locally. Aloha for now…Glenn.







 

Interesting: The United States could completely stop emissions of carbon dioxide from coal-fired electric power plants — a crucial step for controlling global warming — within 20 years by using technology that already exists or could be commercially available within a decade, according to a group of scientists, engineers, and architects. That’s the conclusion of an article published online, along with a news article on the topic, in the American Chemical Society’s semi-monthly journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T). Both are scheduled for the June 1 print edition of ES&T.

Pushker Kharecha and colleagues — from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the Columbia University Earth Institute, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and 2030 Inc./Architecture 2030 — say that the global climate change problem becomes manageable only if society deals quickly with emissions of carbon dioxide from burning coal in electric power plants.

"The only practical way to preserve a planet resembling that of the Holocene (today’s world) with reasonably stable shorelines and preservation of species, is to rapidly phase out coal emissions and prohibit emissions from unconventional fossil fuels such as oil shale and tar sands," they state.

The authors outline strategies to make that phase-out possible. They include elimination of subsidies for fossil fuels; putting rising prices on carbon emissions; major improvements in electricity transmission and the energy efficiency of homes, commercial buildings, and appliances; replacing coal power with biomass, geothermal, wind, solar, and third-generation nuclear power; and after successful demonstration at commercial scales, deployment of advanced (fourth-generation) nuclear power plants; and carbon capture and storage at remaining coal plants.

Interesting2: Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano continues to be active, but the full effects of volcanic ash on the aviation industry have yet to be seen, according to an aviation expert from the University of Leeds. Aviation lecturer Stephen Wright believes the impact of ash on airplane air-conditioning systems could be serious and will build over the next few weeks as planes begin to ‘hoover up’ the additional ash in the atmosphere.

Air-conditioning systems provide fresh air to pressurize the cabin as well as the warming the internal temperature of the plane. Once clogged with dirt, they can overheat, forcing the pilot to shut the system down and make an unscheduled or emergency landing. Overheating of the system can be serious, as on many planes the air-conditioning units are sited underneath the central fuel tank.

"As planes taxi round airports, the air-conditioning systems suck up dirt which then clogs up the heat exchangers," says Stephen Wright, who worked in the aviation industry before joining the University’s Faculty of Engineering. "Sometimes dirt levels are so high, systems are having to be changed after just three to four months, whereas they’re expected to last around 18 months.

The planes will now be sucking up ash as well which will put these systems under very high stress." Low concentrations of ash are deemed low risk by the UK Civil Aviation Authority as they have minimal effect on airplane engines. But air conditioning cooling systems filter all dirt out, so there will be a cumulative build up even when low levels of ash are present. "Once the air-con unit is clogged up, it is less effective and so tries to work harder to maintain pressure and temperature — and so begins to overheat," says Wright.

"The systems have built-in safety controls, so they’re unlikely to catch fire. However, overheating will mean pilots have to shut down the affected system, and as this provides fresh air to the cabin, the loss will normally result in either an unscheduled or emergency landing. "At the very least, the air industry will be looking at much higher maintenance on these systems to keep them working, at a time when the grounding of planes has put them under severe financial pressure."

Interesting3: Population growth, urbanization, increasing pollution, soil erosion and climate variations are all reflected in the management and adequacy of the world’s waters. The situation is particularly difficult in many developing countries, where there are growing concerns over escalating water crises and even outright water conflicts between countries and regions.

"The current rate of population growth and urbanization are already impacting food production. We need to improve the efficiency of agricultural output, as it’s unlikely that the acreage under cultivation can be much increased. Improved efficiency requires the efficient use of water resources," says Professor Olli Varis from the Water and Development Research Group at Aalto University.

The Group’s main research interests include integrated approaches to the management and planning of water resources as well as international water issues. Professor Varis points out that the utility of existing water resources is adversely affected by increasing industrial pollution and the breakdown of natural material circulation.

The utilization of water resources, and groundwater in particular, already exceeds the renewal capacity. "Up to 60-90 per cent of the world’s population live in countries that suffer from water shortages, and that figure will rise sharply in the future."

Interesting4: Scientists from NOAA and Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi were astounded to find that seamounts, mountains that rise from the seafloor, rank as some of the most common ocean habitats in the world. Their findings are published in a new study and reverse previous beliefs about the prevalence of seamounts, which are treasure troves of marine biodiversity.

"Unlike beaches or even coral reefs, most people will never see a seamount, but this study shows that they are clearly one of the predominant ecosystems on the planet," said Peter Etnoyer, Ph.D., principal investigator of the study and marine biologist at NOAA’s Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research.

"We can only hope that through this study, people begin to realize what a vast unknown the ocean represents, and what a vital role it plays on Earth." Although researchers have thoroughly explored some 200 seamounts and mapped and sampled a hundred others, this study is the first to estimate that more than 45,000 seamounts dot the ocean floor worldwide — a total of roughly 28.8 million square kilometers or an area larger than the continent of South America.

The discovery was made possible using satellite altimetry data that measured incredibly slight changes in the sea surface height that, along with statistical analysis models, indicated the presence of these submerged mountains. "Seamounts are biodiversity ‘hotspots’, with higher abundance and variety of life forms than the surrounding seafloor," said Tom Shirley, Ph.D., contributing author of the study and a conservation scientist with the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

"In fact, new species are observed or collected on nearly every submersible dive." Two dozen new species of corals and sponges, for example, have been collected from seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska since 2002. Seamounts not only make up the largest area of ocean habitat, they are also highly productive environments that can serve as habitats for important commercial fish species like orange roughy and sablefish. This research, which is the first-ever comparison of the size of oceanic and land habitats, is featured in the journal Oceanography.