Hawaiian Islands Weather details & Aloha Paragraphs / May 30-31, 2015

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

82 –  67 Lihue, Kauai
86 –  69 Honolulu, Oahu
83 –  69 Molokai AP
84 –  73 Kahului, Maui
87 –  74 Kailua Kona
83 –  70 Hilo, Hawaii

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

1.04  Wainiha, Kauai
1.73  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
0.52  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.16  Hana AP, Maui
0.69  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

17  Waimea Heights , Kauai – NE
27  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
22  Molokai – NE
23  Lanai – NE
23  Kahoolawe – NE
16  Hana, Maui – NE
27  Kealakomo, Big Island – NNE

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

We see an unusual low pressure system far to the northeast…while the
eastern Pacific has category 2 Hurricane 01E (Andres) spinning –
more information on this system below

Clear to partly cloudy…some cloudy areas locally, increasing
this evening into the night along our windward sides –
looping version of this image

Showers are falling over the nearby ocean…
spreading over parts of the islands locally

Here’s the looping radar image for the Hawaiian Islands

High Surf Advisory…south shores of all the islands – 6am
Sunday through 6pm Monday

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

Trade winds on through the new week ahead. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a real-time wind profiler of the central Pacific. We find a large high pressure system located well to the northwest of the state. At the same time, there’s  low pressure cells northeast of Hawaii, along with the tail-end of a weak cold front near Maui and the Big Island. As a result of these weather features, we’ll find generally light to locally moderate northeast breezes over the islands. As we get into the new week, we’ll have light to moderately strong winds blowing well into the future.

We’ll see localized afternoon showers over the mountains…and passing windward showers too. As we move into Sunday, we’ll find a better established trade wind flow across the state. This should put us back into a more normal trade wind weather pattern going forward. The windward sides will receive most of the showers, and there should be more than the normal amount at times over the next few days. At the same time, there will continue to be some interior showers during the afternoon hours in places. The latest thought is that both the windward showers, and the leeward showers, may become somewhat enhanced during the first part of the new week. I’ll be back with more updates on all of the above, I hope you have a great Saturday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.

Here on Maui...early Saturday morning near sunrise, skies are very clear with just a few minor low clouds in the central valley. The air temperature here in Kula at 530am was 54.5 degrees, 66 in Hana, and a cooler 43 degrees atop the Haleakala Crater.

– It’s Saturday afternoon, and looking around Maui, I see some sunshine beaming down in a few places, while clouds are covering quite a few locations too.

– We’re into the early evening hours now, with partly to mostly cloudy conditions hanging on. I expect showers to move onshore along the windward sides tonight, continuing on into Sunday morning. My friend Jeff has invited me over to his place, just up the hill from here. He was very gracious and bought me an expensive bottle of French Champagne the other day. This was to acknowledge my receiving the 2015 Dr. Arthur Chui Award earlier this week, while I was on Oahu. I in turn, offered to share it with him and to celebrate this occasion together. He has several big Awards himself, which he got during his professorship at Princeton University…and more recently.

>>> Atlantic Ocean: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.

>>> Gulf of Mexico: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.

Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico.

>>> Eastern Pacific: Hurricane 01E (Andres)

The National Hurricane Center continues issuing advisories on 
Hurricane 01E (Andres), located about 740 miles southwest of
of the southern tip of Baja California. Here's the NHC graphical track map.

Maximum sustained winds are near 105 mph with higher gusts...with a

gradual weakening expected going forward

Here's a looping satellite image of this system - and what the

hurricane models are showing for Hurricane Andres

1.)  A small low pressure system located a few hundred miles south-
southwest of Acapulco, Mexico, is producing an area of showers and
thunderstorms.  Strong upper-level winds associated with Hurricane
Andres are likely to inhibit development of this low through
Monday.  However, a tropical depression is likely to form by the
middle of the week while the system drifts generally northwestward
and then becomes nearly stationary.

* Formation chance through 48 hours...medium...40 percent 
* Formation chance through 5 days...high...80 percent

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 central north Pacific hurricane season has officially ended. Routine issuance of the tropical weather outlook will resume on June 1, 2015. During the off-season, special tropical weather outlooks will be issued as conditions warrant.

Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> South Pacific Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> North and South Indian Oceans: There are no active tropical cyclones

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

Interesting: Greening the Airline Industry – The airline sector is trying to lessen its carbon footprint. In mid-June, the Paris Air Show will host the COP21 seen from the sky conference. Boeing and Airbus are concentrating their commercial efforts on the environment, which is now a selling point.

“CO2 affects our ability to grow,” said Jonathon Counsell, Head of Environment for British Airways, during a day dedicated to the environment organised by Airbus at its Toulouse site.

Airlines make up 2% of worldwide CO2 emissions. But the doubling of passengers every 15 years has made it a growing source of greenhouse gases. Due to the strong link between the sector and fossil fuels, reducing its CO2 emission is a challenge. The problem of electricity storage rules out its use in the air, which thus leaves airline manufacturers, which have promised to stabilise their CO2 emissions by 2020, with few options.

A need for liquid energy

“We are forced to use liquid energy, whether it be petrol or biofuel. But biofuels must be a priority for the aviation industry,” believes Eileen Van Den Tweel, Head of Innovation at KLM.

In comparison with pure kerosene (jet fuel), using biofuels would represent a 50 – 80% reduction in CO2 emissions, depending on the composition of the biofuel.

Following long discussions over the merits of using land as a source of energy, the European Parliament recently decided to limit the use of biofuels to 7% of energy to be used in the transport sector, in comparison with the current figure of 10%. The policy is designed to avoid deforestation.

For the aviation industry, biofuels represent the only feasible alternative to petrol. The industry has resorted to using recycled cooking oils, as well as sugarcane, and other plant-based fuels.

But the price is exorbitant: 2.5 to 6 times more expensive than the price of a conventional fuel. The industry is also considering research on other liquid fuels, such as biomass or domestic waste, which have not moved beyond the research stage.

Energy efficiency

Facing such intrinsic fuel-related problems, the aeronautics industry has looked at other more promising possibilities, beginning with that of energy efficiency.

There is no lack of ideas on how to enhance performance, in particular with regards to improving the aircraft. The use of metallic elements has been in decline in favour of utilising lighter composites. As such, the most recent Airbus, the A350, is made up of more composites (53%) than metal. Manufacturers are also looking at the interior design of the aircraft in order to minimise CO2 emissions per passenger.