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

87 – 75  Lihue, Kauai
91 – 78  Honolulu, Oahu – tied the record Thursday…back in 1979
84 – 73  Molokai
91 – 71  Kahului AP, Maui – the record Thursday…was 93 back in 1983
90 – 78  Kailua Kona
92 – 75  Hilo, Hawaii – broke the record Thursday…89 back in 2004

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

0.46  Kilohana, Kauai
0.35  Pupukea Road, Oahu
0.14  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.16  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.27  Kaupo Gap, Maui
0.87  Puho CS, Big Island

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

21  Mana, Kauai – NNW
22  Waianae Harbor, Oahu – NW
10  Molokai – SE
12  Lanai – SW
15  Kahoolawe – SSW
17  Hana, Maui – SE
22  Kaupulehu, Big Island – NW

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

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
 Post-Tropical Depression Jimena to the north of the islands…
Tropical Storm Linda offshore from Baja California

Here’s a wind profile…so we can keep an eye on former Jimena’s
swirling winds

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters/13E/imagery/vis0-lalo.gif
Post-tropical depression Jimena continues being sheared by
strong upper level winds – with what little bit of leftover
convection now to the right and upper right of the low level
circulation center

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Thunderstorms far offshore to the south and southeast


http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
There are some showers in our area…mostly over the ocean,
a few are quite heavy
looping radar image

Flash Flood Watch…Kauai through Oahu and Maui County –
Thursday afternoon through Saturday afternoon

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Light breezes will continue through the rest of the week…with trade winds returning next week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean, along with a wind profiler of the central Pacific. We find a large, moderately strong high pressure system far to the northeast of the state. At the same time we see post-tropical depression Jimena offshore to the north-northeast of the state. Our winds will remain light, as former Jimena’s presence interrupts our typical trade wind flow. This in turn will keep muggy conditions around for the rest of the week. We’ll see southeast to southwesterly winds filling in as retiring Jimena moves past our area, which means we may see volcanic haze in our skies locally at times. It may take until next Monday or so…before we get back into a more classic, late summer trade wind weather pattern.

Showers will arrive in a hit and miss fashion today, then increasing Thursday into the weekend…first on the Big Island.  The atmosphere will continue to be a little less shower prone today, with a few showers here and there. We’ll see an increase in showers beginning tomorrow, as the moisture in the wake of former Jimena moves over the state, bringing potentially wet conditions our way into the weekend. These showers will concentrate their efforts most effectively during the afternoons…in the upcountry areas. There’s a chance for an occasional thunderstorm, along with some possible flooding at times locally during the next three days or so. When the trade winds return early next week, we’ll likely see some windward biased showers finally returning…with fine weather along our leeward beaches.

Post-Tropical Depression 13E (Jimena) is dissipating to our north…and continues to pose no threat to our islands. This former tropical storm is maintaining sustained winds of near 35 mph as of the latest advisory. Here’s a satellite image, and the CPHC graphical track map, and what the computer models are showing. Jimena will stay away from our area, to the north and then northwest of the state. Looking at the latest information, it looks like this system will continue moving generally westward, and track by offshore to the north and northwest of Hawaii as a post tropical area of low pressure through the rest of this week.

Here on Maui…It’s 6am Wednesday morning and mostly clear skies prevail, yet another nice looking late summer morning for the islands! / It’s now late morning, there are clouds that have formed, although nothing threatening rainfall at the moment. I’ll be heading over to my friend Linda’s in Haiku in a few minutes, as her son’s wife is my hair cutter…and I need a cut. So, I’ll be back around mid-afternoon, let’s try not to let anything too wild happen with our local weather until then!

– I’m back home from Haiku, with a new haircut, finding cloudy skies here in Kula…with a light rain shower falling at 415pm. I can see lots of sunny skies down the mountain from here, in the central valley, and towards Kihei as well.

– We’re into the early evening now, and here in Kula, it’s foggy, and lightly raining. We had a short break from this type of weather the last few afternoons, although it has settled in over us again today. I can’t see down in the central valley, to see if there’s any volcanic haze down there…or sunshine for that matter. Just so you know, it’s lightly snowing up in Barrow, Alaska, with 30 degrees on the thermometer! / Now at 830pm, as is often the case lately, the clouds have cleared, and all that’s left is bright twinkling stars above. This will lead into another mostly clear Thursday morning.

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Wednesday night wherever you’re spending it! Aloha for now…Glenn.


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> Atlantic Ocean:

Tropical Storm 08L (Henri) remains active over the Atlantic Ocean, with sustained winds of 40 mph…and is located about 235 miles east of Bermuda. Here’s the NHC graphical track map, and a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing.

1.)  A tropical wave is expected to move off the west coast of Africa later today. Some slow development of this wave is possible during the next several days while it moves westward across the tropical Atlantic at about 15 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…20 percent

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: There are no active tropical cyclones

>>> Gulf of Mexico: There are no active tropical cyclones

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:

Tropical Storm 15E (Linda) is rapidly weakening in the northeast Pacific, with sustained winds of 40 mph…and is located about 250 miles west-southwest of Punta Eugenia, Mexico. Here’s the NHC graphical track map, and a satellite image…along with what the computer models are showing.

1.)  A broad area of low pressure located a few hundred miles south- southwest of the coast of Guatemala is producing a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions are expected to be somewhat conducive for gradual development of this low while it moves generally west-northwestward at about 10 mph.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…10 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…medium…40 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:  There are no active tropical cyclones

1.)  The remnant low that had been tropical depression Jimena is around 225 miles north of Lihue, Hawaii, and has been moving west to west-southwest near 10 mph. Environmental conditions will likely inhibit redevelopment of the system.

* Formation chance through 48 hours, low…near 0 percent

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Tropical Storm 03C (Kilo) remains active now in the western Pacific, with sustained winds of 58 mph, and is located about 483 NM southeast of Misawa AB, Japan. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, and a satellite image. Here’s what the computer models are showing.

>>> 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:  The long-term effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill – For 25 years, methodical research by scientists has investigated the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 on Alaskan communities and ecosystems. A new study released today into the effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska shows that embryonic salmon and herring exposed to very low levels of crude oil can develop hidden heart defects that compromise their later survival, indicating that the spill may have had much greater impacts on spawning fish than previously recognized.

The herring population crashed four years after the spill in Prince William Sound and pink salmon stocks also declined, but the link to the oil spill has remained controversial. The new findings published in the online journal Scientific Reports suggest that the delayed effects of the spill may have been important contributors to the declines.

“These juvenile fish on the outside look completely normal, but their hearts are not functioning properly and that translates directly into reduced swimming ability and reduced survival,” said John Incardona, a research toxicologist at NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. “In terms of impacts to shore-spawning fish, the oil spill likely had a much bigger footprint than anyone realized.”

The research builds on earlier work by the Auke Bay Laboratories, part of NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center, which found much reduced survival of pink salmon exposed as embryos to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from crude oil.

“Our findings are changing the picture in terms of assessing the risk and the potential impacts of oil spills,” said Nat Scholz, leader of the NWFSC’s eco-toxicology program and a coauthor of the new study. “We now know the developing fish heart is exquisitely sensitive to crude oil toxicity, and that subtle changes in heart formation can have delayed but important consequences for first-year survival, which in turn determines the long-term abundance of wild fish populations.”

Scientists from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Alaska Fisheries Science Center temporarily exposed embryonic salmon and herring to low levels of crude oil from the North Slope of Alaska and found that both absorbed chemicals at similar concentrations in their tissues. The embryos were then transferred to clean seawater and raised as juvenile fish for seven to eight months.

Few of the exposed embryos or larvae were outwardly abnormal in any way. However, closer examination of the fish revealed subtle defects that could reduce their long-term survival:

  • Juvenile salmon exposed to oil grew more slowly, with those exposed to the highest concentrations growing the slowest. For salmon, early survival in the ocean is strongly influenced by juvenile growth, with smaller fish suffering higher loss to predators.
  • Scientists used swimming speed as a measure of cardio-respiratory performance and found that fish exposed to the highest concentrations of oil swam the slowest. Slower swimming is an indication of reduced aerobic capacity and cardiac output, and likely makes fish easier targets for predators.
  • Exposure to oil as embryos altered the structural development of the hearts of juvenile fish, potentially reducing their fitness and swimming ability. Poor swimming and cardiac fitness is also a factor in disease resistance.

“With this very early impact on the heart, you end up with an animal that just can’t pump blood through its body as well, which means it can’t swim as well to capture food, form schools, or migrate,” said Mark Carls, toxicologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “Crude oil is changing basic physiology, or what makes a fish a fish.”

Scientists reviewed data on measured oil concentrations in surface water samples collected in Prince William Sound after the oil spill and during the 1989 herring spawning season. Most of the 233 samples contained less oil than was believed to be toxic to herring at the time, based on gross developmental abnormalities. However, nearly all of the samples contained oil at or above concentrations shown in the new study to alter heart development.

If the Exxon Valdez spill impacted heart development among a large majority of fish that were spawned in proximity to oiled shorelines, the subsequent losses of juveniles to delayed mortality would have left fewer adults to join the population. Although not direct proof, this provides a plausible explanation for the collapse of the Prince William Sound herring stock four years later, when fish spawned during the oil spill would have matured.

The study concludes that the impacts of the Exxon Valdez spill on nearshore spawning populations of fish are likely to have been considerably underestimated in terms of both the geographic extent of affected habitat and the lingering toxicity of low levels of oil. The findings will likely contribute to more accurate assessments of the impacts of future oil spills, Incardona said. “Now we have a much better idea of what we should be looking for,” he said.