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

80 – 70  Lihue, Kauai
84 – 72  Honolulu, Oahu
81 – 69  Molokai AP
83 – 69  Kahului AP, Maui
84 – 67  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

2.19  Kilohana, Kauai
0.08  Hakipuu Mauka, Oahu
0.21  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.54  Kahakuloa, Maui
0.58  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

30  Lihue, Kauai – N
47  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – SE
29  Molokai – ENE
35  Lanai – NE
27  Kahaloowe – ENE
30  Kapalua, Maui – N 
38  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

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_west_loop-12.gif
A long cold front extends far southwest…from a storm
in the Gulf of Alaska

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Scattered low clouds in our area…with a weakening cold front
moving into the state

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Clear to partly cloudy with cloudy areas locally –
cold front has reached Kauai…moving southeast

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers locally…light to moderately heavy – looping radar image


Small Craft Advisory…for most coasts and channels statewide

High Surf Advisory…east facing shores through 6pm Wednesday

Gale Warning…for Hawaiian offshore waters beyond 40 nautical
miles out through 240 nautical miles – and across the Alenuihaha
Channel between Maui and the Big Island

Wind Advisory…Lanai and Kahoolawe – through 6am Wednesday –
25-35 mph with gusts to 50 mph

 


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Strengthening trade winds…lasting into mid-week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system far to our northeast towards San Francisco, California, and another far west-northwest straddling the International Dateline, with an associated ridge to the north of Hawaii. In addition, there’s a low pressure system far to the northeast of Hawaii, moving towards southeast Alaska. This low pressure system has an associated very long cold front stretching southwest into the tropics. As this cold front moves down through the state Wednesday, northeasterly winds will rush in over the state for several days…becoming locally strong and gusty. These winds should taper off some during the second half of the work week, although may become much lighter ahead of another cold front approaching by the weekend, along with more volcanic haze locally then.

Here’s a wind profile…of the offshore waters around the islands – with a closer view

Here’s the Hawaiian Islands Sulfate Aerosol…animated graphic – showing vog forecast

The aforementioned cold front arrived over Kauai…passing down through the rest of the state into mid-week. The associated moisture from this frontal boundary reached Kauai early this evening. It will move down over Oahu and Maui County into Tuesday…with showers pushing down over the Big Island by Wednesday morning. The bulk of the front’s showers will focus their efforts best along the windward coasts and slopes. The leeward sides, and especially the beaches, should have decent weather with occasional showers being carried over to those areas on the gusty trade wind flow. The latest computer models continue pointing towards drier conditions returning to the state as we get into the second part of this week through Friday. As we get into the weekend, the chances increase that we’ll see another cold front bringing showers our way then.

Here in Maui County…It’s mostly clear over the leeward sides early this Monday morning, with lots of clouds and some showers along the windward sides. Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 47.6F degrees just before sunrise. The temperature at near the same time was 70 degrees down in Kahului, 73 out in Hana, 72 at Maalaea Bay, 68 in Kapalua…and 48 atop the Haleakala Crater. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe was 66 degrees, 65 at Lanai City, with 71 at the Molokai airport. / It’s now 1020am, and the strengthening trade winds seem to be already arriving here at my place in upper Kula. My wind chimes are beginning to speak to me, and I can feel a cool breeze coming in my weather tower windows too – it’s definitely getting more breezy as the morning heads into early afternoon.

– Mid-afternoon, with breezy trades, becoming locally quite strong already in places. There’s a big bank of clouds now over the windward sides of Maui, with showers falling…evening being blown into the central valley. This shower activity hasn’t reached Kula yet, at least where I am, although I can see and feel it coming soon. / Now at 305pm the light mist just arrived, being blown over here in the breezy trade winds. / 415pm windy here Kula…with gusts topping 30 to near 40 mph elsewhere here in Maui County.

– Early evening, with clouds and showers now over all the windward sides of Molokai, west and east Maui, and even sneaking into the central valley at times. The winds are locally strong and gusty, and will become even stronger in those windiest places around the state into mid-week.

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


World-wide tropical cyclone activity:

>>> Atlantic Ocean: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

>>> Gulf of Mexico: The last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on June 1, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant.

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 last regularly scheduled Tropical Weather Outlook of the 2015 North Pacific hurricane season…has occurred. Routine issuance of the Tropical Weather Outlook will resume on May 15, 2016. During the off-season, Special Tropical Weather Outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

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, 2016. During the off-season, special tropical weather outlooks will be issued if conditions warrant. Here’s the 2015 hurricane season summary

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

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

>>> South Pacific Ocean:


Tropical Cyclone 11P (Winston) remains active in the Southwest Pacific Ocean, located 273 NM southwest of Pago Pago, with sustained winds of 75 mph. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and what the computer models are showing

>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea:

Tropical Cyclone 13S (Uriah) remains active in the South Indian Ocean, located 946 NM southeast of Diego Garcia, with sustained winds of 86 mph. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, along with a satellite image of this system…and what the computer models are showing

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


Interesting: Bad air quality is deadly – New research shows that more than 5.5 million people die prematurely every year due to household and outdoor air pollution. More than half of deaths occur in two of the world’s fastest growing economies, China and India.

Power plants, industrial manufacturing, vehicle exhaust and burning coal and wood all release small particles into the air that are dangerous to a person’s health. New research, presented today at the 2016 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), found that despite efforts to limit future emissions, the number of premature deaths linked to air pollution will climb over the next two decades unless more aggressive targets are set.

“Air pollution is the fourth highest risk factor for death globally and by far the leading environmental risk factor for disease,” said Michael Brauer, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health in Vancouver, Canada. “Reducing air pollution is an incredibly efficient way to improve the health of a population.”

For the AAAS meeting, researchers from Canada, the United States, China and India assembled estimates of air pollution levels in China and India and calculated the impact on health.

Their analysis shows that the two countries account for 55 per cent of the deaths caused by air pollution worldwide. About 1.6 million people died of air pollution in China and 1.4 million died in India in 2013.

In China, burning coal is the biggest contributor to poor air quality. Qiao Ma, a PhD student at the School of Environment, Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, found that outdoor air pollution from coal alone caused an estimated 366,000 deaths in China in 2013.

Ma also calculated the expected number of premature deaths in China in the future if the country meets its current targets to restrict coal combustion and emissions through a combination of energy policies and pollution controls. She found that air pollution will cause anywhere from 990,000 to 1.3 million premature deaths in 2030 unless even more ambitious targets are introduced.

“Our study highlights the urgent need for even more aggressive strategies to reduce emissions from coal and from other sectors,” said Ma.

In India, a major contributor to poor air quality is the practice of burning wood, dung and similar sources of biomass for cooking and heating. Millions of families, among the poorest in India, are regularly exposed to high levels of particulate matter in their own homes.

“India needs a three-pronged mitigation approach to address industrial coal burning, open burning for agriculture, and household air pollution sources,” said Chandra Venkataraman, professor of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, in Mumbai, India.

In the last 50 years, North America, Western Europe and Japan have made massive strides to combat pollution by using cleaner fuels, more efficient vehicles, limiting coal burning and putting restrictions on electric power plants and factories.

“Having been in charge of designing and implementing strategies to improve air in the United States, I know how difficult it is. Developing countries have a tremendous task in front of them,” said Dan Greenbaum, president of Health Effects Institute, a non-profit organization based in Boston that sponsors targeted efforts to analyze the health burden from different air pollution sources. “This research helps guide the way by identifying the actions which can best improve public health.”