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

78 – 70  Lihue, Kauai
81 – 68  Honolulu, Oahu
80 – 67  Molokai AP
84 – 65  Kahului AP, Maui
83 – 63  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

1.25  Kilohana, Kauai
0.85  Mililani, Oahu
0.05  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.03  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.75  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

18  Mana, Kauai – SSE
25  Kuaokala, Oahu – NNE
21  Molokai – ENE
21  Lanai – NE
30  Kahaloowe – ENE
28  Kapalua, Maui – NNE
27  South Point, Big Island – E

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
Pacific storm track remains far north of Hawaii…with
their associated cold fronts draping southward

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Large area of high clouds well south of Hawaii…with this
weekend’s cold front approaching to the north

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/vis.jpg
Scattered low clouds…mixed with clear skies

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers locally…nothing unusual – looping radar image

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Trade winds…gradually giving way to variable wind speeds and directions into the weekend. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find high pressure systems far north-northeast and northwest of Hawaii. In addition, there’s several storm low pressure systems far to the north of Hawaii. There’s an associated cold front to our northwest, which will be approaching the state over the next several days. The recent gusty trade winds will taper off now, and then become lighter ahead of this next cold front approaching the islands later during the weekend. As this cold front gets closer to our area however, it will likely prompt a brief period of gusty southwest to westerly kona winds, at least over those exposed windiest locations around the state. Our winds will then turn cooler and lighter from the north, in the wake of the front’s passage early next week…followed by light breezes into the middle of next week. There are no definite signs of significant trade winds through most of next week.

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 trade winds will bring a few showers into our windward sides…through Saturday morning. The leeward sides, and especially the beaches, will have generally dry and pleasantly warm weather, albeit with an occasional shower over upcountry areas during the afternoon Saturday. Showers should increase along the windward sides, as the next cold front approaches the islands later this weekend into early next week. The latest model runs show this cold front passing down into, or through the state into Monday. This frontal passage (fropa) will bring some rainfall activity, although excessive precipitation isn’t expected. The latest forecast has most of this precipitation falling along the windward coasts and slopes, although not exclusively. Somewhat cooler and generally drier weather will arrive early next week for several days…followed by another possible cold front around the middle of next week.

Here in Maui County…It’s mostly clear over the leeward sides early this Friday morning, with clouds and showers along the windward sides. Here in upcountry Kula we have an air temperature of 43.1F degrees well before sunrise. The temperature at near the same time was 66 degrees down in Kahului, 64 out in Hana. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe was 68 degrees, 64 at Lanai City, with 68 at the Molokai airport.

– Late afternoon, under clear to partly cloudy skies, with more concentrated cloudiness over and around the mountains. Our leeward and windward beaches are mostly clear and sunny, with the trade winds blowing…although lighter than they have been been most of this week.

Friday Evening Film: It appears that a whole new crop of films are now showing, which will be fun to work my way through over the next many weeks. Tonight, my film viewing friend Jeff and I will be seeing one called Hail, Caesar! starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Frances McDormand, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Tiffany Lonsdale, Alden Ehrenreich, and Ming Zhao…among many others. The synopsis: Four-time Oscar (R)-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men, True Grit, Fargo) write and direct Hail, Caesar!, an all-star comedy set during the latter years of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Hail, Caesar! follows a single day in the life of a studio fixer who is presented with plenty of problems to fix.  

We’ll, I suppose it was bound to happen one of these times, in that one of these films had to fall flat, and I’m afraid this was the one. Neither Jeff nor I liked it, and as we walked out of the nearly full theater, we heard several disparaging remarks from others too. I know, I know, how could a film with so many good actors fail, I wonder that too, however even they couldn’t prop it up. Jeff had just flown in from Europe, so he could blame jet lag as the reason he fell asleep several times. However, I had no good reason to fall asleep briefly a couple of times too, other than it was a boring film. To be honest, I did find myself laughing several times, although those little fun moments faded fast by the time the film ended, and I was relieved that it did in fact. I suppose there were those who loved this film, probably lots of folks in fact, although I wasn’t one of them. If you have any interest, here’s the trailer.

I’ll be back with many more updates on all of the above and below, I hope you have a great Friday 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 90 NM west-northwest of Suva, Fiji, with sustained winds of 161 mph…with gusts to 196 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:  There are no active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting:  Warming climate isn’t good news for western US aquifers – By 2050 climate change will increase the groundwater deficit even more for four economically important aquifers in the western U.S., reports a University of Arizona-led team of scientists.

The new report is the first to integrate scientists’ knowledge about groundwater in the U.S. West with scientific models that show how climate change will affect the region.

“We wanted to know, ‘What are the expectations for increases and decreases in groundwater as we go forward in this century?'” said lead author Thomas Meixner, a UA professor and associate department head of hydrology and water resources. “In the West, 40 percent of the water comes directly from groundwater.”

Climate models predict that in general, wet regions will become wetter and dry regions will become drier. The Southwest is expected to become drier and hotter.

“Aquifers in the southern tier of the West are all expected to see slight-to-significant decreases in recharge as the climate warms,” Meixner said.

Groundwater is already being withdrawn from the aquifers of California’s Central Valley, the central and southern portions of the High Plains and Arizona’s San Pedro faster than the groundwater is being recharged.