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

86 – 74  Lihue, Kauai
88 – 76  Honolulu, Oahu
84 – 76  Molokai AP
87 – 74  Kahului AP, Maui
88 – 76  Kona AP
85 – 73  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

0.08  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.24  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.03  Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.39  West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.34  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

27  Port Allen, Kauai
38  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
28  Molokai
36  Lanai
28  Kahoolawe
31  Kapalua, Maui
35  Pali 2, Big Island

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

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Considerable high Cirrus clouds southwest and south of Hawaii

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/vis.jpg
Thunderstorms far southwest of Hawaii

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Low clouds banked-up against the windward sides locally, with clear partly cloudy skies leeward…along with high cirrus clouds south and southwest of the islands

 

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Showers locally – Looping radar image


Small Craft Advisory…windiest coasts and channels eastern Islands

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

The trade winds will continue…with variations in speed and direction through the next week. Here’s the latest weather map, showing moderately strong high pressure systems far north-northeast of Hawaii. The trade winds are forecast to decrease slightly Saturday and Sunday…as a low pressure system approaches from the east. The longer range outlook shows the continuation of the trade wind flow through the next week. As usual, these refreshing breezes will attain their strongest speeds during the days, calming down some during the relatively cooler nights.

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

Clouds and showers will favor windward areas…becoming more active into the weekend and beyond. The clouds embedded in the trades, will cover windward waters and bank-up along the windward slopes at times…with leeward areas remaining less cloudy. Meanwhile, a low pressure system east of the islands will drift west, arriving in the vicinity of the islands this weekend into early next week. At the same time, there will be an increase in moisture arriving into the weekend. The combination of these two weather features will present the islands with a more active trade shower pattern ensuing. The models go on to suggest an increase in showers around next Thursday…as another slug of tropical moisture arrives on the trade wind flow then.

Marine environment details: A high pressure cell to the north will maintain locally strong trade winds across the area tonight. A Small Craft Advisory (SCA) is in effect for the typical windy zones around Maui County and the Big Island. Winds will taper off as a weak surface trough of low pressure arrives from the east into Saturday. The trade winds will strengthen again by the middle of the new week ahead.

The trade winds will produce choppy surf along east facing shores during the breezy time periods, but surf is expected to remain below advisory levels over the next week. There will be a series of small south swells into next week but surf will remain below the advisory level along south facing shores. Only small surf is expected along north and west facing shores.

Friday Evening Film: There are three films that I want to see, and the one we have decided on is the lowest on the list. However, being that both Jeff and Svetlana are both Astrophysicists, they REALLY want to see the film called Star Trek Beyond, starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, Sofia Boutella, and Lydia Wilson…among many others. The synopsis: Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise encounter an alien warrior race when marooned on a distant planet, after the destruction of their spaceship in this thrilling sequel.

Let me start off by saying that of the five of us who saw this film together, there were 4 B minus grades, with one B+ in the bunch. For me personally, the film was too long, and with too many slow parts, mixed in with some great action oriented special effects. The critics were more generous with their praise. Here’s one critics reaction: “The movie bounces along, hurtling its heroes over colliding wreckage and into currents of artificial gravity, pausing just long enough for a punchline or a knowing exchange of looks.” I just couldn’t get into this film, and I actually went through a period of nodding off, which is unusual for me. Oh well, as I mentioned above, there are several other films that I’m really looking forward to seeing. Here’s a quick peek using the trailer for this film.

 

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Olomana – Ku’u Home O Kahalu’u

World-wide tropical cyclone activity


>>> Atlantic Ocean: No active tropical cyclones

1.)  A tropical wave located about 700 miles east of the Lesser Antilles is moving westward at 25 to 30 mph. While the associated shower activity has increased since yesterday, any additional development should be slow to occur due to the rapid motion of the system. Regardless of development, this system will likely bring showers and gusty winds to portions of the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the eastern Caribbean Sea beginning later today. By the middle of next week, the disturbance is expected to be in the western Caribbean Sea, where conditions could become more conducive for development.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…20 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…medium…40 percent

This disturbance is being referred to as Invest 96L, here’s a satellite image...and the computer models

2.) Shower and thunderstorm activity associated with a tropical wave and a low pressure system centered a couple of hundred miles southwest of Cabo Verde has become less organized during the past 24 hours. However, there is still a chance for some development during the next day or two before the disturbance encounters a less favorable environment over the central tropical Atlantic.

This disturbance is being referred to as Invest 97L, here’s a satellite image…and the computer models

* Formation chance through 48 hours…low…30 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…medium…40 percent

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/xgtwo/two_atl_2d0.png

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean

>>> Caribbean Sea: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days

>>> Gulf of Mexico: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days

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: No active tropical cyclones

1.) Showers and thunderstorms remain disorganized in association with a broad area of low pressure located about 750 miles southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. Environmental conditions are gradually becoming more conducive for development, and a tropical depression is likely to form later this weekend or early next week while the low moves west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph.

Here’s a satellite image, along with what the computer models are showing

* Formation chance through 48 hours…medium…60 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…90 percent

2.) An area of low pressure is expected to form in a couple of days several hundred miles south of Mexico. Some development of this system is possible by the middle of next week while it moves west-northwestward away from the coast of Mexico.

* Formation chance through 48 hours…near…0 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…low…30 percent

 http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/xgtwo/two_pac_5d0.png

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: No active tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 2-days

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

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Tropical Storm 06W (Nida) remains active in the Philippine Sea, located about 258 miles east-southeast of Manila, Philippines, here’s the JTWC graphical track map, with a satellite image

>>> South Pacific Ocean: No active tropical cyclones


>>> North and South Indian Oceans / Arabian Sea: No active tropical cyclones

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


Interesting: Rainforest greener during ‘dry’ season – Although the Amazon Jungle may appear to be perpetually green, a University of Illinois researcher believes there are actually seasonal differences of photosynthesis (the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct), with more occurring during the dry season and less during the wet season. Understanding how a rainforest that occupies 2.7 million square miles of South America functions is crucial to the future health of the entire planet.

“With the potential negative effects of climate change, one key question we are trying to answer in the study of tropical ecology is how a tropical forest responds during a long-term drought,” says Kaiyu Guan, an environmental scientist at the University of Illinois. “If we don’t know their daily performance or their seasonal performance, what confidence can we have to predict the forests’ future 20 years, 30 years, or longer?”

Analyzing data from several sources, including individual leaves, camera data from towers above the leaf canopy, and decadal long satellite images, Guan and his colleagues measured the photosynthesis rate over the landscape. Photosynthesis — the process green plants use to convert energy from the sun that plants use to grow — from tropical forests, plays a huge role in determining global atmospheric CO2 concentration, which is closely linked the global temperature and rate of climate change.

“Bringing all of the data together, we find that the dry season in the Amazon has increased photosynthesis,” says Guan. “There may be less photosynthesis in the wet season because of the cloud cover which limits the amount of light the plants can use.”

Guan explains that understanding the seasonality of photosynthesis can help scientists assess whether or not the Amazon is under stress and how it handles and recovers from stress.

“During the dry season, you would think that the plants would be water stressed and photosynthesis would decrease, but looking at multiple sources of data over the years we find that the plants are not stressed because there is ground water carried over from the previous year,” he says.

It does not appear to be just the quantity of leaves driving the higher photosynthesis during the dry season. Guan and his collaborators believe it is actually leaf quality which changes over leaf age that is at work.

“Leaf amount can only explain about 5 percent of all the photosynthesis variations, so what’s really going on? It’s the leaf quality. Putting it in a different way, when you are a baby, you aren’t very productive. When you become more mature, you’re more productive. Then, when you’re older, your productivity goes down again. It’s true for humans and it’s also true for plants. Leaves in tropical forests that are 3 or 4 months old are more productive. As you get to the end of the dry season, the leaves are aging and their productivity decreases again. So the combination of the leaf amount and the leaf quality together can satisfactorily explain the pattern,” Guan says.

Guan cautions that if the forest experiences several droughts, the carryover of water is depleted — the tropical forest responds to the climate.

“The rainforest also absorbs the majority of carbon,” Guan says. “It’s the engine that drives the carbon cycle for the whole world, which makes it important when we discuss climate changes. Global warming is dependent upon the atmospheric CO2 concentration, so we need to care about carbon.

“Most of the climate models are showing a drying down trend in tropical forests, with a longer dry season. That’s a cause for concern for the future of the Amazon,” Guan says. “If we neglect it, it can have consequences around the globe. We need to recognize the importance of this rainforest pattern in which our entire global ecosystem functions. The healthiness of these systems is highly relevant for human beings.”

In addition to being an assistant professor in ecohydrology and geoinformatics in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at U of I, Guan has a joint appointment as a Blue Waters professor affiliated with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).

Using the same satellite technology, Guan is currently looking at agricultural systems in tropical and temperate regions like the U.S. Corn Belt. “We’d like to build a satellite-based system to monitor the entire United States food productivity in order to predict the crop yield.”