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

80 – 70  Lihue, Kauai /
83 – 70  Honolulu, Oahu /
78 – 70  Molokai AP
82 – 68  Kahului AP, Maui / 
84 – 69  Kona AP, Hawaii
81 – 69  Hilo, Hawaii / 

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

0.34  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.37  Mililani, Oahu
0.10  Molokai
0.05  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.57  Puu Kukui, Maui
1.31  Kawainui Stream, Big Island

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

23  Nawiliwili, Kauai
35  Kii, Oahu
35  Molokai
35  Lanai
23  Kahoolawe
31  Maalaea Bay, Maui
45  Kohala Ranch, Big Island

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of our tallest mountain Mauna Kea (~13,800 feet high) on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here’s the webcam for the (~10,023 feet high) Haleakala Crater on Maui. These webcams are available during the daylight hours here in the islands, and at night whenever there’s a big moon shining down. Also, at night you will be able to see the stars, and the sunrise and sunset too…depending upon weather conditions.


https://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/tpac/ft-animated.gif
An area of low pressure located to the east
(click on the images to enlarge or animate them)


https://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
Strong trades…carrying clouds locally to the windward sides

 

https://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
A mix of clear and cloudy areas across the state…and offshore


https://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers locally…mostly windward
Looping image

  Please click this link…to see current Watches, Warnings and Advisories

https://www.weather.gov/wwamap/png/hfo.png

 



~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Broad Brush Overview:  Gusty trades will continue to focus modest rainfall along windward slopes. High pressure will strengthen north of the state, increasing trades further through the weekend. An upper low will drift over the islands through the weekend, leading to an increase in showers, some possibly heavy with a slight chance of thunderstorms. Wet and unsettled conditions may persist into early next week.

Details: Trade winds will increase through the weekend, as a surface high far to our north strengthens. However, an upper low currently east of the state will approach and drift overhead into the weekend, likely keeping the strongest trade winds to the northeast of the islands.  At the same time, showers will increase through the weekend.

As the upper low moves overhead through early Saturday, exceptionally cold temperatures aloft will produce unstable conditions, which will likely generate showers locally, some briefly heavy…with a few thunderstorms. Rainfall will continue to focus along windward slopes, although gusty trades will easily push briefly heavy showers across leeward areas.

Winter weather is possible this weekend at high elevations, including Haleakala. By early Saturday, freezing levels will drop unusually low to 9,000, possibly lower, bringing chances for snow and/or freezing rain as showers pass over the high summits of the Big Island and Haleakala. The highest probability for winter weather on the summits appears to be on Saturday night into Sunday.

Looking Further Ahead:  Wet conditions may linger into early next week. Models show the upper low dissipating and lifting northward Monday, while an associated surface trough is pulled over the islands from the east. Trades should drop and may shift southeast, depending on the strength of the trough. Moisture convergence on the east side of the trough could maintain wet weather for some windward areas.

Here’s a near real-time Wind Profile of the Pacific Ocean – along with a Closer View of the islands / Here’s the latest Weather Map

Marine Environmental Conditions: A high far northeast of the area is producing strong to near gale force easterly trade winds over Hawaiian coastal waters. A Small Craft Advisory (SCA) is in effect for all coastal waters through the weekend. Winds are expected to be strongest tonight into Sunday as the high builds. A low aloft is expected to induce troughing at the surface near the islands, which will keep the winds from becoming even stronger. The low will bring a slight chance of thunderstorms through the weekend.

A new northwest swell has been building across the state. Also, surf will slowly build along east facing shores as the trade winds strengthen, and will remain elevated into the new work week ahead. A high surf advisory for east facing shores will likely be needed later this weekend, and it is possible the surf could reach warning levels along east facing shores. No other significant swells are expected through the middle of next week.

 

https://live.staticflickr.com/5482/30687761042_3d831f0b4e_b.jpg
The trade winds will strengthen into the weekend
 



World-wide Tropical Cyclone Activity


Here’s a link to the latest Pacific Disaster Center’s Weather Wall


>>> Atlantic Ocean: There are no active tropical cyclones

Latest satellite image of the Atlantic

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

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

Latest satellite image of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico

>>> Eastern Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

Here’s an animated color enhanced satellite image of the central and eastern Pacific

Here’s the link to the National Hurricane Center (NHC)

>>> Central Pacific: There are no active tropical cyclones

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

https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/abpwsair.jpg

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

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

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

Tropical Cyclone 20S (Ferdinand)

JTWC textual warning
JTWC graphical map



Interesting: Tracking Tuna – Texas A&M-Galveston researchers are part of a team trying to determine the travel habits of the bluefin tuna, an overfished species that is highly sought for its tender meat.

In January 2019, a 612-pound bluefin tuna sold for a record 333.6 million yen ($3 million) at a Tokyo auction celebrating the opening of a new market. Though the price was inflated for the event’s sake, bluefin normally sell for up to $40 per pound, rising to over $200 per pound near the year’s end, especially for valuable catches from specific regions.

David Wells, an associate professor in the Department of Marine Biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston, said it’s crucial to know about the fish’s habit and its breeding grounds.

“Considering their value, popularity with sport fishing in California and events like the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, anthropogenic inputs are important to know and could affect this species in relation to the spawning ground,” Wells said. “It’s important to be able to source the fish arriving at the California coast. Bluefin are prized as the highest quality of sushi grade tuna in the world. They’re in demand all across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans and people will pay top dollar for them.”

Wells studies the spawning ground of the Pacific bluefin tuna, which is noteworthy due to the fish’s overfished status and popularity in the sport fishing and culinary worlds. Wells’ research, recently published in Biology Letters, focuses on a four-year-long study he led with colleagues from Texas A&M-Galveston, the University of Texas, the National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries in Japan and the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center to better understand the movement and connectivity of the highly migratory species.

The team used ear bones from dead tuna as natural tracers or tags to study the chemistry of the sea water bluefin were occupying during their lives.

“Otoliths, or ear bones, record the chemistry of the sea water that the fish resided in and are also used to age fishes, similar to counting rings along a cross section of a tree,” Wells said.

They are born in one of two spawning grounds in the western Pacific Ocean — the East China Sea or the Sea of Japan. In their first one to two years of life, blue fin tuna migrate across the Pacific to California and spend their first few years feeding in those nutrient-rich waters.

“Basically, that’s where they get fat,” Wells said. “Then as the fish age and reach a size around sexual maturity, we believe they migrate back to the western Pacific and reproduce.”

“We analyzed the chemistry of these ear bones, matching the chemical signatures from fish in the eastern Pacific to the chemical signatures from fish collected from the two spawning grounds in the western Pacific. This allows us to estimate the proportion of fish near California that originated from each spawning ground during each year of the study,” he said.

The next step for their research will be to study adult bluefin tuna and reconstruct its movement patterns throughout the Pacific Ocean using similar techniques this summer.