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

81 – 67  Lihue, Kauai
80 – 69  Honolulu, Oahu
82 – 65  Molokai AP
86 – 72  Kahului AP, Maui
84 – 73  Kailua Kona
82 – 67  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

0.07  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.12  Waihee Pump, Oahu
0.24  Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00  Lanai
0.05  Kahoolawe
0.95  Hana AP, Maui
1.07  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

18  Puu Opae, Kauai – SE
20  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu – WNW
15  Molokai – ENE
18  Lanai – NW
18  Kahaloowe – SE
21  Kaupo Gap, Maui – SE
24  South Point, 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 storm is spinning far to the north of Hawaii…
sending a cold front in our direction

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
An area of unsettled weather is approaching from the northwest…
with embedded thunderstorms…middle level clouds south

 

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/hi/ir4.jpg
Low clouds locally…with some towering cumulus
north of Oahu and northwest of Kauai

 

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers falling generally over the ocean…some moderately
heavy over the islands – looping radar image

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~



Light south to southeast winds are taking over now…bringing volcanic haze and muggy conditions our way. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system to the northeast of Hawaii, with an associated ridge of high pressure now over the state. At the same time, we see developing low pressure systems to the north and northwest…with an associated cold front over the ocean to the west of the Hawaiian Islands. The recent trade winds have quickly given way to lighter southeast winds, ahead of this early spring cold front approaching from the northwest and west. This wind direction is carrying thick volcanic haze, and increased humidity over the smaller islands, lasting through much of this week. There’s a chance that light trade winds may return by the upcoming weekend.

There will be showers over the ocean locally…spreading over the islands locally. A major change in our weather conditions will occur now, bringing showers and muggy conditions to the islands through Friday. The primary focus of this unsettled weather event will occur mostly during the afternoon and evening hours…although not exclusively. This will occur as an area of low pressure moves closer, along with its associated cold front. The showers generated by this low pressure and cold front should last in an off and on manner through much of this work week. This shower activity will become heavy at times locally…with the chance of thunderstorms. It’s very likely that we’ll see periods of rainfall across all of the state, although it won’t be constant by any means. The best chance for the heaviest rainfall periods will be Tuesday and then again on Friday. The typical windward sides will see less of this shower activity, with the leeward slopes receiving most of the precipitation.

 

 https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/6e/9b/06/6e9b06b8fd130bf07e378a6232794231.jpg


Marine environment details: All marine advisories have been dropped, as surf has dropped below advisory levels along exposed north and west facing shores, and winds have eased below small craft advisory speeds. With only small swells in the forecast for at least the next couple of days, and winds remaining light, no advisories are expected through the forecast period. The only potential hazards for boaters over the next couple of days, will be reduced visibility in locally heavy showers, and the potential for hazards associated with isolated thunderstorms…mainly over waters around Kauai and Oahu.

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

Here in Maui County…It was clear leeward sections, with partly to mostly cloudy conditions along the windward sides…early this Monday morning. There are streaks of high cirrus clouds around too, which will light up a pretty pink and orange at sunrise. I don’t see any volcanic haze yet, although it’s on its way. Here in upcountry Kula, it was mostly clear to partly cloudy and calm, with the air temperature 51.6F degrees at sunrise. The temperature at near the same time was 66 degrees down in Kahului under partly cloudy skies, 72 out in Hana with cloudy skies, and 37 atop the Haleakala summit. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe was 73 degrees, 66 at Lanai City under partly cloudy skies, with 68 at the Molokai airport…with cloudy skies. / Now at 715am, I see a very large cloud of sugar cane smoke in the central valley, which seems to be moving towards the north shore…and into the east Maui upcountry area as well. / Now at 855am, here at my place in Kula…it’s very smokey!

– 1pm early afternoon, under cloudy skies here in upcountry Kula, with sunshine still beaming down in the central valley, and along some of our beaches. The sugar cane burning this morning had terrible timing, as it contributed to the incoming volcanic haze over the island now! I suppose no one is supervising the burning, at least no one with any awareness of the weather conditions over Maui. The clouds here at my place are very dark, and the first rain drops of the day have just arrived…which are light so far.

– 555pm, under mostly cloudy skies, with very thick volcanic haze (vog) over Maui. The heaviest rainfall today occurred this afternoon over the windward side of the West Maui Mountains. There were some damages reported, as this heavy rain fell. It looks to me like this is the first sign of what’s to come at times over the next 4-5 days. All the islands will be vulnerable to these afternoon heavy rains, so if you are out and about, driving around, and heavy rains begin falling, slow down and use extreme caution. / Now at 825pm, skies have cleared to some degree here on Maui, and I see a progressively larger moon rising…it won’t be long before it’s full.

 

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:
There are no active tropical cyclones


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

Tropical Cyclone 15S (Emeraude) is dissipating in the South Indian Ocean, with winds of 30 knots and gusts of 40 knots…located approximately 846 NM east-southeast of Diego Garcia. Here’s the JTWC graphical track map, a NOAA satellite image, a near real time wind profile – Final Warning

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


Interesting: Desert cactus purifies contaminated water for aquaculture, drinking and more – Farm-grown fish are an important source of food with significant and worldwide societal and economic benefits, but the fish that come from these recirculating systems can have unpleasant tastes and odors. To clean contaminated water for farmed fish, drinking and other uses, scientists are now turning to an unlikely source — the mucilage or inner “guts” of cacti.

The researchers present their work today at the 251st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS, the world’s largest scientific society, is holding the meeting here through Thursday. It features more than 12,500 presentations on a wide range of science topics. 

“We found there is an attraction between the mucilage of cactus and arsenic,” says Norma Alcantar, Ph.D. “The mucilage also attracts sediments, bacteria and other contaminants. It captures these substances and forms a large mass or ‘floc’ that sort of looks like cotton candy. For sediments, the flocs are large and heavy, which precipitate rapidly after the interaction with mucilage.”

The technology grew from century-old knowledge that mucilage from some common cacti can clean drinking water. Alcantar was first introduced to this process by her Mexican grandmother who described using boiled prickly pear cactus to capture particles in sediment-laced dirty water. The sediments sank, and the water at the top of the bucket became clear and drinkable.

In 2006, Alcantar, who is at the University of South Florida (USF), began experimenting with the cleansing properties of cactus. She and her team tried the approach to clean contaminated drinking water following the Haiti earthquake and found it worked well. Common worldwide, cacti are a sustainable product and are not only nontoxic, but are edible and considered a delicacy.

Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, she and her USF team began to explore the ability of cacti to clean up oil contaminated seawater. While the research program never moved beyond bench scale, she says, cactus mucilage was found to be an effective oil dispersant.

More recently, Alcantar and Tunan Peng, a graduate research assistant in her lab, were approached by representatives from the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, who asked them to investigate whether cactus extract could clean recirculating aquarium water, as well as water in aquaculture tanks and ponds.

Such tanks, Alcantar and Peng say, create conditions that encourage bacterial growth that in turn develops unpleasant smelly compounds, such as 2-methylisoborneol (known as MIB) and geosmin. These compounds result in the musty, earthy flavor that is sometimes in the water and the fish that live in it. At harvest, the current practice is to purge the fish and tanks with fresh water, which takes months, uses large amounts of water and stresses the fish, Alcantar says.

In a search for alternatives, Peng and Alcantar turned to cactus mucilage. Now, she adds, they are seeking to determine the mechanism that allows mucilage to be such an effective purifier.

Also, the researchers are currently studying the chemical composition of the mucilage, which is made up of carbohydrates and some 60 sugars, with the goal of synthesizing it in a lab. In addition, they are developing a prototype of a recirculating aquaculture system that uses cactus extract as a cleansing agent, and they will conduct a life cycle analysis of the system.