Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Tuesday…along with the minimums Tuesday:
80 – 68 Lihue, Kauai
81 – 70 Honolulu, Oahu
82 – 64 Molokai AP
84 – 73 Kahului AP, Maui
84 – 71 Kailua Kona
83 – 64 Hilo AP, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands, as of Tuesday evening:
0.66 Port Allen, Kauai
0.91 Punaluu Stream, Oahu
0.58 Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.01 Kahoolawe
0.53 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.53 Kaloko-Honokohau, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Tuesday evening:
22 Port Allen, Kauai – SE
18 Waiawa FWS, Oahu – SW
10 Molokai – W
16 Lanai – NW
12 Kahaloowe – SSW
18 Hana, Maui – SE
27 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
A storm is spinning far to the north-northeast of Hawaii…
sending a trough of low pressure over us temporarily
An area of unsettled weather is moving by to our north, with
embedded thunderstorms…and a swath of clouds southeast
Variable clouds…with towering cumulus and thunderstorms
over the nearby ocean at the time of this writing…which may
spill over onto the islands tonight in places
Showers falling over the islands locally…and offshore
looping radar image
(Kauai Radar is out of service)
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Light south to southeast winds prevail…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 over the state. At the same time, we see a storm low pressure system to the north…with an associated trough of low pressure over the ocean to the north as well. Our local winds are generally light southeast. This wind direction is carrying thick volcanic haze, and increased humidity over the islands, with light trade winds returning by the weekend.
There will be localized showers…with still the threat of a few heavy downpours. The primary focus of showers over the next several days, will occur mostly during the afternoon and evening hours…although not exclusively. This will occur as an area of low pressure moves by, and then away from the state Wednesday. The days should begin in a clear to partly cloudy way, with the daytime heating of the islands prompting late morning through early evening clouds. These clouds are still apt to unload a few showers, some of which may continue to be locally quite generous. The best chance for the heaviest rainfall this week will be tonight into Wednesday morning…and then again later Friday.
Marine environment details: Small swells are expected over the next several days, and winds are expected to remain light, thus no advisories are expected through the forecast period.
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 clear to partly cloudy early this Tuesday morning. There are streaks of high cirrus clouds around too, which will light up a pretty pink and orange at sunrise. As the moon is nearing its full measure, I can see lots of thick volcanic haze in our environment, even well before sunrise. Here in upcountry Kula, it was mostly clear to partly cloudy and calm, with the air temperature 51.9F degrees. The temperature at near the same time was 66 degrees down in Kahului under partly cloudy skies, 68 out in Hana with cloudy skies, 68 also at Maalaea Bay, and 39 atop the Haleakala summit. Meanwhile, Kahoolawe was 68 degrees, 67 at Lanai City under mostly cloudy skies, with 66 at the Molokai airport…with partly cloudy skies.
– 2pm, still sunshine down in the central valley and the beaches, but major clouds forming over the mountains here on Maui. I haven’t seen any rain drops here in Kula yet, although it seems to be working in that direction. By the way, if anything, the vog us thicker now than it was this morning. It’s as thick as a brick, and I can’t see the West Maui Mountains…and hardly the central valley! / Now at 340pm, it’s partly to mostly cloudy with some showers, a few heavy on Molokai, and still way voggy. Here at my place in upcountry Kula it’s foggy…with a brief shower / 435pm light rain here at my weather tower, too foggy to see anywhere else visually.
– 550pm Tuesday evening, the clouds are trying to break up, although the thick volcanic haze is still around! As has been the case lately, the sun goes down as a large orange ball, thanks to the vog that’s around these days. Just before sunset I can see some towering cumulus clouds over the ocean just offshore from Kihei and Wailea. This suggests that there may still be some good localized showers falling here and there into the night. / Given all the scary news coming out of Brussels today, it might be wise to redirect our attention to the rising near full moon tonight!
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)
>>> 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: 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.
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