Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Monday…along with the minimums Monday:
85 – 75 Lihue, Kauai
86 – 74 Honolulu, Oahu
84 – 70 Molokai AP
88 – 65 Kahului AP, Maui
85 – 73 Kailua Kona
83 – 70 Hilo AP, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Monday evening:
0.43 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.26 Nuuanu Upper, Oahu
0.09 Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.87 Puu Kukui, Maui
0.34 Waiakea Uka, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Monday evening:
24 Port Allen, Kauai – NE
30 Kuaokala, Oahu – NE
27 Molokai – ENE
29 Lanai – NE
36 Kahoolawe – NE
33 Maalaea Bay, Maui – NW
25 Kealakomo, 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
A large low pressure system over the ocean far to the north…
along with its trailing cold front
Scattered clouds…thunderstorms far southwest of Hawaii
Clear to partly cloudy
Just a few showers falling – Looping radar image
Small Craft Advisory…for the windiest coasts and
channels around Maui County and the Big Island
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Trades winds continuing…well into the future. Here’s the latest weather map, showing the Hawaiian Islands, and the rest of the North Pacific Ocean. We find a high pressure system offshore to the north-northwest, with another far northeast off the central California coast…with associated ridges extending from their centers to the north of the state. At the same time, we see gale low pressure systems far northwest and north, along with a trailing cold front well offshore to the north of the islands. Moderately strong trade winds will continue through the week, with minor fluctuations in strength and direction…on a day to day basis.
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 keep most showers focused along the windward sides…arriving generally during the night and early morning hours. The leeward sides should remain mostly dry, with a few exceptions here and there at times on the smaller islands. Part of these exceptions focus on a few afternoon and early evening showers along the leeward slopes of Kona. Otherwise, there are no unusual weather conditions expected to influence our weather for the time being…and likely through the rest of this week. A trade wind weather pattern is well established, with no plans to lose its grip on our area any time soon.
Marine environment details: A small craft advisory /SCA/ remains posted for the Alenuihaha Channel, and the waters south of the Big Island. Increasing trade winds Tuesday will likely expand the SCA to the windier waters around Maui County by Tuesday night…continuing through the week.
Surf is expected to remain below the high surf advisory criteria along all shores. A small northwest swell arriving late tonight is expected to peak Wednesday, then gradually lower through Thursday. Another small northwest swell arriving Friday will remain active through Sunday. Small southwest and south swell energy will maintain small surf along south facing leeward shores this week. Breezy trade winds will continue to produce moderate…rough surf along east facing shores.
Hanalei Bay and Princeville…Kauai
Here on Maui – Just before sunrise on this Monday morning, we find partly cloudy skies along the windward coasts and slopes…stretching up over the West Maui Mountains as usual. Elsewhere around the island, skies were mostly clear to partly cloudy. Here in upcountry Kula, it’s calm and clear, with an air temperature at my weather tower of 50.3F degrees. At near the same time, the Kahului AP was registering 68 degrees under partly cloudy skies, while it was 72 out in Hana, and 46 atop the Haleakala Crater. / Now at 750am, skies have turned almost totally clear in all directions.
– Monday afternoon, clear to partly cloudy, with a bit of haze around the edges too. Otherwise, a definitely likeable spring day, with the trade winds the dominate weather feature.
– Another nice day, as the early evening hours show clear to partly cloudy conditions. It felt as much like a summer day, as a spring day in my opinion…verified by the high temperature of 88 degrees at the Kahului AP. I expect whatever clouds that are around tonight, to evaporate by the early morning hours Tuesday…other than perhaps along the windward sides locally.
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: Do you live in one of America’s worst cities for air pollution? – The American Lung Association has released its annual “State of the Air” report and its findings are troubling. Most Americans live in counties with air pollution so bad that it is a severe risk to their health. According to the report, that means 166 million people are at risk of an early death and significant health problems including asthma, developmental damage and cancer.
Without a doubt the most concerning discovery made by the American Lung Association was that short-term particle pollution had increased sharply since last year’s report: “Short-term spikes” of particle pollution hit record levels in seven of the 25 most polluted U.S. cities in this period.
Short-term particle pollution refers to a particular type of pollutant that is not regularly airborne; spikes tend to coincide with weather patterns. What’s more, it is without a doubt an apparent shift toward more frequent droughts, lower rainfalls, increasing heat and more frequent wildfires can be linked directly to climate disruption.
According to the American Lung Association, these are the top U.S. cities affected most by short-term particle pollution:
1. Bakersfield, Calif.
2. Fresno-Madera, Calif.
3. Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, Calif.
4. Modesto-Merced, Calif.
5. Fairbanks, Ala.
6. Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem, Utah
7. Logan, Utah
8. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, Calif.
9. Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.
10. Missoula, Mont.
Fortunately, it’s not all bad news. The report says 16 cities boasted record low for year-round particle pollution levels. As the term implies, this measures the average particle pollution over the span of a year.
Below are the top 10 U.S. cities for year-round particle pollution:
1. Bakersfield, Calif.
2. Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, Calif.
3. Fresno-Madera, Calif.
4. Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.
5. El Centro, Calif.
6. / 7. Tied: Modesto-Merced, Calif. and San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, Calif.
8. Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton region of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia
9. Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, Pa.
10. Louisville-Jefferson, Ky.
Ozone pollution, the third major measure of air pollution, is also in decline. Six cities had their lowest days of ozone pollution on record and more than a dozen others saw notable improvements.
These are the worst cities in the U.S. for ozone pollution:
1. Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif.
2. Bakersfield, Calif.
3. Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, Calif.
4. Fresno-Madera, Calif.
5. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.
6. Sacramento-Roseville, Calif.
7. Modesto-Merced, Calif.
8. Denver-Aurora, Colo.
9. Las Vegas-Henderson, Nev.-Ariz.
10. Fort Collins, Colo.
While it may sound tempting to chalk this up as a two-for-three victory, over 52 percent of Americans are still living and breathing air that is shortening their lifespans and giving them serious illnesses. Almost 20 million people reside in areas that are, by all three measures, hazardous. So what can be done?
As the American Lung Association’s report explains, coal-fired power plants are among the chief sources of polluting, lung-invading air particles. Not only that, the carbon emissions from burning coal have been firmly linked to climate disruption.
The use of coal combustion is gradually shrinking around the world, but it is still common in much of the U.S. It might make sense for new policy to be put in place to lead the U.S. away from perpetual coal use, right?
That’s precisely what the Environmental Protection Agency attempted to do in the form of the Clean Power Plan. When the final draft of the Plan was announced last year it marked a milestone moment — it was the first time a nationwide limit on how much CO2 coal-fired power plants could emit was defined by the federal government.
This move was, unsurprisingly, met with a great deal of hostility. Twenty-seven states swiftly filed legal action against the EPA to have the Clean Power Plan halted; in February the U.S. Supreme Court granted this request.
Curiously, many states that are home to the cities that made the American Lung Association’s report are part of this legal action, including Montana, Utah, Alabama, Ketucky, Indiana, Arizona and Colorado.
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