Hawaiian Islands Weather Details & Aloha Paragraphs / May 9-10, 2018

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

81 – 73  Lihue, Kauai
84 – 70  Honolulu, Oahu
80 – 69  Molokai AP
80 – 67  Kahului AP, Maui
85 – 76  Kailua Kona
77 – 72  Hilo AP, Hawaii

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

0.54  Mount Waialeale, Kauai
1.11  Manoa Lyon Arboretum, Oahu
0.35  Molokai
0.02  Lanai
0.04  Kahoolawe
2.18  West Wailuaiki, Maui
2.01  Saddle Quarry, Big Island

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

15  Poipu, Kauai
25  Kuaokala, Oahu
28  Molokai
27  Lanai
35  Kahoolawe
31  Maalaea Bay, Maui
25  Kealakomo, Big Island

Hawaii’s Mountains – Here’s a link to the live webcam on the summit of our tallest mountain Mauna Kea (nearly 13,800 feet high) on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here’s the webcam for the 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.

Aloha Paragraphs

Large high to the north…with a fading tropical disturbance (Invest 90E) far east-southeast

High clouds moving over the Big Island from the southwest

Partly to mostly cloudy skies…some localized clearing

Showers locally – Looping image

 

~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Broad Brush Overview: The moderate to locally strong trade wind flow will continue to focus clouds and showers over the windward sides, especially over Maui County and the Big Island. These gusty trades will lose strength Thursday through Friday, which will likely give way to light and variable winds over the smaller islands…in addition to bringing some vog from the Big Island vents to the smaller islands with time too. The light winds should also prompt afternoon upcountry showers to develop over the leeward sides of the islands. A gradual drying trend is anticipated over the weekend into early next week…with the long awaited more typical trade winds returning.

Details: The forecast keeps the band of low clouds and showers, associated with the dissipated cold front remaining just south and east of the Big Island. Meanwhile, the trades will veer slightly from the northeast to the east, and remain gusty, as high pressure shifts to an area due north of the islands. Considerable cloud coverage, associated with the weak upper low centered north of the central islands, combined with the typical windward low clouds…will keep cloudy skies over the Big Island. Drier air lurking just north of the state is forecast to continue to slowly move southward, likely bringing a gradual downward trend in shower activity across the state, especially over the smaller islands.

A weakness within the ridge north of the state is forecast to develop, as high pressure to the north continues eastward, and an upper trough and surface cold front approach from the northwest. Local winds will shift more east-southeast and weaken, as a pre-frontal trough develops over the smaller islands. While the trough will likely decrease stability, potential affects are still uncertain at this point. Most of the models show the trough developing over the central islands…with moisture concentrating over the waters northeast of the state.

Thus, the best chance for rain over land may occur over leeward areas of the smaller islands in the afternoons starting Thursday…as light winds allow sea breezes to trigger shower development. Maui and the Big Island, still in the east-southeast flow, will likely see clouds and showers over windward areas. As the winds become light and variable over the smaller islands Thursday through Friday, vog from the Big Island could move northward Friday. It’s unclear how far the vog moves over the state, although it will be a short-lived affair…as the trades quickly return Friday night into the weekend.

Looking Ahead: Finally some good news in our local weather picture…as we push into the weekend and early next week, as conditions are forecast to begin improving…as drier air and the welcome trade winds gradually return.

Here’s a wind profile of the Pacific Ocean – Closer view of the islands / Here’s the vog forecast animation / Here’s the latest weather map

Marine environment details: Trades will remain in the moderate to locally strong range, and a Small Craft Advisory (SCA) remains in effect for waters around Maui and south of the Big Island. The SCA for waters farther to the west has been cancelled due to declining north swell. Both seas and wind should diminish below SCA criteria over all Hawaiian waters by this evening.

The north swell is declining and will continue to do so, although since the swell was generated from a deep low pressure northeast of the islands, the islands in the eastern half of the state will continue to have slightly larger surf.

The rest of this week will see a series of smaller swells from the northwest to north-northwest. This will keep surf elevated…although below advisory level for north and west facing shores.

Surf along east facing shores will continue to be elevated due to the strong trade winds. This locally generated swell will drop off tonight as the trades soften. The south facing shores will continue to have small surf through the week.

 

World-wide Tropical Cyclone activity

Here’s the Wednesday Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) Weather Wall Presentation…covering a tropical disturbance being referred to as Invest 97W in the western Pacific Ocean (which has a low chance of developing), and another being referred to as Invest 90E in the eastern Pacific Ocean

>>> Atlantic Ocean:

>>> Caribbean Sea:

>>> Gulf of Mexico:

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:

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:

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

>>> Northwest 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: Helicopter flyover Big Island Volcano video (one of the volcanic haze (vog) producing vents)

A recent youtube video showing the volcanic activity in the Puna District of the Big Island

— Massive ‘Dead Zone’ in the Arabian Sea Is the Biggest in the World – Dead zones are oxygen-starved ocean regions where few organisms can survive. They emerge in ocean depths ranging from 650 to 2,600 feet, when influxes of chemical nutrients — typically from human pollution — spur algae growth, which sucks up oxygen. A significant oxygen-deprived region has bloomed in the Gulf of Oman for decades, but it was last surveyed in the 1990s.

Recently, researchers returned to the Gulf of Oman and found that the dead zone has expanded far more than expected, raising serious concerns about the future of local fisheries and ecosystems, researchers reported in a new study.

“The ocean is suffocating,” study lead author Bastien Queste, a marine biogeochemist and research fellow with the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia in England, said in a statement. “All fish, marine plants and other animals need oxygen, so they can’t survive there.”

Inaccessible region

The Gulf of Oman, which spans 70,000 square miles, connects the Arabian Sea to the Persian Gulf. It has long been off-limits to researchers because of the region’s political instability and the threat of ocean piracy.

But a duo of diving submarines, called Seagliders, recently allowed scientists to explore the dead zone remotely. The slow-moving autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are small and lightweight, and while they use very little power they are capable of traveling thousands of kilometers and reaching depths of about 3,300 feet, according to the manufacturer’s website.

For eight months, these AUVs gathered data on oxygen levels, then transmitted their readings to the scientists via satellite. Researchers then used computer models to visualize the ocean currents that circulated oxygen around the gulf from the Arabian Sea. They found that the oxygen-poor region had grown dramatically, and the scant oxygen formerly held in the depleted zone — based on data from the 1990s — had drained significantly, leaving bigger areas with no oxygen at all.

The change was far bigger than existing computer models predicted, the study authors reported. Accelerated oxygen loss could partly be explained by climate change, as warmer ocean waters near the sea surface hamper the retention and circulation of oxygen, Queste said in the statement.

The Arabian Sea is home to many fish species, including several that are tolerant of low-oxygen conditions, according to the study. But the researchers’ findings reveal that oxygen depletion in the Gulf of Oman is far worse than they imagined — and that isn’t just an issue for sea creatures, Queste said.

“It’s a real environmental problem, with dire consequences for humans, too, who rely on the oceans for food and employment,” Queste said.

The findings were published online April 27 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.