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

80 – 70  Lihue, Kauai
84 – 73  Honolulu, Oahu
82 – 66  Molokai AP
86 – 66 Kahului AP, Maui
82 – 70  Kona AP, Hawaii
82 – 69  Hilo, Hawaii

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

1.39  Hanalei, Kauai
6.87  Luluku, Oahu
0.26  Molokai
0.07  Lanai
0.00  Kahoolawe
0.52  Puu Kukui, Maui
0.38  Pohakuloa Keamuku, Big Island

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

14  Puu Opae, Kauai
18  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
21  Molokai
20  Lanai
27  Kahoolawe
18  Kula 1, Maui
23  South Point, 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 10,000+ 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.


Aloha Paragraphs

https://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/tpac/ft-animated.gif
A cold front/trough will be moving over the western islands
 (click on the images to enlarge them)

 

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Deep clouds associated with the cold front

 

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Considerable clouds from the west

 

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Showers around the islands…some are heavy
Looping image

 

Small Craft Advisory…pink color below

High Surf Advisory…purple color below

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

 


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Broad Brush Overview: A cold front will stall in the vicinity of Kauai, with showery weather impacting mainly the smaller islands, along with the potential for an isolated thunderstorm. High pressure will build north of the state Saturday, shifting the unsettled weather back westward, so conditions are expected to improve from east to west across the island chain. High pressure will then hold in place north of the state through the remainder of the weekend…into much of next week, with moderate to strong trade winds and mainly windward and mountain showers expected.

Details: Models show the upper level trough west of the state, closing off into an upper low a few hundred miles southwest of Kauai, then shifting back westward and further away from the islands Saturday. Meanwhile at the surface, the weakening front will remain in the vicinity of Kauai tonight, before dissipating Saturday. Showers and isolated thunderstorms along with fairly wet conditions should continue from Kauai eastward to Maui tonight, as the trades begin to return as high pressure builds north of the state…with the wettest conditions over windward areas. As for thunderstorms, weak upper troughing along with deep moisture will linger over the state tonight, so can’t rule out an isolated thunderstorm or two over the smaller islands…particularly windward areas.

Looking Ahead: Saturday night through next Friday, Models show high pressure building eastward well to the north of the state, strengthening the trade wind flow through Sunday. Moderate to strong trade winds are then expected through the upcoming work week, as high pressure strengthens northeast of the islands early in the week…then gets reinforced by a new strong high building north of the state for the end of the week. As for weather details, showers will continue to favor windward and mountain areas through the remainder of the weekend into early next week, with a shower spilling into leeward communities from time to time. Upper level ridging builds southward over the state Monday night then holds in place through Friday, lowering the subsidence inversion across the island chain. As a result, showers will become more limited and confined primarily to windward and mountain areas Tuesday through late in the week.

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 front is currently located west of Kauai and is gradually moving closer to the state. Ahead of this front, there are widespread showers and scattered thunderstorms over the western waters. A few of these thunderstorms will be capable of producing a waterspout and frequent lightning. These showers and thunderstorms are expected to spread across the waters around Oahu and Maui County into tonight. Shower and thunderstorm coverage will begin to decrease as the front stalls and weakens near the western islands Saturday. Northerly winds will be on the increase near Kauai and will spread down the island chain tonight. High pressure will return north of the state this weekend and will bring the return of moderate to strong trade winds.

A large northwest swell will peak, and then lower through the weekend. A High Surf Advisory (HSA) is in effect through Saturday for exposed north and west facing shores. A Small Craft Advisory (SCA) is also in effect through Saturday due to the large northwest swell.

Surf is likely to stay below advisory levels along east facing shores over the next few days. As trade winds strengthen over the weekend, this will bump the surf up along east facing shores to near advisory levels later this weekend into early next week…bringing SCA conditions for the typical windier Maui County and Big Island waters. Another moderate northwest swell next Tuesday will likely bring surf back up near advisory levels for north and west facing shores.

 

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World-wide Tropical Cyclone Activity

 

Here’s the Friday Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) Weather Wall Presentation covering the western Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea, including Tropical Cyclone 35W which is moving over the Philippine Islands…and a tropical disturbance being referred to as Invest 95P near Australia.


>>> Atlantic Ocean: The 2019 hurricane season begins June 1, 2019

Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic

>>> Gulf of Mexico: The 2019 hurricane season begins June 1, 2019

>>> Caribbean Sea: The 2019 hurricane season begins June 1, 2019

Here’s a satellite image of the Caribbean Sea…and the Gulf of Mexico

>>> Eastern Pacific: The 2019 hurricane season begins May 15, 2019

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

>>> Central Pacific: The 2019 hurricane season begins June 1, 2019

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

 

>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean:

Tropical Cyclone 35W

JTWC textual advisory
JTWC graphical track map

>>> 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: Japan May Start Commercial Whale Hunting Again – Japan plans to leave the International Whaling Commission so that it can resume commercially hunting the giants of the ocean, according to news reports from government sources.

While Japan has hunted whales under the guise of science since the 1980s, this would be the first time in 30 years that it hunted them solely for commercial purposes, Kyodo News reported.

The move drew a swift rebuke from Australia; and other anti-whaling countries will likely condemn the plan, as well, The Guardian reported. Japan is expected to give its final decision on the matter as early as next week, according to Kyodo News.

The announcement comes after Japan’s latest attempt to pursue commercial whaling was rejected at an IWC meeting in Brazil in September. All commercial whaling has been banned by the IWC since 1984, but a few countries, including Japan, have found loopholes. For instance, Norway and Iceland use technical objections to get around the ban, and Japan historically has claimed it was hunting whales for scientific purposes, The Guardian reported. In addition, some indigenous groups are allowed to hunt whales for subsistence.

In the past, Japan attempted to get permission to commercially hunt just those whales that have greater numbers in the wild, such as the common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), which is listed as an animal of “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In contrast, the IUCN lists the Antarctic minke whale (B. bonaerensis) as “near threatened.” Japan’s commercial whaling proposals have always been stopped by anti-whaling countries, including Australia and New Zealand, Kyodo News reported.

If Japan leaves the IWC, it will have to abandon its so-called whaling research in the Antarctic Ocean. But, according to Kyodo News, Japan plans to stop these controversial expeditions anyway, and instead will direct its commercial whalers to seas near the country and to its exclusive economic zone.

Japanese government officials framed the issue as an economic one.

“There are fishermen in Japan making their living by whaling, and we can’t simply end it,” an unnamed official told Kyodo News.

However, another fisheries agency official said that Japan has no intention of withdrawing from the IWC. “Japan’s official position, that we want to resume commercial whaling as soon as possible, has not changed,” the official told The Guardian. “But reports that we will leave the IWC are incorrect.”

Japan has long towed the line with the IWC, which was established in 1948. This past spring, Japan faced pushback after it came to light that Japanese whalers had killed 333 Antarctic minke whales, including 122 pregnant whales and 114 calves, during the summer of 2017, Live Science previously reported.

Moreover, in 2014, the United Nations’ International Court of Justice ordered that Japan stop its annual hunts in the Antarctic Ocean, because these hunts were clearly not for scientific purposes but rather for dinner menus. But one year later, Japan resumed hunting in the region, albeit with a reduced quota that was two-thirds of its previous catch, The Guardian reported.

Japan previously threatened to leave the IWC in 2007, but changed its mind after talking with representatives from the United States and other member nations, according to Kyodo News.