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

79 – 61  Lihue, Kauai
82 – 65  Honolulu, Oahu
81 – 70  Molokai AP
82 – 72  Kahului AP, Maui
77 – 72  Kona AP, Hawaii
80 – 70  Hilo, Hawaii

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

0.02  Kilohana, Kauai
0.04  Waimanalo, Oahu
0.24  Molokai
0.03  Lanai
0.01  Kahoolawe
1.05  Hana AP, Maui
2.78  Laupahoehoe, Big Island

The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph) Saturday afternoon:

14  Poipu, Kauai
14  Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
15  Molokai
18  Lanai
23  Kahoolawe
20  Maalaea Bay, Maui
18  PTA Keamuku, 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.

 

https://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/tpac/ft-animated.gif
We see a cold front to the northwest
(click on the images to enlarge them)

 

https://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/cpac/ir4.jpg
Clouds remain over parts of the island chain…less so for the western islands

 

http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/satellite/latest/Hawaii_IR.gif
Clear to partly cloudy…with cloudy areas over the Big Island

 

https://radar.weather.gov/Conus/RadarImg/hawaii.gif
Showers locally, mostly in the vicinity of the Big Island
Looping image

 

Flood Advisory…green color below

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

 


~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~

 

Broad Brush Overview: A surface trough of low pressure near the Big Island will keep clouds and off and on showers over the eastern end of the island chain into Sunday, with a slight chance of thunderstorms through tonight. Meanwhile, weak high pressure to the northwest will support mostly dry weather over Kauai and Oahu, then with just a few windward showers Sunday and Monday. Increased windward showers are possible statewide Tuesday and Wednesday. Light north to northeast winds will gradually strengthen Sunday, with stronger and cooler northerly winds expected for most of next week.

Details: A light wind pattern remains in place across the island chain, as a surface trough of low pressure over the Big Island continues to keep cloud and showers in its vicinity, with even a few thunderstorms. Low and mid-level clouds continue to blanket skies from Maui County eastward, streaming over the area from the southwest. Meanwhile, skies over Kauai and Oahu are mostly clear for the time being.

Look for this general pattern to continue into Sunday, although the trough will begin to drift eastward. Light to moderate winds will prevail, with north to northeast winds and mostly dry weather west of the trough, and east to southeasterly winds near and east of the trough…primarily affecting the the Big Island.  This trough will finally push east and away from the Big Island Sunday.

Looking Further Ahead: Moisture associated with a decayed cold front will arrive Sunday into the new week. This moisture is expected to bring a modest increase in clouds and showers along the north and east facing slopes, as it moves slowly south down the island chain. The models suggest that a stronger trough passing over the area Tuesday through Wednesday, will bring very cold temperatures aloft over the state.

This trough may enhance the frontal moisture over the islands, and produce a few thunderstorms, although confidence is not sufficiently high to include them in the longer range forecast yet. This trough could potentially bring another round of winter weather to the summits and upper slopes of the Big Island, and potentially for the Haleakala Crater on Maui too.

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 surface trough near the Big Island and a weak surface high pressure system north of the area, will maintain light northeast winds in the vicinity of the smaller islands this weekend. East of the trough, light to moderate southeast to south winds will persist across the windward Big Island waters. Periods of heavier showers and a slight chance of thunderstorms are also expected over portions of the Big Island waters into tonight.

The surface trough will begin to weaken and shift eastward tonight, as a new surface high pressure system builds northwest of the area, and the tail end of a weak front passes by to the north. This will cause light north to northeast winds to fill in across the state, including the Big Island Sunday. A new surface front is forecast to approach the area from the northwest early Tuesday. The arrival of this feature in the islands is expected to cause increasing north winds and rough seas.

A declining east swell will cause surf to slowly lower along east facing shores this weekend. Surf along north and west facing shores of the state will remain well below typical wintertime heights through early Monday. A moderate north-northwest swell arriving Monday will peak Monday night, and then gradually decline early Tuesday. The forecast models continue to indicate a surface low pressure system located east of Japan will deepen this weekend, with the associated winds increasing to hurricane force. As this strong system moves rapidly east and then northeast, the captured fetch will send a large northwest swell towards the islands.

Based on the latest models, the swell will likely arrive Tuesday and build through Wednesday, before peaking Wednesday night. The surf produced by this northwest swell is forecast to approach the High Surf Warning criteria along most north and west facing shores of the smaller islands late Wednesday and early Thursday. In addition, a large north swell will spread down across the area starting late Wednesday night, which will keep rough surf elevated along most north facing shores from Thursday into Friday. The large swells will also contribute to elevated seas Wednesday and Thursday, which will likely maintain advisory conditions across most Hawaiian Waters through the middle of the new week.

 

 

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World-wide Tropical Cyclone Activity

 

Here’s Saturday’s Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) Weather Wall Presentation covering the western Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea, including Super Typhoon 02W (Wutip) near Guam…and a tropical disturbance being referred to as Invest 95P


>>> 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 02W (Wutip)

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

 

Interesting: Why Does Earth Have an Atmosphere? — Earth’s atmosphere is enormous, so far reaching that it even affects the International Space Station’s route. But how did this giant gaseous envelope form?

That is, why does Earth have an atmosphere?

In short, our atmosphere is here because of gravity. When Earth formed, about 4.5 billion years ago, the molten planet barely had an atmosphere. But as the world cooled, its atmosphere formed, largely from gases spewed out of volcanoes, according to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC). This ancient atmosphere was very different from today’s; it had hydrogen sulfide, methane and 10 to 200 times as much carbon dioxide as the modern atmosphere does, according to SERC.

“We believe the Earth started out with an atmosphere a bit like [that of] Venus, with nitrogen, carbon dioxide, maybe methane,” said Jeremy Frey, a professor of physical chemistry at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. “Life then began somehow, almost certainly in the bottom of an ocean somewhere.”

After around 3 billion years, the photosynthetic system evolved, meaning that single-celled organisms used the sun’s energy to turn molecules of carbon dioxide and water into sugar and oxygen gas. This dramatically increased oxygen levels. “And that is the biggest pollution event, you might say, that life has ever done to anything, because it slowly transformed the planet,” he said.

Nowadays, Earth’s atmosphere consists of approximately 80 percent nitrogen and 20 percent oxygen, Frey said. That atmosphere is also home to argon, carbon dioxide, water vapor and numerous other gases, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

It’s a good thing these gases are there. Our atmosphere protects the Earth from the harsh rays of the sun and reduces temperature extremes, acting like a duvet wrapped around the planet. Meanwhile, the greenhouse effect means that energy from the sun that reaches Earth gets waylaid in the atmosphere, absorbed and released by greenhouse gases, according to the NCAR. There are several different types of greenhouse gases; the major ones are carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and nitrous oxide. Without the greenhouse effect, Earth’s temperature would be below freezing.

However, today, greenhouse gases are out of control. As humans release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, Earth’s greenhouse effect gets stronger, according to NCAR. In turn, the planet’s climate gets warmer.

Intriguingly, no other planet in the universe has an atmosphere like Earth’s. Mars and Venus have atmospheres, but they cannot support life (or, at least, not Earth-like life), because they don’t have enough oxygen. Indeed, Venus’ atmosphere is mainly carbon dioxide with clouds of sulfuric acid, the ‘air’ is so thick and hot that no human could breathe there. According to NASA, the thick carbon dioxide atmosphere of Venus traps heat in a runaway greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet in our solar system. Surface temperatures there are hot enough to melt lead.

“The fact that Earth has an atmosphere is extremely unusual in respect of the planets in the solar system, in that it’s very different from any of the other planets,” Frey said. For example, the pressure of Venus is about 90 atmospheres, the equivalent to diving 3,000 feet beneath the ocean on Earth. “The original Russian spaceships that went there [to Venus] just recorded for a few seconds and then got crushed,” Frey said. “Nobody ever really understood how hot it was.”

So, Earth’s atmosphere is life — and without it, life as we know it wouldn’t exist. “Earth needed the right atmosphere [for life] to get started,” Frey said. “It has created that atmosphere, and it has created circumstances to live in that atmosphere. The atmosphere is a totally integral part of the biological system.”