Air Temperatures – The following maximum temperatures (F) were recorded across the state of Hawaii Friday…along with the low temperatures Friday:
82 – 75 Lihue, Kauai
88 – 77 Honolulu, Oahu
84 – 74 Molokai AP
87 – 76 Kahului AP, Maui
88 – 76 Kailua Kona
87 – 70 Hilo AP, Hawaii
Here are the latest 24-hour precipitation totals (inches) for each of the islands…as of Friday evening:
0.28 Mount Waialeale, Kauai
0.01 Punaluu Pump, Oahu
0.00 Puu Alii, Molokai
0.00 Lanai
0.00 Kahoolawe
0.05 West Wailuaiki, Maui
0.12 Kawainui Stream, Big Island
The following numbers represent the strongest wind gusts (mph)…as of Friday evening:
21 Port Allen, Kauai
44 Oahu Forest NWR, Oahu
31 Molokai
40 Lanai
46 Kahoolawe
42 Kaupo Gap, Maui
38 Puu Mali, Big Island
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
High and middle level clouds riding across our skies at times
Thunderstorms offshore to the west of Hawaii
Middle and high level clouds, dimming and filtering our Hawaiian sunshine today into the weekend…and beyond – plus giving us colorful sunset and sunrise colors
Very few showers – Looping radar image
Small Craft Advisory…coastal and channel waters statewide
Gale Warning… windy coasts and channels around the Big Island and Maui County
Wind Advisory…all islands through Saturday
~~~ Hawaii Weather Narrative ~~~
Solid trade wind flow across the state…increasing rather significantly today into the weekend. Here’s the latest weather map, showing a moderately strong, near 1033 millibar high pressure system in the area northeast of Hawaii. Our trade winds are expected to increase in strength, likely maxing out today into Sunday morning. We will see unusual gale force winds blowing across some marine zones…with wind advisories now active over the windiest parts of the state as well. I would expect winds to gust up over 40 mph, topping-out close to 60 mph in those most windy locations. These blustery conditions, coupled with the very limited rainfall and low relatively humidities…will keep our local fire danger elevated. Gusty trade winds will continue right on into next week.
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
There will be very few passing showers…with much drier air moving over us today into Saturday. Distinctly drier conditions will spread over the islands into the first part of the holiday weekend. This dry air had its origins in the desert southwest of the mainland, which is unusual! As we get into Sunday and the 4th of July holiday, we should see an increase in windward biased showers, although not exclusively…which could become numerous. This moisture will ride up over Hawaii from the deeper tropics to our southeast, bringing wet trade wind weather through the middle of next week.
The tropical ocean far to our east-southeast and east: Looking at the latest models showing the eastern Pacific, it appears that there will be one or two tropical cyclones spinning up over the next couple of days. I anticipate at least one of these tropical cyclones forming well offshore from Mexico, if not both. This is certainly not a red flag by any means, as there is no threat to the Hawaiian Islands at this time. Here’s the National Hurricane Center’s 5-day graphical tropical weather outlook image. The models show an area of tropical moisture coming up towards the state Sunday into the 4th of July holiday. This in turn could increase our showers then, with a second area of tropical moisture getting close later next week…stay tuned.
Marine environment details: Elevated trade winds will likely hold through the holiday weekend, with gale force winds expected over the typically windy waters around the Big Island and Maui through Saturday. The latest nearshore wave guidance indicates the maximum seas reaching 9 to 10 ft across most waters, and 12 to 14 feet across the Alenuihaha Channel and south of the Big Island. Trade winds will slightly ease on Sunday, though a Small Craft Advisory will likely be in place for all waters through at least Sunday and possibly through the entire holiday weekend.
Rough, advisory-level surf will be possible along the east facing shores over the weekend, beginning as early as tonight. Elsewhere, no significant surf is anticipated through the weekend. Looking ahead through the upcoming week, the latest wave guidance depict a good sized area of gales setting up just east of New Zealand today into the weekend within Hawaii’s swell window. This setup will likely translate to moderate surf along south facing shores by the end of next week.
Here on Maui – Early Friday morning is dawning clear to partly cloudy, with high cirrus clouds lighting up pink just before sunrise. The air temperature was 53F degrees at 536am. Meanwhile, at about the same time, the Kahului airport was reporting clear skies, with a temperature of 76 degrees, while Hana was 73, Maalaea Bay was registering 77…and the summit of the Haleakala Crater was reporting 45 degrees. / 1130am, it’s hazy here on Maui.
– Early Friday afternoon, windy, lots of high cirrus clouds…and considerable haze!
Friday Evening Film: Svetlana, Jeff and I will be heading downtown to see a film in Kahului, which will be fun as usual. This time around we’re seeing one called Swiss Army Man, starring Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead…among many others. The synopsis, outrageously fun and deeply affecting, Swiss Army Man is a gonzo buddy comedy that is the feature film debut of acclaimed music video directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan.
Bursting with limitless creativity in both form and content, Swiss Army Man goes from the absurd to the emotional to the whimsical to the profound and back again. Hank (Paul Dano) is stranded on a deserted island, having given up all hope of ever making it home again. But one day everything changes when a corpse named Manny (Daniel Radcliffe) washes up on shore; the two become fast friends, and ultimately go on an epic adventure that will bring Hank back to the woman of his dreams.
Swiss Army Man creates a world like no other, a place of pure fantastical imagination, brimming with magical realism, yet featuring two characters whose dreams and fears are entirely relatable. Dano and Radcliffe both fully commit to their directors’ audacious vision, and their work is exceptional, finding the perfect balance of humor and heart that drives the whole film. A celebration of all the wonders cinema has to offer, Swiss Army Man is a cultural phenomenon in the making; a surreal and wholly original examination of human vulnerability and connection that must be experienced.
I’ll let you know what we thought, and until then, here’s the trailer…which is quirky and unusually interesting.
World-wide tropical cyclone activity –
~~~ Here’s a weather product that I produced for the Pacific Disaster Center today (Friday)…covering the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico
~~~ Here’s a second weather product that I produced for the PDC today…covering two tropical disturbances in the eastern Pacific
>>> Atlantic Ocean: No active tropical cyclones
Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days
Here’s a satellite image of the Atlantic Ocean
>>> Caribbean Sea: No active tropical cyclones
Tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 5 days
>>> Gulf of Mexico: No active tropical cyclones
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: No active tropical cyclones
1.) A broad area of low pressure located about 500 miles southwest of Acapulco, Mexico, is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Slow development is expected tonight and on Saturday, but environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive for a tropical depression to form early next week while the system moves west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph, remaining well offshore of the coast of Mexico.
This tropical disturbance is being referred to as Invest 94E, here’s a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing
* Formation chance through 48 hours…medium…40 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…80 percent
2.) Satellite wind data from this afternoon indicated that the low pressure system located about 700 miles southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula had developed a well-defined circulation. The associated showers and thunderstorms have also become more organized and concentrated near the center of circulation throughout the day. Additional development of this system is expected, and a tropical depression is likely to form tonight or on Saturday while the low moves generally west- northwestward at 10 to 15 mph. Environmental conditions are expected to become less conducive for development by early next week.
This tropical disturbance is being referred to as Invest 95E, here’s a satellite image…and what the computer models are showing
* Formation chance through 48 hours…high…80 percent
* Formation chance through 5 days…high…80 percent
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: No active tropical cyclones
No tropical cyclones expected through the next 2-days
Here’s a link to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)
>>> Northwest Pacific Ocean: No active tropical cyclones
>>> 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: Floating Solar: A Win-Win for Drought-Stricken Lakes in U.S. – The Colorado River’s two great reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are in retreat. Multi-year droughts and chronic overuse have taken their toll, to be sure, but vast quantities of water are also lost to evaporation. What if the same scorching sun that causes so much of this water loss were harnessed for electric power?
Installing floating solar photovoltaic arrays, sometimes called “floatovoltaics,” on a portion of these two reservoirs in the southwestern United States could produce clean, renewable energy while shielding significant expanses of water from the hot desert sun.
The dual energy and environmental benefits of floating solar arrays are already beginning to earn the technology a place in the global clean energy marketplace, with floatovoltaic projects now being built in places as diverse as Australia, Brazil, China, England, India, Japan, South Korea, and California. And nowhere could they prove as effective as on lakes Mead and Powell, the two largest man-made reservoirs in the U.S.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation estimates that 800,000 acre-feet of water – nearly six percent of the Colorado River’s annual flow – is baked off Lake Mead’s surface by the searing desert sun during an average year. Lake Powell loses about 860,000 acre-feet annually to evaporation and bank seepage. Since floatovoltaics can reduce evaporation in dry climates by as much as 90 percent, covering portions of these two water bodies with solar panels could result in significant water savings.
Extrapolating from the spatial needs of floating solar farms already built or designed, the electricity gains from installing floatovoltaics on just a fraction of these man-made desert lakes could be momentous. If 6 percent of Lake Mead’s surface were devoted to solar power, the yield would be at least 3,400 megawatts of electric-generating capacity – substantially more than the Hoover Dam’s generating capacity of 2,074 megawatts.
This solar infusion could give the power-hungry Southwest a major boost in renewable electricity, and at least some of that power could piggyback on underused transmission lines built for the Hoover Dam.
A key selling point of floatovoltaics is the extra energy punch they deliver when compared to terrestrial photovoltaics in a similar climate. Hovering just above sun-shaded lake water, the floating photovoltaic panels would operate at cooler temperatures than solar arrays on desert land – a key factor in improving the productivity of semiconductors, including PV cells. One project proponent expects a 50 percent boost in electricity per watt of installed power from her company’s planned solar arrays at a sun-saturated sewage treatment pond in Jamestown, South Australia.
In Nevada, Arizona, and Utah, those who enjoy boating, fishing, snorkeling, and swimming on Lake Mead and Lake Powell may not immediately embrace the idea of solar arrays competing with their recreational activities. Yet with beaches retreating and marinas stranded on dry land, the benefits of curbing water loss are becoming increasingly clear. Moreover, at a time when some hydrology experts and conservationists are saying that Lake Powell should be partially drained to restore Glen Canyon and salvage Lake Mead, which is about 360 miles downriver, building solar power on a portion of these ailing artificial lakes may seem like a smarter alternative.
Japan has been a pioneer in floatovoltaics. It began modestly, floating enough panels on two reservoirs in Hyogo Prefecture to meet the electricity needs of roughly 920 households. Now it is scaling up. On a reservoir in Chiba Prefecture, a plant slated for completion in 2018 will generate power for nearly 5,000 households. In Japan’s relatively mild climate, preventing evaporation may be less critical than in the American Southwest. But the prospect of tapping solar power without taxing scarce land resources has its own merits in a small, densely populated country that is searching — post-Fukushima — for alternatives to nuclear power.
Floating solar arrays also are being installed on a reservoir in the Brazilian Amazon. About 910 square miles of rainforest were flooded several decades ago when Brazil’s reigning military regime built the Balbina Dam, submerging millions of trees and destroying indigenous homes and hunting grounds. Today, due to persistent droughts and the languid flow of the river that feeds the Balbina Reservoir, the dam operates at only a fifth of its rated power capacity.
Soon, though, an expanding network of floating solar modules may help redeem this failed hydroelectric venture. In its pilot phase, a five-megawatt solar installation will cover an area equal to about five football fields and will generate enough power for roughly 9,000 households. Later, if all goes well, planners hope to build a massive 300-megawatt project that would produce enough electricity for about 540,000 Brazilian homes.
The list of pending or completed floatovoltaic projects goes on. In India, a pilot-scale installation has been successfully tested on a lake on the outskirts of Kolkata, and developers are negotiating for much larger floating solar plants on lakes in the state of Kerala. In California’s Sonoma County, sewage treatment ponds are now being equipped with floating PV arrays. And in the United Kingdom, Europe’s largest floating solar installation is nearing completion on the Queen Elizabeth II Reservoir outside London. Another is being built on a reservoir near Manchester. There, as in Japan, efficient use of available land resources is a key driver.
Though the U.S. Southwest is far less land-constrained than the U.K., the open desert is coming under increasing stress as solar developers seek suitable lands for their utility-scale projects. Protecting the desert tortoise has been a major concern at some sites, including two photovoltaic plants on Moapa Paiute tribal land in southeastern Nevada, just a few dozen miles from Lake Mead. In California, renewable energy advocates and conservationists have been at serious odds over the prospect of developing large solar sites in desert areas and adjacent lands in seven counties.
Floating solar arrays on reservoirs like Lake Mead and Lake Powell won’t supplant the need for land-based solar in California and other parts of the Southwest, but they can ease some of the pressure on fragile desert ecosystems.
As we confront the mounting impacts of global warming, maintaining a viable balance between water supply and demand in warmer climates will be especially challenging. In the sunny Southwest, reducing water losses to evaporation should be part of a wide-ranging water conservation strategy. Floating solar farms have a role to play, curbing water waste as they produce carbon-neutral power.