Lowell Now in Central Pacific

Tropical Storm Lowell crossed in to the Central Pacific region very early this morning. The 5 am public advisory & warning cone showed Lowell just coming in to the region; it was about 1070 miles east-southeast of Hilo. At that time, Lowell had maximum sustained winds of about 50 mph & was moving westerly at about 15 mph. Lowell is expected to strengthen over the next couple of days & become a hurricane before it makes its closest approach early Thursday morning. But we just need to wait & see exactly what will happen; more on that later. 

The disturbance to the south-southwest of us is given a 30% chance of developing into a more organized depression over the next 7 days. Since its motion continues westerly it will likely not be a problem for us.

Karina is currently a Category 1 Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. It is expected to be entering the Central Pacific region on Friday. Currently, Karina has maximum sustained winds of about 80 mph & is moving west-northwesterly at about 9 mph. If Karina's westerly motion speeds up or Lowell's slows down or both, it could impact Lowell's strength. If Karina gets close enough it could take some of the energy from Lowell making it a weaker storm system. We will just have to wait & see.

IASA #4-29

Emily's riding mower slid on wet lawn under puakenikeni, hit branch, slid more & dislodged Front Yard security cam; it still works.

 

August Is an Active Month

In an earlier post, I noted that historically August is the month with the most hurricanes in the Central Pacific. And there has been a lot of storm activity going on in the Pacific basin this year. Right now there are 3 disturbances that are tropical storms and 1 disturbance that may become a tropical depression. The disturbance to the south-southwest of us has a 30% chance of developing in to a tropical depression within the next 7 days as it moves west-northwesterly away from us; it is not likely to cause any problems for us. Likewise, Tropical Storm Karina, which is in the eastern Pacific, is likely to peter out before entering the Central Pacific basin & at this time is not seen as a threat. 

Tropical Storm Lowell is not yet in the Central Pacific region; it is about 1545 miles east-southeast of Hilo. Lowell has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph & is moving east-northeasterly at about 5 mph. It is expected to begin moving westerly on Saturday & may be entering the Central Pacific on Sunday. We shall have to watch what it does over the next few days.

Tropical Storm Lālā is slowly weakening & is expected to soon become a post-tropical depression. It is 650 miles north of Kure Atoll with maximum sustained winds of about 40 mph. Lālā is moving north-northwesterly at about 5 mph & expected to cross the International Date Line on Friday.

Grid Back On!

Mahalo e Hawaiian Electric Company! Power was restored at the house at 4:51 this evening according to the Powerwall data. Just after I had finished cooking dinner on the gas stove. And done so without using anything that was in the refrigerator or freezer. Yay! for hurricane emergency food! Works also for times when I want to maximize keeping foods that need refrigeration cold. Now, back to working on those posts that did not get published when Spectrum was out. FYI Over the past day I have been strongly considering switching to Starlink. More on that later. 

From Powerwall data.

 

 

Tropical Storm Moke May Be Here Now

Tropical Storm Moke did not arrive late last night or early this morning as previously predicted. It is still working its way towards us. At 5 this morning it was about 310 miles south of Hilo & moving westerly at about 15 mph. Maximum sustained winds were about 45 mph with tropical storm force winds extending out about 90 miles from the center. As I write this the winds have become very strong making me wonder if it is passing by us now.

Grid Out Again

Last night, at about 7 pm, the Tesla Powerwall system sent me a message saying the grid was out & the Powerwall was providing the energy for the house. Fortunately, Spectrum is still working so I can get information from the Powerwall. I immediately started turning things off because it also told me it was charged up to 24% & could sustain the house for approximately 4.4 hours. The priority is keeping power to the refrigerator, router, & server. So I will not be using the laptop & posts I was working on will be delayed. I should not complain though, since earlier this week some people were without power for 4 days & some are still without power. Hopefully, HECO will be able to get us all hooked up again soon. Or maybe the skies will clear up enough so that the Powerwall can start storing energy for me while the sun is shining. Like the last time, when I was only without power for about 5 hours. Stay tuned!

Tropical Storm Moke Update

As of 5 this morning, Tropical Storm Moke was about 470 miles southeast of Hilo & traveling west-northwest at about 12 mph. It is expected to pass well south of Hawaiʻi Island either late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Maximum sustained winds are about 50 mph with storm force winds extending out about 115 miles from the center. The rains accompanying Tropical Storm Moke are expected to be heavy & will likely cause flooding due to the ground being saturated from Hurricane Lālā a week ago.