Vog is coming my way on Sunday
September 27, 2008 by Susie Collins
Trade winds to ebb by Sunday evening; weekend may end amid vog
Great. The wind is going to bring the vog to Hamakua tomorrow. Well, it was a good break while it lasted.
For those of you who haven’t been following the local air drama, our vog situation here on The Big Island got very bad earlier this year when the volcano started spewing especially nasty, toxic chemicals, the worst in historical memory. This did not bode well for my health. Although I cannot prove a causal trigger, at the height of the toxic levels this past spring, my breathing became difficult in general and my multiple chemical sensitivity heightened to an absolutely exquisite level. It got so I couldn’t even go into Hilo for shopping and chores, and I started going north to Waimea.
So this next week may be difficult for me. I can hardly wait!
For those wondering when vog will return to East Hawaii, the smart money is on Sunday.
That’s because the National Weather Service is predicting that the normal northeasterly, or trade wind patterns, will dissipate sometime Sunday afternoon. That would give the vog from Kilauea volcano a path toward the Hilo area with little or no wind resistance.
“It’s not going to be a statewide Kona winds event,” said Derek Wroe, a NWS forecaster in Honolulu. “The winds are going to get light and variable, and when that happens … the vog is not going to just sit around the source around the Volcano area. And it is possible that possibly late Sunday afternoon and Sunday night into early Monday morning, that some of this vog may come down the mountain to Hilo.”
Areas likely to be affected, according to a statement from the state Department of Health, are Volcano village, middle and upper Puna, Hilo, Hamakua and South Kohala. The DOH advises residents and visitors to be prepared and aware of the surrounding air conditions, and how they may react to vog in the air.
“People who have been exposed to vog in the past, we’re asking to take precautions on their own,” said Bill Hanson, a county Civil Defense administrative officer. “If they feel they are being affected by vog or sulfur dioxide, they should limit their exposure by getting indoors, closing their doors, closing their windows. … However, if it gets to a point to where they need to seek medical attention or just get out of the area, that is also advisable.”
Advice includes not smoking and avoiding second-hand smoke, drinking plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration, and being prepared to evacuate, if necessary, including securing homes, businesses and property, preparing an evacuation kit, planning for the care of family pets and livestock, and familiarizing all family members of emergency plans.
[...]
On the Internet:
Hawaii County Civil Defense, http://co.hawaii.hi.us/cd/index.htm;
Hawaii Department of Health, http://hawaii.gov/health; governor’s Web site on vog, http://hawaii.gov/gov/vog;
USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/
Link to photo: The Volcanic haze settled in over East Hawaii on May 15, 2008, by Perceptions Unlimited on Flickr
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Wow, Susie! This is interesting to know about…. ….thanks for including it. I hope that you will not be severely affected by it and stay reasonably comfortable.
Will be interested to know more as it happens there.
Take care, Ruth
Thanks, Ruth. I could see the haze late afternoon, but not in lungs so far. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Big scare for nothing! Vog never really came. Just a light haze Sunday afternoon, today was beautiful. All that worry for nothing. I don’t know where it is, but not in my neck of the woods!