Category Archives: Weather

The Numbers Game #14

The shadow of Mauna Kea stretches out above the clouds.
A favorite photo of mine. The shadow of Mauna Kea stretching out over the clouds!

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 135. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

Sunrise at Upolu on the Big Island of Hawaii
Sunrise at Upolu. I was looking to capture an eclipse, but got this instead.
This mare and her foal were among several horses in a pasture alongside Old Saddle Road.
A horse and foal in a pasture off Saddle Road.
A metallic skink peeks out from under a lava ledge.
A Metallic Skink skulking in a barren lava field.
An Oma'o on the Big Island of Hawaii.
An endemic Omao in a kipuka off Saddle Road.
Ho'okena Beach Park is a popular swimming spot.
Ho’okena Beach Park.

How green are my valleys?

A view of the Valleys of Kohala Mountain in Hawaii
Valleys and waterfalls of Kohala Mountain.

This week’s Sunday Stills monthly challenge is ‘Green.’ See more responses here. Captions on photos.

A Green Anole on a green Ti leaf in Hawaii
A Green Anole on green Ti leaves.
A pueo flies over the pastures of North Kohala in Hawaii
A Pueo flies over the green pastures of North Kohala.
Tropical Foliage and shadows in Hawaii
Tropical foliage creates strong shadows…
Tropical Foliage and shadows in Hawaii
…that look like Venn Diagrams!
A view of Pololu Valley in Hawaii
A view up Pololu Valley in Kohala

I will swing for this

A swing at Hawaii Island Retreat on the North Kohala coast

Hawaii Island Retreat sits on a steep cliff on the windswept North Kohala coast. There are a couple of public access trails leading down to the coast there. One passes in front of the main building and this is where this swing can be found.

I think I could be happy rocking back and forth there for an hour or two or three, and disembark a more balanced and contented individual!

For more information about Hawaii Island Retreat, go to hawaiiislandretreat.com.

The Numbers Game #11

A distant view of Pu'u O'o vent from the Napau Trail at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
A view of Pu’u O’o vent, when it was erupting, from the Napau Trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 132.

You can see more responses here.

A parachuting clown hangs from a tree.
A flying clown. That’s all the world needs!
A grasshopper on a curved stem
A grasshopper keeping watch.
Banana stalk flies mating on the spadix of an Anthurium schlechtendalii
Two Banana Stalk Flies doing, well, you know what.
A rock sits balanced on the coast of the Big Island of Hawaii
A well balanced rock on the North Kohala coast.
Post office boxes in Hawaii
Couldn’t resist taking this one at my local post office. I can run this several times!

Rainy days and Sundays …

Banana plants thrive in heavy tropical rain.
Rain lashes banana plants in Captain Cook.

… They go together in this week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme of ‘Rainy Days.’ See more responses here.

Kahili ginger in the rain in Kalopa park Hawaii
Kahili Gingers illuminate a wet day in Kalōpā Forest Reserve.

There’s plenty of rain on the Big Island. Most falls on the wet east side, but the dry west side can get its share too. Hilo, on the wet side, averages around 140 inches of rain a year, and just to the west of Hilo is an area that gets more than 200 inches a year. In contrast, Kawaihae, on the Kohala coast, gets around 10 inches of rain annually, though I suspect last year was one of its wetter ones.

Cloud and rain on Mauna Kea
The highway to the Mauna Kea visitor center awash with rain.

Where I live, on the northern end of the island, we get around 50 inches of rain a year, but being on the shoulder of Kohala Mountain, that figure can change quickly going a mile east or west, or a mile up the hill or down toward the ocean.

Rain falls in Hawi, Hawaii
Looking out the window as a passing shower dumps a load of rain.