The sun rises behind Mauna Kea, coloring the sky, and backlighting the telescopes at the summit.
Sunrise over Mauna Kea
Category Archives: Weather
Heavy rain
We had some strange weather here a week or so ago when a very wet system hung around the island for several day. One of the results was that we would get some sudden downpours such as this one.
Snow on Mauna Kea
We had a weird weather system settle on the island recently, which provided a week of cloudy, wet weather. It also deposited a decent snowfall on the top of Mauna Kea, which stuck around for a fair while. Maybe it will be a white Christmas after all!
Clouds around Pu’u Ahumoa
Clouds swirl around Pu’u Ahumoa on the slopes of Mauna Kea. This is an area where clouds often build up during the day and visibility can deteriorate rapidly when they do move in.
Maui from the water
A view of Maui from the water off North Kohala. On a clear day like this, Maui looks fairly close, but it’s actually 30 or so miles away from where this photo was taken.
Silent night
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Christmas Song Lyrics.’ See more responses here.
I’m one of those people who sings, hums, and whistles Christmas songs year-round, often to the annoyance of those in earshot. Spoiled for choice, I decided to go with Silent Night with the intention of taking photos of Hawaii’s star-spangled night sky. However, by the time I got around to taking photos, the stars had been blanketed by clouds. These came from a weather system that prompted warnings of blizzard conditions and 100 mph winds!
Such conditions weren’t expected where I live – that would represent climate change of biblical proportions – but the weather system generated clouds and rain island-wide. In addition, it seemed to swirl back and forth and around the Big Island maintaining these conditions for a week and counting.
This photo looks down on the lights of Kawaihae and I think the heavy clouds add a muffled feeling that’s quite in keeping with the song.
Coast Guard buoy ship
The Coast Guard paid another visit to Kawaihae recently, checking out the buoys marking the entrance to the harbor. The ship approached the harbor around the same time as a double-hulled canoe. The canoeists wisely decided to give the ship priority.
There are rules for who has the right of way on the water, but it’s always wise to remember that a large ship might have little room for maneuver, especially close to shore. I always bear in mind the epitaph, possibly apocryphal, which reads, ‘Here lies the body of Roger Wray, who died asserting his right of way.’
A close call
Driving to work yesterday, after two days off, I passed a couple of fire trucks parked at the foot of the hill. I didn’t think too much about it and carried on. I didn’t notice anything else unusual until I parked my car and got out. Something smelled a bit acrid, but even then, I didn’t think too much about it.
Once I got to the office I was immediately asked if I’d noticed anything. I shook my head. A hand pointed to the window. When I turned and looked, I saw the bank of the reservoir above our location was blackened, as were the hills beyond. That explained the acrid smell; another brush fire.
I found out later that the fire department had been called to a fire in the area on Sunday evening and had put out a small fire. The next day, Monday, a second fire started in the same area. While the fire was mostly out by yesterday morning, my arrival coincided with the Fire Department’s helicopter being called to gather water from the reservoir to douse a couple of lingering hot spots.
These photos show the helicopter heading out with water, dumping it on the fire, returning to gather more water, and then heading out again. One interesting footnote is that the two fuel trucks in the photos are about 100 yards from the foot of the reservoir bank!
The bottom photo is posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card photo challenge. See more responses here.
Graham's Island 