Category Archives: Weather

NEXRAD radar facility

NEXRAD radar (golfball)

NEXRAD is the Next Generation Weather Radar operated by the National Weather Service, Air Force Weather Agency, and Federal Aviation Administration. There are 160 sites, most of which are spread across the United States. Four of the sites are in Hawaii, two of which are on the Big Island. This site is on Kohala Mountain, northwest of the summit. It’s known to local pilots as the golfball, for obvious reasons.

This weather radar network is a staple of online news and weather sites and shows the location and movement of rain and clouds. The Kohala radar features a pie-slice area of permanently clear weather to the northeast, which I assume is caused by the nearby topography.

I use the weather radar quite a bit and find it fairly helpful, though the weather here is quick to change. Weather forecasts, on the other hand, I find are more of a 50-50 proposition – they’re either fairly right (not too hard to figure out when the trades are blowing) or wildly wrong (all other situations). However, since it’s almost always warm here, I can’t complain too much.

For more information about NEXRAD radar, go to https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/data-access/radar-data/nexrad.

Ironman 2018

Ironman winner Patrick Lange
Ironman cyclist leaving Hawi
Ironman cyclists
Ironman cyclist in blue

Saturday saw the running of the 40th edition of the Ironman World Championships in Kailua Kona. This is the event featuring a swim of 2.4 miles, a bike ride of 112 miles, and a run of 26.2 miles. As in previous years, I participated in this event by walking out to the main road and taking photos, whenever possible from a nice shady spot.

Actually, this year’s race was run in prime conditions for the athletes. It was overcast with occasional light rain and only a gentle breeze from time to time. Consequently many records were set, including new course records for both men and women.

The top photo shows men’s winner and defending champion, Patrick Lange of Germany, zipping by on his way back towards Kona. Second photo, Great Britain’s Susie Cheetham heads out of Hawi. Third photo, Dan Plews of NewZealand (1685) leads Robin Schneider of Germany (2310), and Neil Eddy of Great Britain (2070). These three finished the bike leg in fairly close proximity, but after the marathon run, Plews finished 21 minutes ahead of Eddy and 45 minutes ahead of Schneider. Fourth photo, Jodie Robertson of the U.S.A demonstrates the importance of color coordination while cycling. Bottom, a large group of riders roll into Hawi, the turnaround point of the bike leg.

For more information about Ironman, go to Ironman.com.

Ironman group

Horses with a view

Horses and the ocean

I used to see these four horses frequently when I went for walks. They’re still around, but not as accessible as before. This pasture has been sold and is now used to grow Hawaiian heirloom sugarcane for use by a rum micro-distillery.

Another thing that’s changed is that the brown grass has been greened up by the last two hurricanes, both of which have dumped a good deal of rain, but generated very little in terms of wind, at least around here.

Going in circles

Tug and barge 1Tug and barge 2Tug and barge 3Tug and barge 4Tug and barge 5

Driving towards Kawaihae, I noticed the inter-island barge a mile or two short of the harbor entrance. But instead of heading in, it was stooging around, going in circles or possibly figure eights. Clearly the harbor wasn’t ready to receive it. Still, there are many worse things that can happen than being obliged to make gentle loops off the coast of the Big Island on a beautiful sunny morning.

Rainbows on the water

Rainbow on the water

During a recent swim, I was lucky enough to see this gorgeous double rainbow. I took several photos and this one is actually a composite. In the best rainbow photo the water looked a bit flat, but in photos that gave a glimpse below the water’s surface the rainbow wasn’t as good. So I combined the best of both and it came out pretty good I think, especially given my rudimentary skills in my Photoshop Elements.