Tag Archives: Hawi

Downpour

The weather here is governed by the northeast trade winds. These bring abundant moisture to the windward side of Big Island, but the western side, in the lee of the volcanoes, is mostly hot and dry. There are local variations, and different times of the year can bring different winds. During the summer, Kona winds, blowing from the south or southwest, reverse the usual pattern.

Then there are weather systems which upset all the norms. Hurricanes are the most obvious. This year, in dramatic contrast to the Atlantic and Caribbean areas, there has been virtually no action in the Central Pacific. Only a couple of storms headed in this general direction and both petered out well before they reached the islands.

From time to time, an unstable air mass will pass over the state bringing with it unsettled weather and thunderstorms. One of the biggest dangers with such systems is when a storm cell settles over an area, dumping many inches of water, and sometimes generating flash floods. It’s interesting to follow these on the weather radar. The storm cells show up red, orange, and yellow. Sometimes they’re big enough to blanket an entire island.

One such system passed through the islands recently. Thunder had rumbled through the night, with distant lightning illuminating the sky. Next morning, I checked the radar and saw large areas of red and orange slowly working their way southeast, toward the Big Island. Then I noticed a little ball of orange appear and start to grow close to where I live. That online apparition was matched by an increase in the thunder’s volume and by the lightning becoming distinct strikes.

Very quickly, a cell built up that hung over this area for a couple of hours. It was quite the show. Three times the disturbance was so close overhead that I heard the crack of the lightning followed instantly by a clap of thunder that shook the house. Through it all, the rain hammered down, which I tried to capture in these photos.

Eventually, the large cell moving down from the northwest arrived, but instead of making things worse, it absorbed our local fireworks show and carried on to inundate areas to the southeast. An hour later, the sun broke through and our temporary weather maelstrom was over.

Ironman follow up

Here are more photos from last weekend’s Ironman World Championship race.

Top: Sarah Piampiano of the sweats up the hill toward Hawi.

Second photo: Tessa Kortekaas, Karen Steurs, and Lisa Tyack duke it out on the way to the cycling turnaround in Hawi.

Third photo: Tools of the trade on the bike of Mike Blackburn.

Fourth photo: Christian Godtfredsen zips downhill. Many of the riders would go long distances with their heads down like this. If it were me I would undoubtedly veer off the road into a tree.

Fifth photo: Robert Kenneth and Asbjoern Bakken push uphill and into a headwind.

Bottom: A long line of cyclists straggle up the slope toward Hawi. Around this point the hill eases, but the headwinds picked up.

2017 Ironman World Championship

Yesterday was the Ironman World Championship race on the island. The race, comprising of a 2 mile swim, a 110 mile bike ride, and a running marathon, starts and ends in Kailua Kona. I usually check in with the race in the vicinity of the bike leg turnaround at Hawi.

Top: The race leaders head up the hill toward the turnaround, accompanied by support vehicles, race marshals, and cameramen.

Second photo: Pumping the pedals is hard work, but can be colorful.

Third photo: Lionel Sanders of Canada led the race at this point, but lost the lead before he got back to this spot on the return journey. However, he retook the lead later and only lost it a couple of miles from the marathon finish, to Patrick Lange of Germany.

Fourth photo: Bentley Walker of the United States digs deep approaching the turnaround at Hawi.

Bottom: Like Sanders, Lucy Charles of Great Britain led the women’s race heading toward Hawi, but she, too, ultimately finished second, behind Daniela Ryf of Switzerland. Charles and Lauren Brandon of the United States were well clear of the rest of the women’s field at this point.

Horses and turbines

This pair of horses stood motionless for a long time while the turbines of Hawi Wind Farm whirled in the background. Don’t know what they were waiting for.

Turbine worker

A worker checks out a turbine blade at Hawi Wind Farm. He looked like he was using the kind of tools one would use to patch a ding on a car, which seemed incongruous on such a large machine. But I suppose even small irregularities on the surface of the blade, especially the leading edge, could significantly affect the turbine’s efficiency.

Turbine trouble

This is what happens when you don’t use a torque wrench! Wouldn’t that be great. Just imagine those blades flying off when the nut comes loose. Alas, this was nowhere near as dramatic.

This is Hawi Wind Farm in North Kohala. I saw the cranes in place one Friday afternoon, and the lighting units suggested night work. Nothing happened that weekend. On Monday, ropes were attached to the blades. On Tuesday, this scene was what I found, the blades having been removed overnight. On Wednesday, everything was back to normal, with this turbine whirring around in concert with the rest of them.

IRONMAN wrap

A final few photos from last weekend’s IRONMAN world championship here on the Big Island.

Above, competitors pull over to wait out time penalties they’ve been given by race marshals. For cyclists, the violations are usually drafting violations.

Second, one of my favorite IRONMAN participants, the wheeler-dealer. I like to think this support guy rides the course shouting, “Wheels, we got wheels. Get your wheels here.” Sadly, every time I’ve seen him, he’s always been very quiet and with this same inscrutable expression.

Bottom, a rider whizzes past tropical foliage on the way out of Hawi.

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

IRONMAN: The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat

Yesterday saw the world championship for the IRONMAN triathlon taking place on the Big Island.

In the top photo, Daniela Ryf of Switzerland powers out of Hawi after the turnaround of the cycling leg. Only another 50+ miles of cycling to go, oh and running a marathon. She went on to win the women’s event in 8 hours, 46 minutes, 46 seconds, a new course record.

The events is not all fun and games however. Below, Tim Reed of Australia looks dejected as he walks his bike back into Hawi after withdrawing from the event. Not sure what the reason was, but the bike looked OK.