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Hello again everyone. Talking to my friend about Vog on the big island, was curious to see what others thought about it. Is it a serious problem on the east side of the island? I thought it would be minimal on the windward side because of the tradewinds blowing towards Kona. I know that there are still emissions from the Pu`u `O`o vent, but was wondering how frequent the problems are. My wife and son have asthma, so that would be a concern for us. But their condition seems to be more related to the change in temperature than anything else. Here in Kansas, for example, last week one day it was 73, then the next it was 30 with snow, in the summer it can get as hot as 105 and as low as below zero in the winter. Plus my wife was a smoker, she no longer smokes, and is seeing alot of improvement. I don't want to make it seem like I am explaining it all away for my dream of living in Hawaii, because it certainly something to think about. I guess the only way to tell is by going there with the family and seeing how it affects them.
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Here in central HPP we only notice vog a few days a year, although the last few episodes have seemed to have thicker visible haze than a few years ago. This is probably because the total emissions from the summit and Pu'u O'o are up significantly. My own opinion is that it is far less bothersome at my location than the smog in Atlanta was. Vog varies dramatically from spot to spot in East Hawaii, and official monitoring sites are few and far between. This results in making assumptions based on amateur observation, but Punawebbers are generous in sharing their experience.
Welcome to the forum, Cruz, and I hope your research is fruitful. The amount of information on Punaweb is amazing, and the search function can open up a lot of it. Just ask about the rest.
Cheers,
Jerry
It is indeed minimal when tradewinds blow, but trades are only the "prevalent" pattern. At times they break down, or the wind blows Kona (which means from the south). Southeast, south, southwest, west winds, or no winds, bring VOG to blanket parts of the east side.
It is relatively rare, and quite rare in summer months when trades are steady. Kona winds are more often a winter phenomenon.
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while on Oahu someone told me to be careful of the sulfur fallout from vog into the water catchment tanks. any truth?
peace
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The VOG in Hawaii has more or less doubled since the opening of the new vent at the summit of Kilauea last year. So, if you were to ask about the air quality in Kona the answer would be that it is twice as bad on a regular 'tradewind' day. So bad that some have stopped going to Kona entirely. The answer for east Hawaii is a bit more complicated, depending on the winds at any given time. The winds on the east side are usually trades. But, the trades have not been as consistent as in years gone by. For instance this last summer, when one would expect steady trades throughout the season, there was very little consistency, with over a dozen periods where they would break down entirely, resulting in some communities being inundated in VOG. This all depends on the direction and strength of the wind. When the trades breakdown they usually blow to the northeast, which avoids the communities on the extreme eastern end of Puna. But, from the town of Volcano to Mountain View one can experience almost unbreathable conditions on a fairly regular basis. When this condition persist Hilo is inundated and all the communities along the Hamakua coast can be effected. I used to think that the trade winds would breakdown about 10% of the year, I now feel we are experiencing a breakdown on more that 20% of the days in any given year. The answer to your first question "is it serious.." is yes, and to some it could be considered life threatening.
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I was in Kona last weekend for a fishing tournament. At 7 miles off shore I could not see land from sea level up starting around Hualali south, looking north was just light vog.
"Many dreams come true and some have silver linings, I look for my dreams and a pocket full of gold" Led Zeppelin
If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it cost when it’s free...now here come the taxes.....
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In the Kehena district where I live, although close to the lava flow into the ocean, rarely do we ever experience Vog..Although Kona area is another story.
It's rarely bad where I live, in Papa`ikou. It can be bad in Hilo and miss us here.
When Hilo gets it the bay turns all to haze, but only rarely is it right here. It does happen though; nowhere is exempt.
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Thank you everyone for the comments. It is certainly something we will be thinking about and need to see how it effects us before we make the move of course. So on our first official visit east Hawaii, we will have to see how it goes for my wife and son. Only one way to find out... I would like to come visit now, but with the economy, we think it would be best to save as much as possible. Depressing....I wanna come back home to Hawaii!! My heart is aching to smell the air (not the vog though), swim in the ocean, feel the breeze on my face. Ahhhhhh.
But I know it's best this way.
