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VOLCANO UPDATE: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to remain closed today
Tradewinds expected to return and blow volcanic gas harmlessly away
Rod Thompson
HILO : Hawaii Volcanoes National Park remained closed today due to the threat of sulfur dioxide fumes that shut the park yesterday and triggered evacuation of the Volcano House hotel and the Kilauea Military Camp inside the park.
Air conditions in the park were worse than they were yesterday, prompting the park to stay closed for the remainder of today, Superintendent Cindy Orlando said late this morning.
With the weather forecast indicating at least some tradewinds tomorrow morning, park officials are cautiously optimistic they will be able to reopen then, she said. A final determination will be made in the morning.
Forecasters predict that tradewinds should return to blow the sulfur dioxide-laden gas away from populated areas.
About 2,000 people including military personnel were evacuated from the park yesterday, Orlando said. The Army said 186 guests from the military camp were moved into Hilo hotels. No count was available from the Volcano House, but the facility has 42 rooms, Orlando said.
An Army spokeswoman said Kilauea Military Camp, a vacation destination for military families, will remain closed until the park is reopened. Guests who were relocated to Hilo were notified of the continued closure, she said.
Hilo and the Hamakua Coast, blanketed in haze yesterday as south winds carried the fumes into populated areas, were free of the gases this morning. The volcanic smog, or vog, is a combination of fumes, dust and moisture in the air.
Volcano area resident Paul Patnode was one of six people from communities near the park who evacuated to a Red Cross shelter in Hilo.
“We’ve been through vog every few months,” he said this morning.
Usually he stays home and toughs it out, but he evacuated yesterday because he had been hearing that the latest round of gases was “excessive.”
Patnode, a 68-year-old retired teacher, received a telephone call Sunday night that a bad sulfur dioxide attack was coming, but nothing happened. “I could see the stars,” he said.
Weather remained “totally clear” until 3 p.m. yesterday when, in the space of an hour, the air got really bad, he said.
Patnode usually keeps a sleeping bag and other supplies in his station wagon, but rains last night soaked the interior of his leaky car. He said he had a good sleep on the cot in the Red Cross shelter.
Red Cross volunteer Joy Memmer said at least a dozen people staffed the shelter in the last 24 hours. With some working long hours, replacements drove from as far as Ocean View, 80 miles away. The shelter closed at 8:30 a.m. today.
Relief from the vog is on the way today in the form of returning trade winds, said National Weather Service forecasters. The winds should carry the volcanic haze to the southern part of the Big Island, where it was before the winds shifted.
The rainfall won’t clear the air of sulfur dioxide, forecaster Jonathan Hoag said this morning. “Maybe there is a small effect, but the best effect is for the trades to carry it off.”
Southeasterly winds have spread the haze to the other islands but easterly, 10 to 15 mph winds returned today and the trades will be stronger Friday, Hoag said.
Tradewinds are expected to continue through the weekend, forecasters said.
At Volcanoes National Park, gauges obtained measurements of sulfur dioxide as high as 9.1 parts per million, Orlando said. That’s well above the 2 parts per million that triggers a declaration of Hawaii County’s highest alert level, a Code Purple.
In a late-afternoon radio message, Mayor Harry Kim said, “Some residential areas in the Volcano area did have spikes of very high levels of sulfur dioxide during the day. Fortunately, due to wind conditions, high levels were very brief.”
The Hawaii Civil Defense Agency advised residents downwind of the volcano to close windows as a precaution against the noxious gas, which can affect breathing and irritate eyes, nose and throat. In a late-afternoon advisory, the agency said the weather forecast indicated it was not necessary to evacuate.
The sulfur fumes come from Puu Oo on the east rift zone and Halemaumau Crater at Kilauea volcano’s summit, where emissions increased dramatically in March after a gas vent explosion. Until yesterday, trade winds carried the fumes over mostly unpopulated areas.
Emissions are recorded daily at state Department of Health monitors installed last year in Hilo, Mountain View, Pahala, Pahoa and Kona.
For most people outside the park, yesterday was a day of pretty good weather.
“It was bright and sunny and beautiful,” said Barry Stokes at the Volcano Golf Course subdivision. By noon, however, the gas plume was overhead, blocking out the sun. “It was pretty grim,” he said.
But the gas didn’t reach the ground at his house.
Another Golf Course resident, Christina Heliker, said there was “just an hour or two when it touched down.” It was a bit worse than the normal vog, she said.
In Volcano village, resident Eva Lee said the sky was partially blue, and fumes had passed along the slope of Mauna Loa toward Mauna Kea.
Kulani Prison Warden Beryl Iramina said the plume passed uphill from the prison, causing no problems, but a plan was in place to evacuate the 143 inmates if necessary.
Beyond that, the plumes drifted toward the Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, but no evacuation was necessary, an Army spokesman said.
Fair Use for discussion purposes only:
VOLCANO UPDATE: Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to remain closed today
Tradewinds expected to return and blow volcanic gas harmlessly away
Rod Thompson
HILO : Hawaii Volcanoes National Park remained closed today due to the threat of sulfur dioxide fumes that shut the park yesterday and triggered evacuation of the Volcano House hotel and the Kilauea Military Camp inside the park.
Air conditions in the park were worse than they were yesterday, prompting the park to stay closed for the remainder of today, Superintendent Cindy Orlando said late this morning.
With the weather forecast indicating at least some tradewinds tomorrow morning, park officials are cautiously optimistic they will be able to reopen then, she said. A final determination will be made in the morning.
Forecasters predict that tradewinds should return to blow the sulfur dioxide-laden gas away from populated areas.
About 2,000 people including military personnel were evacuated from the park yesterday, Orlando said. The Army said 186 guests from the military camp were moved into Hilo hotels. No count was available from the Volcano House, but the facility has 42 rooms, Orlando said.
An Army spokeswoman said Kilauea Military Camp, a vacation destination for military families, will remain closed until the park is reopened. Guests who were relocated to Hilo were notified of the continued closure, she said.
Hilo and the Hamakua Coast, blanketed in haze yesterday as south winds carried the fumes into populated areas, were free of the gases this morning. The volcanic smog, or vog, is a combination of fumes, dust and moisture in the air.
Volcano area resident Paul Patnode was one of six people from communities near the park who evacuated to a Red Cross shelter in Hilo.
“We’ve been through vog every few months,” he said this morning.
Usually he stays home and toughs it out, but he evacuated yesterday because he had been hearing that the latest round of gases was “excessive.”
Patnode, a 68-year-old retired teacher, received a telephone call Sunday night that a bad sulfur dioxide attack was coming, but nothing happened. “I could see the stars,” he said.
Weather remained “totally clear” until 3 p.m. yesterday when, in the space of an hour, the air got really bad, he said.
Patnode usually keeps a sleeping bag and other supplies in his station wagon, but rains last night soaked the interior of his leaky car. He said he had a good sleep on the cot in the Red Cross shelter.
Red Cross volunteer Joy Memmer said at least a dozen people staffed the shelter in the last 24 hours. With some working long hours, replacements drove from as far as Ocean View, 80 miles away. The shelter closed at 8:30 a.m. today.
Relief from the vog is on the way today in the form of returning trade winds, said National Weather Service forecasters. The winds should carry the volcanic haze to the southern part of the Big Island, where it was before the winds shifted.
The rainfall won’t clear the air of sulfur dioxide, forecaster Jonathan Hoag said this morning. “Maybe there is a small effect, but the best effect is for the trades to carry it off.”
Southeasterly winds have spread the haze to the other islands but easterly, 10 to 15 mph winds returned today and the trades will be stronger Friday, Hoag said.
Tradewinds are expected to continue through the weekend, forecasters said.
At Volcanoes National Park, gauges obtained measurements of sulfur dioxide as high as 9.1 parts per million, Orlando said. That’s well above the 2 parts per million that triggers a declaration of Hawaii County’s highest alert level, a Code Purple.
In a late-afternoon radio message, Mayor Harry Kim said, “Some residential areas in the Volcano area did have spikes of very high levels of sulfur dioxide during the day. Fortunately, due to wind conditions, high levels were very brief.”
The Hawaii Civil Defense Agency advised residents downwind of the volcano to close windows as a precaution against the noxious gas, which can affect breathing and irritate eyes, nose and throat. In a late-afternoon advisory, the agency said the weather forecast indicated it was not necessary to evacuate.
The sulfur fumes come from Puu Oo on the east rift zone and Halemaumau Crater at Kilauea volcano’s summit, where emissions increased dramatically in March after a gas vent explosion. Until yesterday, trade winds carried the fumes over mostly unpopulated areas.
Emissions are recorded daily at state Department of Health monitors installed last year in Hilo, Mountain View, Pahala, Pahoa and Kona.
For most people outside the park, yesterday was a day of pretty good weather.
“It was bright and sunny and beautiful,” said Barry Stokes at the Volcano Golf Course subdivision. By noon, however, the gas plume was overhead, blocking out the sun. “It was pretty grim,” he said.
But the gas didn’t reach the ground at his house.
Another Golf Course resident, Christina Heliker, said there was “just an hour or two when it touched down.” It was a bit worse than the normal vog, she said.
In Volcano village, resident Eva Lee said the sky was partially blue, and fumes had passed along the slope of Mauna Loa toward Mauna Kea.
Kulani Prison Warden Beryl Iramina said the plume passed uphill from the prison, causing no problems, but a plan was in place to evacuate the 143 inmates if necessary.
Beyond that, the plumes drifted toward the Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, but no evacuation was necessary, an Army spokesman said.
