18 thoughts on “Vog Blankets Entire State Following Mauna Loa Eruption”
Roy H
Not to worry. All you have to do is through billions of dollars into the volcano and it will stop. Also, if everyone did their part in narrowing their own carbon foot print this act would narrow the VOG that is effecting the whole world! Oh and buy an electric car.
Hahaa! That has absolutely little to nothing to do with the vog. Oh btw where do you geniuses think the power for an electric car comes from?? I’ll help you. Fossil fuel!
I lived on the Big Island from 2000 to 2005. Because I lived at the northern tip I was seldom affected by the vog but anytime I travelled the 50 miles south to Kona for shopping I was often so sickened by the vog that those visits had to be very brief. Visitors generally don’t know what it is. They don’t know why the setting Kona sun often dissapears into the vop plume before setting into the ocean. Or why they feel tired, headachey, or generally ill. Or why the visibility is so often so bad in the middle of the Pacific. Many retirees to Kona found it to be so intolerable that they had to relocate. These are not facts which the tourism industry wants to be known so it is seldom publicly acknowledged except when it reaches the other isla
Aloha and mahalo for your updates. I would like to point out, however, that here in the Puna District of the Big Island just south of Hilo, we are all clear. We have had no vog, no ash. Other than a glow in the sky from the volcano if the conditions are right, you would not know there is an eruption going on. I feel so fortunate to be able to drive up the saddle and see the eruption! Mahalo again for keeping us up to date on all things Hawaii.
Mahalo for the update from someone in town. We have our retirement house (next year!) in Pahoa, and was wondering if vog was affecting our catchment. In 2018, we were also fine, except for a few days when the trades stopped. Shortly after that, you could taste it in the water, despite multiple filters.
If traveling & you have lung issues, please research VOG. Spouse had asthma. Way back when this happened VOG alerts were very vague. Similar to high surf warnings on the north shore with swells so high.These alerts were VOG alert in south Kona. No instructions on how to take precautions etc. While he was sick in condo most of the time. We kept doors open due to no A/C. He has permanent lung damage due to VOG & horrible quality of life. Drs have warned us twice as to the life limiting results of VOG.
Wife and I have been sneezing a lot with itchy eyes for the past few days, and we are on far Northshore of Kauai, which is as far as you can get from Moana Loa and still be in Hawaii. We have had (and still have) strong trades/off-on rain this week, that seem to be blowing the Vog through the neighborhood.
“When we don’t have trade winds, either no winds are present, or they blow from the south.”
OR – every now and then – we get a storm front that moves from northwest to south east (Kauai to BI) like the one that plowed through this past Thanksgiving and deposited a thick layer of ocean crap on our windows/screens/floors/walls/furniture/etc. But you’re right, we need those winds to keep cool.
While I always look forward to your commentary, your headline for this article is misleading and disappointing. VOG is Not blanketing the entire state. I live here on the slopes of Mauna Loa in the Ka’u district and we haven’t had any vog since the eruption started. The Tradewinds are carrying it over the ocean to Oahu and Maui but with the exception of the northern part of the island, most of the big island is unaffected by vog.
I am at 800 foot elevation overlooking KOA. It really is not much different now that it has been with halemaumau blowing vog for years.
Got in a 4 mile run as per usual.
I would not cancel a trip here because of vog.
This is a fairly normal condition here on the “rock”.
We have been coming to the Big Island since 1983 and for many of those years there was some Vog to deal with, but mostly it just made it seem a tad overcast and the sunsets were affected slightly, but we never experienced any kind of breathing issues, and I have asthma. For people who have never been to the islands, the press and even articles like this one seem geared at scaring people in to staying home. (Follows the “tourists stay away” playbook. For someone who has severe respiratory issues, that might be something for them to consider, but for healthy people, Vog (at least as we have experienced it) is mostly a non-issue.
This is different. Checking Mauna Loa emmission numbers today and you’ll find that they are at 120000 tonnes per day. That is equal to or more than what Kilauea put out when things were really bad for us in Kona in 2008. It is so bad today that friends up on the Hamakua coast woke up at night and called us.
Not to worry. All you have to do is through billions of dollars into the volcano and it will stop. Also, if everyone did their part in narrowing their own carbon foot print this act would narrow the VOG that is effecting the whole world! Oh and buy an electric car.
Hahaa! That has absolutely little to nothing to do with the vog. Oh btw where do you geniuses think the power for an electric car comes from?? I’ll help you. Fossil fuel!
I lived on the Big Island from 2000 to 2005. Because I lived at the northern tip I was seldom affected by the vog but anytime I travelled the 50 miles south to Kona for shopping I was often so sickened by the vog that those visits had to be very brief. Visitors generally don’t know what it is. They don’t know why the setting Kona sun often dissapears into the vop plume before setting into the ocean. Or why they feel tired, headachey, or generally ill. Or why the visibility is so often so bad in the middle of the Pacific. Many retirees to Kona found it to be so intolerable that they had to relocate. These are not facts which the tourism industry wants to be known so it is seldom publicly acknowledged except when it reaches the other isla
How does vog effect Rainwater Harvesters?
I am in Maui, in Kaanapali… and yes we have vog for 2 days now… headache all day today.. winds are supposed to pick up tomorrow.. fingers crossed
Hi Melika.
Same here. Hope you feel better.
Aloha.
VOG has not been a problem due to the elevation of Mauna Loa…..Live on the Kohala Coast.
Aloha and mahalo for your updates. I would like to point out, however, that here in the Puna District of the Big Island just south of Hilo, we are all clear. We have had no vog, no ash. Other than a glow in the sky from the volcano if the conditions are right, you would not know there is an eruption going on. I feel so fortunate to be able to drive up the saddle and see the eruption! Mahalo again for keeping us up to date on all things Hawaii.
Mahalo for the update from someone in town. We have our retirement house (next year!) in Pahoa, and was wondering if vog was affecting our catchment. In 2018, we were also fine, except for a few days when the trades stopped. Shortly after that, you could taste it in the water, despite multiple filters.
If traveling & you have lung issues, please research VOG. Spouse had asthma. Way back when this happened VOG alerts were very vague. Similar to high surf warnings on the north shore with swells so high.These alerts were VOG alert in south Kona. No instructions on how to take precautions etc. While he was sick in condo most of the time. We kept doors open due to no A/C. He has permanent lung damage due to VOG & horrible quality of life. Drs have warned us twice as to the life limiting results of VOG.
Wife and I have been sneezing a lot with itchy eyes for the past few days, and we are on far Northshore of Kauai, which is as far as you can get from Moana Loa and still be in Hawaii. We have had (and still have) strong trades/off-on rain this week, that seem to be blowing the Vog through the neighborhood.
“When we don’t have trade winds, either no winds are present, or they blow from the south.”
OR – every now and then – we get a storm front that moves from northwest to south east (Kauai to BI) like the one that plowed through this past Thanksgiving and deposited a thick layer of ocean crap on our windows/screens/floors/walls/furniture/etc. But you’re right, we need those winds to keep cool.
While I always look forward to your commentary, your headline for this article is misleading and disappointing. VOG is Not blanketing the entire state. I live here on the slopes of Mauna Loa in the Ka’u district and we haven’t had any vog since the eruption started. The Tradewinds are carrying it over the ocean to Oahu and Maui but with the exception of the northern part of the island, most of the big island is unaffected by vog.
I am at 800 foot elevation overlooking KOA. It really is not much different now that it has been with halemaumau blowing vog for years.
Got in a 4 mile run as per usual.
I would not cancel a trip here because of vog.
This is a fairly normal condition here on the “rock”.
We have been coming to the Big Island since 1983 and for many of those years there was some Vog to deal with, but mostly it just made it seem a tad overcast and the sunsets were affected slightly, but we never experienced any kind of breathing issues, and I have asthma. For people who have never been to the islands, the press and even articles like this one seem geared at scaring people in to staying home. (Follows the “tourists stay away” playbook. For someone who has severe respiratory issues, that might be something for them to consider, but for healthy people, Vog (at least as we have experienced it) is mostly a non-issue.
This is different. Checking Mauna Loa emmission numbers today and you’ll find that they are at 120000 tonnes per day. That is equal to or more than what Kilauea put out when things were really bad for us in Kona in 2008. It is so bad today that friends up on the Hamakua coast woke up at night and called us.