My Summer Vacation: "Hurricane" Lane Arrives

When I went to sleep last night, the forecast showed Hurricane Lane 215 miles south of Honolulu & moving at about 6 mph. I awoke this morning to find the 5 a.m. forecast by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center saying Hurricane Lane was now a Category 2 storm about 180 miles south of Honolulu, moving at about 5 mph. Since the tropical storm force winds (39 to 73 mph) extended out about 140 miles, doing the math, I figured it would be about 1 p.m. when we might begin to see the tropical storm level winds. Hurricane level winds extended about 35 miles out, which would mean we would begin seeing those about 5 p.m. on Saturday at Hurricane Lane's rate of movement if it didn't turn. The Most Likely Arrival Time of Tropical-Storm-Force Winds chart, however, put the arrival time at 8 p.m. tonight.


11 p.m. 08/23/18

But the 8 a.m. forecast showed that Hurricane Lane's movement north had slowed down to 2 mph.

8 a.m., the path looks like the 5 a.m. path since Lane was moving so slowly.

Then the 11 a.m. forecast showed the movement speed back up to 5 mph with Hurricane Lane being about 150 miles south of Honolulu. Since the tropical storm force winds were still extending out about 140 miles that meant 2 more hours (or 1 p.m.) before we would begin seeing those higher speed winds. The mustard colored blob in the diagrams shows the rough extent of the tropical storm force winds to scale, notice how close it is to the islands.

Sleeping at Maunalani last night was interesting. I set the recliner up next to a table in the Orchid Dining Room; my electronics were charging on the table. The recliner did not go back far enough to allow me to feel like I was lying down, so I kind of curled up in it. Kind of. I was a bit stiff & sore this morning; it was better than an airline seat but not by much. The part that was more problematic with sleeping, however, was the noise. The awning over the 2nd floor lanai made a lot of noise in the wind last night. It also didn't get very dark because of the large window in to the hallway so that the staff can easily see what's happening with residents in the dining room. I took a lot of little naps today to try to catch up on what I missed last night.

My sleeping set up; all the lights in the dining room are off.

Looking out the dining room window in to the hall way.

Because the tropical storm force winds were not going to arrive until after lunch I decided to do my morning walk. Like yesterday's walks, it was overcast but dry & breezy; though the breezes were much stronger than yesterday & it was muggy. I saw 2 trees that were damaged and picked up a few windfall avocados and mangoes that I found along the way. I saw 3 Kolea, one up on Maunalani Circle, one down at the park, & the last on Sierra Drive at Maunalani Circle. All were foraging in the grass.

Broken tree on Maunalani Circle.

Another broken tree on Maunalani Circle.

Windfall mangoes on Sierra Drive.

Kolea on Maunalani Circle.

Kolea at the park.

Kolea on Sierra Drive.

After breakfast I made a quick run home to get a shower, change my clothes, & pick up a couple other things I forgot; I planned on staying overnight again. The parking lot was still deserted. Because I went home I skipped the mid-morning walk; I'll have to make it up next week. While I was at home I did my weekly weigh-in & found I had lost 1.5 pounds over the last week.

Lunch today was Sesame chicken, Steamed rice, Namasu, Tossed salad, Banana bar, & Minestrone Soup. Dad refused everything, including his supplements; he decided to sleep instead.

At 1 p.m. I went out to take a photo and saw no significant increase in the wind. I did the same at 2 p.m. & even though the 2 p.m. forecast showed the Current Wind Extent over the southeasterly portion of the island, I really wasn't seeing much difference in the wind. The more critical piece, however, was whether Hurricane Lane, which was a Category 1 at the 2 p.m. forecast, would be turning towards the west. If not, the eye would go right over the center of the island, funneling between the Ko'olau Mountains on the east and the Waianae Mountains on the west. Which also meant right over the area where Curtis & Lori live. This wouldn't let the rest of the island off easy, though, since the tropical storm level winds still extended out about 140 miles from the center and the island is only about 30 miles across. Even if the storm decreased in strength, as they were predicting, tropical storm winds are 39 to 73 mph; just imagine getting hit by a car going that fast. Everyone was hoping that the models were right & the storm would turn towards the west.

2 p.m.

During my afternoon walk I saw several people out walking their dogs. I didn't see any of the Kolea. I also noticed the difference in the sky; it was darker and more solid looking. At 3:30 p.m. it was darker than yesterday at 6 p.m. A large cloud system was coming in.

6 p.m., yesterday.

3:30 p.m.

Then just before dinner Lane was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm; that meant sustained winds dropped below 74 mph, in fact they were measured at 70 mph. Lane also appeared to have headed somewhat southwest from its position at 2 p.m., taking it farther away from any islands. It was still gusty here, though not as bad as it could have been if Lane had remained a hurricane and on its northerly course. I still decided to stay overnight since I had already told Dad that I would.

5 p.m.

Dinner tonight was Beef tomato, Steamed rice, Caramel custard, & Corn chowder. I got Dad to eat a spoonful of chowder and 2 bites of custard.

I got an email tonight from Greg from Aikane Nursery, the landscape company that is working on getting the trees at the Kohala house back in to production. Apparently Jessie contacted them to let them know one of the trees fell over in the storm. (She knows that I have them on contract to take care of the trees.) Greg will check it out & tell me what's needed. Hopefully, he will send some photos.

A few days ago Mary Ellen had sent me a photo of the 1000 tsuru (cranes), resting on the table. Last night she sent me a bunch of photos of the team work to put the tsuru back up. Vivian helped string about 90% of the tsuru; it was how she decided to contribute since she had difficulty folding them. (She did one as a prayer for good health for Mary Ellen.) Note the changing daylight in the background.