IASA #2-30

Hurricane Hone did not make landfall but dropped lots of rain on us; up to 22" in some areas.

 

What's Happening with Gilma?

Overnight Gilma became a Tropical Depression; by 5 pm it had dissipated & became a remnant low. It was about 185 miles east-northeast of Hilo. The radar images showed Gilma breaking up & becoming a remnant low.

Gilma is a Tropical Depression in the morning.

It becomes a remnant low in the early evening.

We ended up just getting a lot of rain in the evening.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Diana!

Bye Bye Hector

The latest information on Tropical Storm Hector is that it is falling apart & will no longer be strong enough to cause wind damage once it reaches the state. In fact, Hector, which is currently about 1380 miles easterly of Hilo & moving westerly at about 12 mph, is expected to dissipate about the time that it enters the central Pacific basin.

Tropical Storm Gilma is also becoming weaker. It is about 440 miles east of Hilo & moving westerly at about 14 mph. It is expected to pass close to Hawaiʻi Island on Friday when it is anticipated to have weakened to a remnant low.

Tropical Storm Hone is well to the west of the state & is no longer causing any weather disturbances. Since Gilma & Hector were still too far east to affect our weather, I woke up to this beautiful morning!

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Arden!

Hurricane Hone Has Arrived!

I checked the forecast last night just before I went to bed; it said Hurricane Hone would make its closest approach around midnight. When I got up this morning things did not look that bad. The wind was not much stronger than a normal windy morning; no new trees had gone down on the Surety property that I could see from my bedroom. It was drizzling but there was no downpour. 

A normal breeze at 11 minutes after sunrise.

Light drizzle as I head to Motek Bakery.

So I got ready & headed to Motek Bakery for breakfast. They were closed! And so was L & L Barbecue, Pomaikaʻi Café, and King's View Café. Which meant the power went out last night & I wasn't aware of it. Oh well, one of the downsides of having solar panels with a battery back-up. When David sent out the Bread Lovers email on Friday night he did say, "Assuming that it is not too crazy outside and that we have electricity, Motek will open as planned." 

The Uncle Yosef Breakfast Special that I missed. (Photo from David)

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) showed this at about 2 pm this afternoon. The graphic showing the 3 tropical cyclones gives a general idea of what's happening. Looking at the radar, however, shows the reality of the spread of the cloud cover that is coming our way. The last photo by NOAA is a colorized view of rain that Hone contains.

White line on right is eastern boundary of CPHC.

Red area has higher rain potential.

As seen above, Hurricane Hone has passed Hawaiʻi Island & is about 175 miles westerly of Kailua-Kona & about 160 miles south-southwesterly of Honolulu. It moving westerly at about 13 mph. Its winds are currently at about 75 mph but it is forecast to weaken over the next few days, becoming a tropical storm by early tomorrow morning.

 

The weather report on the late night news reported that there was much more rainfall in some areas than the 6 to 10 inches that was forecast; none of these areas are close to or upslope of me. Recorded wind speeds were also much higher than originally forecast. The 3 shown for Kohala are at the south edge of the North Kohala district that I live in or in the South Kohala district. The closest one is about 12 miles south of me; winds here were no where near those recorded.

In other news, Hurricane Gilma is still headed our way. It is a little over 1300 miles easterly of Hilo & moving westerly at about 9 mph. It is expected to enter the central Pacific basin on Tuesday morning. Although Gilma's winds have diminished to about 105 mph, it is still expected to maintain hurricane strength winds as it enters the central Pacific basin.

That disorganized low pressure system that is about 950 miles west-southwest of Baja California became Tropical Storm Hector last night.It is moving westerly at about 12 mph & will likely enter the central Pacific basin on Thursday. Meteorologists will be watching closely to see what it does as it makes its way towards Hawaiʻi.

 

In the evening, when I went to take a shower, I noticed that the neighbor's lights were on! I checked the Tesla app & found that the power had come back on about a half hour earlier. The battery had been powering the house from 3:07 am until 7:27 pm; it had been drawn down to about 65%. It's comforting to know that just prior to this it had been noting that it had enough capacity to provide power for at least another 24 hours. If you look closely at the graph below at the battery charge level you can see where the grid went down & the battery started providing power for the house. Then you can see when the grid came back on & started recharging the battery; it is doing that since the Storm Alert is still in effect.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Penny & Corinna! A me ka hele hope Curtis! Because of preparing for Hurricane Hone, cleaning up along the back fenceline, & attaching notes on what to replace each window with before the contractor came to take measurements, I forgot to mail his birthday card. So he's getting this later this week.

IASA #2-29

Neighbor's goats almost got out on road; lured them back with ti leaf from fenceline clearing.

 

Meet Tropical Storm Hone

Today, sometime around 11 am, Tropical Depression 1-C matured and became Tropical Storm Hone. It is the 1st Hawaiian named storm system since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. At the time it became a tropical storm, Hone was about 885 miles east-southeast of Hilo and moving westerly at about 14 mph. It was expected to pass southerly of Ka Lae on Hawaiʻi Island.

About 12 hours later it was about 770 miles east-southeast of Hilo and still moving westerly at about 14 mph. It has not increased in strength but now a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Hawaiʻi County (which is comprised of Hawaiʻi Island). A Tropical Storm Watch means we can expect to experience tropical storm conditions within 48 hours; i.e., sustained winds between 39 to 73 mph. There will also be a bunch of rain.

 

Lots of Wind Coming Our Way

I woke up this morning to find an email from John, the head of the North Kohala CERT (Community Emergency Response Team); he was alerting CERT members of the incoming tropical cyclones. The 1st one to reach us will be Tropical Depression 1-C some time late Saturday night or early Sunday morning; it is currently predicted to pass southerly of Hawaiʻi Island. Even though it has not reached hurricane force winds, the winds are at 35 mph and are predicted to bring 4 to 8 inches of precipitation which may cause a need for CERT members to assist; Hawai'i Island MRC are also on standby. Currently 1-C is about 980 miles east-southeast of Hilo & moving westerly at about 14 mph. It is expected to strengthen over the course of the day and become a tropical storm by tonight. As it gets closer the cone of uncertainty seen below will become more refined & determining whether it will make landfall will be easier to predict. One of my tasks today will be to walk around the yard securing things that may become projectiles in high winds.

Then the middle of next week meteorologists are forecasting that Hurricane Gilma will reach the islands; it is currently a Category 3 hurricane. Gilma is currently a little over 2000 miles east of Hilo & moving west-northwest at about 7 mph; it is predicted to enter the Central Pacific area late Monday night or early Tuesday morning. Usually a storm will reach the islands in about 3 days once it passes into the Central Pacific area. It is expected to increase in strength slightly before starting to diminish over the weekend. Currently hurricane-force winds (>74 mph) extend out about 35 miles with tropical storm force winds (39 to 73 mph) extending out about 130 miles.

And right behind Gilma is another as yet unnamed system that is being monitored. This low pressure area is expected to enter an area where environmental conditions will increase the likelihood that it will become more organized & develop in to a tropical depression as it moves westward. Meteorologists give it an 80% chance of developing in to a cyclone in 7 days. Stay tuned!

This type of storm activity seems to be increasing. It is one of the reasons why I am having all the old windows replaced with impact-resistant windows. The other reason is that they are old & many are beginning to have fracture lines. I decided to make the change now as contractor Chris begins to work on renovating the sewing room. Which will also have impact-resistant windows.

In other news, there was a Magnitude 4.7 earthquake at 12:52 am; I didn't feel it. It occurred about 9 miles south of Fern Forest & was about 4 miles deep. The HVO Information Statement issued said that the "earthquake had no apparent impact on either Mauna Loa or Kilauea volcanoes." It went further to say most earthquakes in this area are caused by the movement of Kilauea's south flank sliding to the southeast over the oceanic crust & that today's activity was consistent with what usually happens. 

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Jirko, John, Skip, John, Iris, & Soya!

IASA 2.1

Once again I have decided to change the numbering for the IASA posts. As I mentioned in an earlier post,  when he was taking me to the airport for the permanent move to Kohala, my brother Curtis asked me to text him a weekly "thumbs up" emoji to let him know I Am Still Alive. I told him that was boring, instead I would send him a photo of something significant that happened the previous week. 

Originally I started texting him a photo with a caption each week with a consecutive number. When I did the math I would end up sending him over 1,100 texts if I lived to be the same age as my mother! I initially revised the numbering system to include the year & the week with the title "IASA #3-1" denoting the 1st week of Year 3 of my permanent move. But it's sort of confusing to others. So the new notation beginning with the next IASA post will be IASA #2-29, denoting that I have been here in Kohala for 2 years and 29 weeks.

Now enjoy this sunrise seen out the kitchen window a couple days ago.

Thursday, 11 minutes after sunrise.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Billy & DeAndre!

 

IASA #3-28

Surety started clearing pasture behind house in prep for sale.

 

IASA #3-27

Watched Hāwī Jodo Mission's blessing & launching of shōrōbune (spirit boat) at Māhukona.

 

IASA #3-26

Moʻo is not quite sure who is parked at the gate.