It's NOT cold Everywhere ... BUT there are Wildfires.

I thought I would give you and me a break from the talk about snow, ice and cold temps. And in keeping with one of my  goals to inform about wildfire activity I thought talking about Hawaii right now might be a nice break.


Here is an iconic view from the Islands ... Can you name it?

That's right it's Diamond Head.  Diamond Head is the name of a volcanic tuff cone on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu  and known to Hawaiians as Lēʻahi, most likely from lae 'browridge, promontory' plus ʻahi 'tuna' because the shape of the ridgeline resembles the shape of a tuna's dorsal fin. Its English name was given by British sailors in the 19th century, who mistook calcite crystals on the adjacent beach for diamonds.  

But were suppose to be talking about wildfires. Did you ever connect Hawaii with a wildfire problem??

Hawaii Has a Wildfire Problem Each year, about 0.5% of Hawaii's total land area burns each year, equal to or greater than the proportion burned of any other US state. Over 98% of wildfires are human caused. Human ignitions coupled with an increasing amount of nonnative, fire-prone grasses and shrubs and a warming, drying climate have greatly increased the wildfire problem. 

Wildfires are a mauka to makai issue, affecting everything from human safety, infrastructure, drinking water, agricultural production, cultural resources, native forests, watersheds, and coral reefs.

Honolulu firefighters battled a brush fire near the University of Hawaii at Manoa Wednesday.

The fire was reported at around 1:30 p.m. by a hiker in the area.

Crews responded to an area off Dole Street, near Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies.

Firefighters hiked up hill, dragging hoses from a hydrant and tanker parked on Dole Street.

According to the university’s Department of Public Safety, the fire was west of Waahila Apartments faculty housing. Residents were not evacuated.

“The fire is high on the ridge and does not present a fire danger to the community at the present time, however, smoke is causing limited visibility,” the department said.

Fire officials say the fire was small, its size estimated at one to two acres, but “it was difficult because the terrain was very tough,” said battalion fire chief Ken Lee.

“We had the helicopter do water drops and we had 18 firefighters up in the mountain,” he added.

One last bit of information.. Can you guess the only other non-human cause of wildfires besides lightning?

Two for two, your right Volcano activity. And we cant talk about Hawaii with out mentioning the current lava flow on the island.

There continues to be no change with any of the down slope flow areas. Civil defense says there were numerous surface breakouts and very little breakout activity along the margins. The breakout along the north margin was not active and no advancement was noted since Monday morning. Smoke and vog conditions were light with a light southwest wind blowing the smoke and vog in a northeast direction.

 VOG is right its not FOG. Vog is a form of air pollution that results when sulfur dioxide and other gases and particles emitted by an erupting volcano react with oxygen and moisture in the presence of sunlight.

I hope you learned something and enjoyed the diversion from our weather.

HOWEVER do NOT for a moment thing that because of the recent snows that we here in VA are completely out of harms was when talking about wildfires this Spring. Once the snow melts and the temps begin to normalize it will only take a few day and we will have the potential.

Thanks

Smokey  

Hey if you want to watch a good movie kind of connected to this post check out the cult classic...