For the past week, it's been horrible here in Paradise.
The air quality is so bad you can't even see the mountain rage in the distnace. In fact, it is so bad Diamond Head, the states most notable landmark, wasn't even visable.
So, what is this you ask? It's vog.
Vog? What's vog?
It's what we call the volcanic haze that covers the island when the winds come from the south and blows the smoke from the volcano over the islands. Since Kilauea, the most active volcano in the world, has had an overly active period in this 25 year erruption phase, the plumes have been its most severe in anyone's memory. It's gotten so bad that the island of Hawaii has issued Vog Alert conditions, sort of like the Fog Alerts in Los Angeles.
For us who live up the island chain, it has given new meaning to "allergic reactions." In my case, my eye allergies are worse than ever: They water, they itch and they hurt.
We're all praying for the trade winds to come back, so it can blow out all this volcanic smoke. Unfortuantely, the National Weather Service is not giving us much hope for that happening any time soon.
The earliest they predict the winds to change is probably Monday. But, with the Pacific atmosphere changing from day to day, there are no guarantees.So, it's a lot of tissues for me. A trip to the doctor on Monday for allergy drops. And lots of prayers for the winds to change.
And people tell me, "Lucky you live Hawaii". Not today it isn't.
