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Hawaii: Volcanic smog has the islands in a haze

Diamond Head crater: Volcanic Smog over Oahu

Even paradise has its problems.

Hawaii, where the weather rarely varies more than a few degrees, is being plagued by vog — volcanic smog — coming from a new vent on the Big Island’s Kilauea volcano. It’s giving off record levels of sulfur dioxide, combined with ash, creating a thick haze that’s hanging over all the islands.

As a result, some of the trails in the Big Island’s Hawaii Volcanoes National Park are closed. From the park’s website on Friday:

—Crater Rim Drive between Jaggar Museum and the Chain of Craters Road junction is closed.
—The Kau Desert Trail is closed from Jaggar Museum to Pepeiao Cabin. The Kau Desert Trailhead on Highway 11 and the trail leading to the Footprints area and beyond to Mauna Iki and Hilina Pali Road are closed.
—All trails leading to and across Kilauea Caldera are closed.
—Napau Crater, Puu Oo, and the park’s eastern boundary are closed

Big Island farmers also are complaining of crop damage, and health officials say those who have respiratory problems should stay indoors and limit activities.

The haze also is clearly visible on populous Oahu, where the trademark trade winds have largely been stilled in recent days. Forecasts call for breezes this weekend to send the vog packing, much to the relief of tourists and locals who are sweating up a storm.

Welcome to Vogville, friends.

— Catharine Hamm, Los Angeles Times Travel Editor

[Photo: Marco Garcia / Associated Press]

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16, 2008 at 3:19 pm by Catharine Hamm and is filed under Hawaii, Hawaii's Big Island, News, Tips & Advice, Oahu. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.

2 Comments on “Hawaii: Volcanic smog has the islands in a haze”

Perma vog Says:
May 16th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
What’s to say this isn’t a long term problem? The new vent shows no signs of slowing down. Maybe another one opens? Everytime the trades die down, vog becomes a problem. The trades don’t blow all the time, so that adds up to a big problem! Will real estate values decline?
Melanie Boudar Says:
May 17th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
I live in Volcano , 2 miles from the caldera and the air is clear and bright here. The show the volcano is putting on is really spectacular. The media is overhyping the bad air issue. The Pu’u OO and Eastern park boundries have never been open to the public, they weren’t just closed because of recent haze. yes some areas are getting some smog , mainly Kona, but right here at the summit its great!!