winter vog (Kilauea: 2010, rent, home)

[stephanie park]

Aloha,
I am planning to visit Hawaii in early January 2010. I have asthma and was wondering how bad winter vog is on Oahu, Kauai and molokai. Thanks

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Stephanie, the only person who can predict what the vog will be like next January is Pele.

Seriously, the vog is being produced by volcanic emissions from Halema'uma'u and it is not a constant. By next January it may have completely stopped.

Some days are worse than others. And the location on the island is a factor. On the Big Island, the wind blows the vog around the south end of the island and it settles over Kona. So depending on where you are, the vog can be a problem or not.

[stephanie park]

I read that it was sometimes on all the islands and I was wondering to what degree. If the air is really voggy I would have bad asthma. What was it like last winter? Thanks

[newUHprof]

Originally Posted by stephanie park

I read that it was sometimes on all the islands and I was wondering to what degree. If the air is really voggy I would have bad asthma. What was it like last winter? Thanks

It's not a seasonal phenomenon. It has to do with what the volcano is doing (more or less active) and what the winds are doing. There's no way to predict.

So to answer your question: there were very few voggy days on Oahu last winter, as far as I can recall. But that's totally irrelevant. A year ago May was terrible, but this May was not bad at all.

[hotzcatz]

Pele pays no attention to any mainland seasonal sort of thing at all. There is rainy season which makes more steam when the rain hits the hot lava, but steam isn't vog.

Bring an inhaler and asthma medicines with you, sometimes you can be quite a distance away from medical facilities on Molokai and Kauai. Oahu has more hospitals and medical facilities than the rest of the islands put together.

We have a filter type mask, one of the big ones with cannister filters like what is used for spraying cars in a paint booth and it works pretty good at making vog breathable. Not exactly a fashion statement, but given a choice between clean air and fashion, I know which one I choose.

[melaniej65]

As others have said there is simply no way to predict how the vog will be! Just bring your meds, rescue inhaler and home nebulizer(sp) (if you have one- if not then you can rent one inexpensively with a RX from your Doc) as well as bringing the type of mask that hotzcatz has described will cover most contingencies. Have a great time when you are here.

[islandboo]

I am asthmatic myself and had no trouble with the vog last year when I was in Keauhou on Hawaiʻi Island. Another gal at the same resort had to go to urgent care for breathing treatments and steroids. My asthma is cold-induced, so I donʻt know if that is why I was relatively okay with the vog or if it was just "one of those things". I did use a face mask (treated with baking soda) while visiting Kilauea just to be safe. There is no way to predict the vog levels, so just be smart about keeping your meds handy - hopefully you will be fine, like I was.

[stephanie park]

Thank you all for the information. Are any of the islands less affected or any part of the island? I may be wrong but it seems there is less on the north sides. Thanks

[hothulamaui]

it seems to depend on pele, with big island getting the brunt of it. when it is heavy and the winds are up then I will see it here in maui and it is just a haze. I think it is less for the islands futher up the chain, although I have heard that oahu gets it every now and again. we had haze for about a week or so a few weeks back but I really don't remember any haze for a long long time beore that. so off of big island not so much of a problem. (at least IMO)

[mdand3boys]

See some other posts on this:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/hawai...clothes-2.html