Hawaii drying out ~ Heavy rains did not stop lava flow

My next door neighbor Mike’s rain gauge is the official kind and he checks it daily at 7:30 AM. He phoned me at 2:00 PM yesterday to report 11-inches of rain had fallen since 7:30 AM. The thunder-lightning blasts were fun too... At their height, Mike phoned to report our neighbor's house might have been hit by one large bolt... But it turns out it missed by a few feet.

Inland is still wet but the northern low-pressure winter storm is pulling apart and away fro the Hawaiian Islands. Trade winds are coming back in but still carry a lot of moisture.

If it is dry enough later today I will finally venture out of the house and go check out the lava activity at Kalapana’s Waikupanaha ocean entry and flow fields.



As reflected in the USGS ‘deformation’ pictured graph above, magma pressures in the massive reservoirs under the Kilauea Caldera have been all over the place this past week and that has affected lava flow; increasing and decreasing active lava coming down the mountain and into the sea. If I can, I will go get a firsthand account for you tonight.

… Now I am off to repair my carport that collapsed from the severe rainstorm….