Health department issues vog advisory

KAHULUI - A shift in the wind pattern for the islands prompted the state Department of Health to issue a vog advisory Friday, cautioning residents to be aware of the increased risk of smoke and haze affecting individuals with respiratory conditions.

The weather change is the result of an early-season cold front moving across the north Pacific, Maui weather analyst Glenn James said. He said the front is pushing a high-pressure ridge over the islands, which results in light wind conditions, which are expected to last through the weekend and into next week.

"Anytime we're going into a pattern of three days of light winds, with or without vog, we're going to get hazy conditions. The things in the air have a tendency to collect and stay in place over the islands," James said.

On Friday, he said light winds in the early morning allowed smoke from a cane harvesting fire to linger over the central isthmus before the trades recovered at midday and blew the smoke south.

Rick Volner Jr., senior vice president for agricultural operations for Hawaiian Commercial. & Sugar Co., said the company had harvested a field below Pukalani on Friday.

"There is a field in the same area scheduled to be harvested (today), pre-dawn; however, the weather conditions will be carefully monitored and evaluated at that time before a decision is made to proceed," he said.

The Health Department advisory said winds are expected to shift to Kona or southeasterlies that will carry volcanic haze from the ongoing Kilauea eruption over the rest of the islands. Communities on the Big Island are expected to be the most seriously affected, the Health Department said, but other islands also may see increased vog, which can contain high levels of sulfur dioxide.

Anyone with a condition that affects breathing should avoid strenuous outdoor activities, stay indoors with windows and doors closed and an air conditioner on if available, the department said.