Friday, January 16, 2009

Hawaii doesn't have snow days but we do have high wind days

ADDENDUM TO POST:
A few people have come here by googling Hawaii and snow, but for some reason Google doesn't send them to this post. Anyway, yes, it really does snow in Hawaii, with some regularity, way up at the higher elevations of the Big Island (Hawaii) and Maui. And, yes, people really do snowboard up there. I've heard that the truly gutsy actually ski the snow covered rocks.

ORIGINAL POST:
The University of Hawaii has sent out messages to all students saying that classes have been canceled tomorrow as high winds and big waves are set to hit the islands on Friday, except the Big Island. They've started evacuating parts of the Leeward side of Oahu. I'm not too terribly concerned, though, since I'm pretty sure that this is not the leeward side.

Anyway, this is the warning from the university:
Based on high wind conditions in Kauai, Oahu and Maui Counties, all UH campuses on all islands other than the Big Island of hawaii will be closed Friday, January 16.  Only essential personnel should report to work on these campuses.

Please watch the Media and UH Web sites for additional emergency information.  Stay safe!
That's so nice and friendly of them. A different alert said winds would be up to 60 mph (100 kph). Just now it occurred to me that we might be in a bit of trouble up in the lanai-style, open-air kitchens, where there are no windows separating us from the elements.

The waves can be very vicious on the North Shore of the island, and even locals like to head out there on some weekends to watch the crushing waves. A friend of mine here, a student from Japan, had no idea of the danger and didn't notice the few warnings that were out there and ended up getting thrown to the sea bottom when she first arrived here two years ago. She busted her eardrum, something she couldn't get surgically fixed here in Hawaii because she lacked insurance when it happened. She will wait until she's back in Japan where the entire operation will cost about one-tenth what it would in the United States. 

Anyway, all I'm missing is a one-hour seminar, but I'm kinda disappointed. I'll have to see how bad the winds really are here. Will it be too strong to even jog, much less drive over to Costco or do the other errands I'd hoped to? I'm sure my regular viewers will be dying to find out.

[above: idiots.]
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