The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said Thursday that easterly wind conditions in the next few days may bring vog to the Big Island’s interior.
Ian Morrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu, said it’s similar to conditions last week when vog made its way up into the Saddle area between Maunakea and Mauna Loa and areas east of Kilauea volcano. Trade winds will weaken slightly, he said, but it’s “more the direction.”
Winds at the surface will be easterly, but winds just above the surface will come from the southeast, and Morrison said volcanic emissions at higher elevations will get pushed toward the northwest to the Saddle area, Pahoa, Glenwood and Mountain View.
The emissions in the higher elevations “are the ones that are going to go in a different direction” than they normally would, he said.
There’s “still a chance some of that vog could reach its way into the Hilo area as well, but a little less of a chance,” Morrison said.