Dispatches from Volcano: Wednesday, December 22, 2021. 122221. A Palindromic Date.

OK then...Yesterday was Ka māuikiʻikiʻi o ka hoʻoilo, the Winter Solstice, at 559a HST in Hilo. It was cloudy and rainy all day, so couldnʻt mark the wall, the ground, the nothing... But nevertheless we know that the sun had reached its southernmost extent over Ke ala polohiwa a Kanaloa, the black glistening path of Kanaloa, or the Tropic of Capricorn, at 23.5 degrees South Latitude.

The Tropic of Capricorn is just north of Mangareva, while Ke ala polohiwa a Kāne, the Tropic of Cancer lies at 23.5 degrees North, at Mokumanamana.

And all last night paka ua fell as we snuggled under three quilts. So ʻono! I know I often remark on paka ua, or "snow rain" as taught us kids by our father. Every time had paka ua, next day had snow on the mountain. "The mountain", at least in Honokaʻa, always referred to Maunakea.

paka

3. n. Raindrops, patter of rain, especially of big drops. ʻO ka ua paka kahi, paka lua, pakapaka ua, paka ua, kūlokuloku (chant for Kua-kini), the rain falling in single drops, in double drops, the many drops, raindrops, rain in streams. Hana ka uluna i ka paka o ka ua, work the pillow during the dropping of rain [i.e., might as well rest when it's raining]. (PCP pata).

Paka paka paka on the iron roof. Soothing. As is, I imagine, the magic of Poliʻahu blanketing Mokuʻāweoweo and the upper elevations on Maunaloa,

and Kūkahauʻula and the heights on Maunakea.

Itʻs 57dF now, at 11a in Keaʻau ma uka. BRISK. And paka ua continues. While at Kaluapele, Pelehonuamea is resting. The cycle of luaʻi pele / hoʻomaha / luaʻi pele continues, as she shall into the future. The Tilt for the past month is dizzying. Though if we are In The Present, and take life one day at a time, as I believe we should, itʻs as it should be. Kinda humbug when you try make vacation plans and get rain, or snow, or no moʻ lava, or get CoViD of whatever variant, but...what you going do???

You (we) do the best you can with tools available.

I so enjoy and appreciate the work of staff at HVO (Hawaiian Volcano Observatory) for their dedication and especially for their sharing of information. From their website, first below is a portion of the loko ahi, the lava lake, with the current west vent spattering on December 17, 2021. Because output of pele fluctuates, levees are sometimes formed encircling all or part of the lake. When volume increases, the lake overflows, and lava adds to the height and thickness of levees. The tan area lower left is a block of caldera floor that didnʻt fall all the way down.

Kinda looking from the opposite view, the fuming vent, with a little embayment of the loko ahi on December 20, 2021.

And an increase in volume causes the lake to overflow, rafting along plates of crust.

The thermal webcam captures a similar view of an overflow with the orange front at bottom beginning to cool:

And on the 20th, a more vigorous overflow, not long before the most recent pause.

Below, yesterday, 122121 at Halemaʻumaʻu, by DDowns of HVO. The conical bluefuming west vent at top right of crusted loko ahi. Below it is the reddish oxidized west vent, active December 2020 to May 2021. Irregular rim of lake clearly visible.

And this morning, what appears to be an elongate glowing lua (pit) more or less where the overflow cataract was.

Below slightly blurry because of raindrops on lens. The leveed outline of the lake, no pele (molten lava) visible. But...stay tuned.

At about 1130a the sun peaked through the clouds, and paka ua for now has paused. Tremor on the RIMD seismometer is...mayhaps increased? We shall see.