Surrounded

The weather forecasts have been pretty dire for the last few days but where I live there's been hardly a drop of rain. On Highway 130 late this afternoon though, the only way in or out of this place, the rain became really heavy and visibility was reduced to almost zero. As usual, many of the Puna drivers didn't think this was a problem and left their headlights turned off on a busy and fast highway. In front of me, about a hundred yards away, I could make out a few cars all tailgating each other and in the mirror, behind me, an idiot that was just a few yards away. I really do wonder what goes through their minds, if anything. I suspect half of them were on their cell phones as well.

The island is surrounded, not just by idiots but by bad weather. The only way out seems to be to the south-west. The infrared satellite image above shows clouds and temperatures: red colours indicate high cold clouds and in this case the tops of thunderstorms whereas the green colours are lower and warmer clouds, but they still hold a lot of water. You really wouldn't believe how much water they contain until you've lived in the Hilo and Puna districts for a few months!

My old home, England, regularly issues flood warnings when there's an inch or two of rain in a day and for good reason, it causes flooding. Here rain can fall at one or two inches per hour, sometimes more, and it's not a problem - unless it goes on for more than a few hours, and it often does!