This is an agreement to set up a temporary site for NOAA and Scripps to continue their atmospheric measurements at the summit of Maunakea where the University operates its 88" telescope (UH88). On December 16, 2022, BIVN reported that NOAA reached an emergency agreement with the University of Hawaii. NOAA and Scripps scientists are working to resume measurements at Mauna Loa.
By December 10, 2022, lava expansion paused without reaching the Inouye Highway (Sadddle Road) which sits between the Mauna Loa and Kilauea volcanoes, and which connects the city of Hilo and the town of Kona. The first volcanic disruption ocurred in 1984 when lava disconnected power to the observatory and came within 5 miles of Hilo. The 2022 eruption marks the second disruption of the Mauna Loa CO2 record due to volcanic activity. As the operator of the facility, NOAA posted the following notice on the morning of November 29, 2022, that all data collection at MLO has paused. The loss of access and electricity at MLO has forced a pause in the collection of the longest-running record of atmospheric CO2 measurements which the late Charles David Keeling of Scripps began in March 1958. … This is more than a spectacle to many people of Hawaii this is a sacred event.Scientific instruments at the facility includes analyzers operated independently by Scripps and NOAA to continuously measure concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) as they change in the atmosphere. “The park is open and viewing has been spectacular,” Ferracane said. Ferracane estimated several thousand people visited the park Monday and the number was expected to be higher Tuesday, when a cruise ship was expected to be arriving in Hilo. The park is open 24 hours and the best times for viewing while avoiding the growing crowds is before 9 a.m. Both the Kilauea and the Mauna Loa volcanic activity are visible from the national park in Volcano, said spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane. Roth and officials at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park see the eruption more as a blessing than a curse, at least for now. Even if they impacted a community, it would impact the community in very specific areas.” “We just don’t know what the advance rates of this lava flow will be right now once it hits flat ground,” Hon said. Officials said there’s no immediate danger to more populated areas to the northeast, such as Hilo. “Clearly the danger for the Ka‘u area and Kona area is gone so there really is no need to have a shelter up there any longer,” Roth said. No one used the Pahala shelter, which had 200 cots, and only four or five people used the Kona one, he said. The county’s two emergency shelters - one in Pahala and one at Old Airport Park in Kailua-Kona - have been closed, as they’re no longer needed based on projected lava flows, Roth said. People drive 60 mph it’s not a safe place to park.”
“What we’re trying to do is have people not park on the highway,” Roth said. Roth said Gil Kahele state recreation area will be open 24 hours, providing parking there, and also there are parking spots along the highway at trailheads. Roth issued an emergency order Monday night prohibiting parking along the highway from mile marker 16 to mile marker 31. But parking along Saddle Road is not one of them. There are ample places for those wishing to view the eruption, said Roth. “Generally, we can look a few days ahead and we really don’t want to go any further than that,” Hon said. Volcanic eruptions and lava flows aren’t easily predicted and the scientists haven’t yet gotten close enough to the summit eruption itself to take good measurements. Still, experts stressed, it’s too early to tell. “For pretty much everybody, it’s going to be using those other highways to get around,” Roth said. In a worst case scenario, east-west access across the island is still possible using either the north and south roadways. At its current location, the flow closest to Saddle Road is about two miles away from hitting flatter ground, where it is likely to slow and pool, if past eruptions are any indication, Hon said.Įmergency managers at state and local levels of government are working out scenarios in case the highway is overcome by lava, said Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth.
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