That’s Unusual

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That’s Unusual was Originally Posted on May 3, 2011 by

Yesterday, an unusual event happened. Lightning took out electric service for 30,000 people on Oahu. Lightning is the unusual part of the story, requiring both cold and warm air. Anytime we have thunder and lightning, we usually get snow at the upper locations such as the summits of Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa both on the Big Island and Haleakala on Maui. I like to remind people that we do get snow and sometimes 6 feet of it up there, just an hours drive from the tropical beaches and the active volcano!

Because the summit of Mauna Kea (which means “white mountain”) is just under 14,000 feet above sea level and 20,000 from sea level to the ocean floor, Mauna Kea is really the tallest mountain the in world. Due to the observatories housed above the clouds, there are webcams and weather forcasts specifically to warn scientists and the public to road closures. The summit is closed today due to snow and ice. Staff are not allowed to work outside by themselves due to low oxygen levels and they are not allowed to lock their car doors so as not to have door locks frozen should they have to flee sudden blizzard conditions. Yes, we have blizzards in Hawaii and have lost a few people to freezing conditions up there.

Early on, people though of Hawaii as backward, yet it was forward enough considering it was in the “middle of nowhere”. In 1778, Captain Cook discovered Hawaii and its many inhabitants, ruled by a King. In 1834 the Honolulu police department was established and in 1836 the Royal Hawaiian Band was formed and is the oldest and only full-time municipal band in the United States. In 1859 the gas company was started and just 2 years after the patent, Alexander Graham Bells telephone is installed in Honolulus palace. You should note that the White House did not get a telephone until a year later! In 1886 electricty arrives in Honolulu while the White House got theirs about 1890.

Also, for those history buffs, Hawaii was declared a territory of the US in 1898 and became the 50th state in 1959. The TV show name “Hawaii-50″ refers to Hawaii being the 50th state. The view of the outside of the fictional “50” offices is really I`olani Palace. When Hawaii became a territory and finally a state, the US acquired a royal history of Kings and a Queen and their Royal Palace.

So there you have it, a few fun facts about my home state of Hawaii.