Tag Archives: hail

All Kinds of Weather

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Wind: yesterday 0-10 knots from N to SE, today 0-20 knots from S to E to N
Sea State: yesterday rippled with swells up to 1 m in afternoon, today calm, then rippled with swells up to 1 m in afternoon
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 3-10 NM
Sky: yesterday hail then clear, today overcast, snow and rain
Temperature: yesterday 3-5 °C, today 1-4 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.32 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

There has been a variety of weather over the past two days. Yesterday began with hail at sunrise, quickly becoming clear skies for the rest of the day. Today was foggy with a light snowfall in the morning, turning into rain for the rest of the day.

This evening, one of the female elephant seals left the island. She had been here since January 3, for a total of 32 days without eating. She gave birth to the second pup of the season on January 11 and nursed that pup for 24 days. That pup is still hanging out with the harem, which now consists of the alpha male, second pup, female that lost her pup, third pup and her mother. The first pup has been nearby the harem since his mother left the island two weeks ago, but he doesn’t sleep in the same spot as the rest of the group. Lately, the first pup has been spending a lot of time around the rock ledges by the water shed and desalinator building.

There was one visitor to the island in the past two days. Greg stopped by the jetty briefly to drop off fuel: gas for the generator and groceries for the ecoguardian. No other boats were seen in the ecological reserve.

Stormy Sunday

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Wind: 3-52 knots swinging around from SW yesterday in every direction to NW this evening
Sea State: up to 4 m waves
Visibility: 5-15 NM
Sky: overcast with rain and some sunny patches
Temperature: 5-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.65 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

It has continued be very windy over the past two days, whipping up big waves from the west. Today, the wind reached a top speed of 54 knots or 100 km/h, which on the Beaufort Wind Scale is force 10, corresponding to a storm. The two higher forces on the scale are 11 (56-62 knots violent storm) and 12 (64-71 knots hurricane). See the photos and videos below for some windy and wavy views.

The wind cleared off the South Seal Rocks of its usual inhabitants of steller sea lions. They were floating in sea lion rafts and surfing the waves for most of the day. When the wind died down a bit in the late afternoon, I walked in the intertidal zone which at low tide connects the main island with the closest of the South Seal Rocks. I hadn’t been able to walk around there in the past two weeks I have been here, due to the hauled out sea lions. It was great to see the main island from the perspective of a sea lion. On my walk around, I found some intertidal trash, some of which has been there for a while. See the photos below for some of my finds.

On Monday, there is a planned visit from some electricians and technicians to do some work on the desalinator and energy system. These will be the first visitors in a week and a half. If all goes according to plan, the desalinator will be operational by early afternoon and pumping water into the tank.

During my time here in the past two weeks, I have used 800 L of water, according to the gauge on the water tank as well as the three consumed drinking water jugs. While I’m conscious of my water use, I still do all the normal tasks like cooking, drinking lots of tea, washing dishes, showering and doing laundry. As a comparison, the 2018 average day per capita water use in Vancouver, BC was 444 L. I’m doing all right!

Video: A panoramic view of the whole island and waves as seen from helicopter pad. The sound is quite loud due to the strong wind.

Video: Watching hail on the window from the comfort of inside the house, while the elephant seal neighbours brave the elements outside. It hailed three times today.