A swoosh of transparent clouds

Another quiet day at home.  The winds have been in single digits for a few days and southwesterly.  I was amazed how still the neighborhood was - until the yardpersons started work.    How they can be considered "essential workers" is just beyond me.  Shouldn't they be at home?
Today the winds have switched back to trades, so it is bright and sunny, and back in low, double-digit strength.

Morning newspaper headline :  2 NEW CASES, 2 DEATHS
The number of identified coronavirus cases in Hawaii inched upward to 586 yesterday based on two new positive test results, while the number of deaths reached 12.

And :  Caldwell extends order but opens parks
Honolulu Mayor Caldwell said yesterday that he is extending Oahu's stay-at-home, work-from-home order "with modifications" thru May and is reopening city parks - for exercise only - beginning 5AM Saturday.   His original order was set to expire at the end of the month.
Caldwell said some additional businesses may be allowed to open before May 31 if it is safe to do so.   "If this (amount of new positive coronavirus cases) stays low, we can start talking about opening up other things, too - in a phased way," he said.   
Among the first operations that may be allowed to open in the near future:  car dealerships and real estate companies, but by appointment only.   . .  (!). . . 

And  :  Prolonged rainfall triggered Kilauea eruption, study finds
It was excessive and prolonged rainfall that triggered the 2018 eruption of Kilauea Volcano, according to new research, published in the journal Nature.   Nearly 90 inches of rain fell on Kilauea in the first quarter of 2018, leaving the volcano subsurface rock weakened and more vulnerable to eruption.  
"Under pressure from magma, wet rock breaks easier than dry rock.  It is as simple as that, " said Falk Amelung, professor of geophysics at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School and co-author.
But researchers at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory say it isn't quite as simple as that.   They say Kilauea's magma system was showing signs of increasing pressurization for weeks and that the volcano likely blew its top without any outside triggering mechanism.  
"It is a much more complicated system," said Ingrid Johanson, HVO research physicist.
Johanson said a group of researchers from the observatory is working on a formal response to the study and plans to submit it to journal Nature following peer review.

And :  Few department stores are expected to survive

And, lastly,  -   Hawaiian Airlines brings in 1.6 million face masks from China.   Not a single mask will be sold.  Instead they will be distributed across the state free to vulnerable groups, says Every1ne co-founder,  Robert Kurisu.


Stay well, stay inside, and take care, everyone.