Measurements at the Mauna Loa Observatory stopped after the 2022 eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano, when lava flow crossed the access road and took out power lines to the facility. The observatory remains inaccessible by vehicle and without power from the local utility company.
Observatory staff has established limited solar power in four observatory buildings and restored approximately 33 percent of the measurements onsite, including the Global Monitoring Laboratory and Scripps critical CO2 records and other atmospheric measurements.
Media can contact: Theo Stein (303) 819-7409 (theo.stein@noaa.gov) or Karin Vergoth 303-632-6413 (karin.vergoth@noaa.gov)
National Weather Service Hilo, National Climatic Data
Center
The Max/Min Temperature Unit records 24 hour Maximum/Minimum temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit. The Standard Rain gauge records 24 hour rainfall in hundreds of an inch.
The data is measured manually by MLO personnel and recorded on standard government forms and the equipment is reset for the next 24 hour reading or observation.
Our cooperative program is a volunteer program involving the daily measurements of rainfall and temperature. The recorded data are sent to the National Climatic Data Center where they are archived as official government documents and produced as monthly publications.
The National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N. C. archives the data and as one of its missions, does research on long-term climatic changes which involve climatic trends.
Same as above.
The true worth and importance of this program lies in its long historical and practical values. The cooperative program has proven its worth and can attest to a taxpayer savings of millions of dollars annually.
Wilfred Laplante
808-933-6938
David Nardini
808-933-6965 (x229)
Paul Fukumura
808-933-6965 (x223)
May 24, 1956
