MET 102 Pacific Climates and Cultures

Lecture 11: Local Winds

MET 102 Pacific Climates and Cultures

Discussion Questions – Caviedes 2001

• Why was the discovery of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) extraordinary? Why didn’t the Polynesians continue to South America?

• Rapa Nui is exceedingly small (8 by 4 miles) and is located in a region of the South Pacific where the prevailing winds and ocean currents flow from east to west, discouraging navigators from approaching.

• Rapa Nui is in the middle of the South Pacific High with subsiding air. There are no big trees for them to build canoes.

Discussion Questions – Kuapu’u 1902- Ka Nupepa Kuakoa 1869

• Who do you think Pāka’a is? What about La’amaomao? And Kūapāka’a?

• Pāka’a is the Wind God who has control of “Calling the Winds”• Laʻamaomao is Pāka’a’s mother. • Kūapāka’a is the child of Paka’a and a Moloka’i chiefess to retained the

power of his father to call the winds.

• Which location is known for strong winds? Calm winds?

• The writing describes strong, uncommon winds, for Kona and says it is similar to Hilo. This means that Hilo is known for strong winds and Kona is known for calm winds.

Large and Small Scale Winds • Macroscale Winds

• Planetary: Westerlies, trade winds• Synoptic: Cyclones and anti-cyclones, Hurricanes (weather map

size)

• Mesoscale Winds• Thunder storms, tornadoes, etc• Part of larger macroscale wind systems.

• Microscale Winds• Chaotic motions including gusts and dust devils• Small, very localized breezes

What is an Eddy? • Eddy• Whirl of air• Come in different sizes• Small volume of air that behaves differently from

the large flow in which it resides.• Caused by encountering an obstacle • Eddies are down wind from the obstacle

Local Winds• True local winds are caused by topographic effects or variations

in local surface composition

• Local Winds found in Polynesian Islands (including New Zealand)• Land and Sea Breezes• Mountain and Valley Breezes• Country Breezes

• Local Winds typically not found in Polynesia• Chinook (Foehn Winds)• Katabatic (Fall winds)• Santa Ana Winds• Haboobs

Land and Sea Breezes • Most intense Land and Sea Breezes form along tropical coastlines

adjacent to cool ocean currents.• Hawaii (including Oahu) experiences these every day.

Nice Animation: http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es1903/es1903page01.cfm

Daytime – Sea Breeze Conditions

• The land heats more quickly than the water.• Higher pressure is then located over the ocean.

Nighttime – Land Breeze Conditions

• The land cools more quickly than the water.• Higher pressure is then located over land.

Mountain and Valley Breezes

• Valley Breeze• Daytime• Sun warms valley walls• Max at afternoon, cloudiness and T-

storms likely

• Mountain Breeze• Nighttime• Raditional cooling of valley walls

Country Breezes

• Light wind blowing in from rural areas

• Clear, calm nights

• City is warmer (urban heat island)

• Associated with large urban areas. On crowded islands, these regions will be warmer than the rural areas.

Local Winds not Found in Polynesia

• Chinook (Foehn) Winds• Warm Dry air moving down the east slopes

of the Rockies (Chinook) or Alps (Foehn).

• Katabatic (Fall) Winds• Originate when cold air, situated over a

highland area (like an ice sheet) is set in motion. Gravity carries the cold air over the rim like a waterfall.

• The air is heated like a Chinook, but because it starts so cold it stays cold.

• Same as Mountain Breeze but STRONGER

Lee side air is heated by

compression

Local Winds not Found in Polynesia

• Santa Ana Winds• Typically occurs in September-March

but can happen at any time the desert is cooler than SoCal.

• Compressional Heating makes it warm

• Haboob• Associated with Dust Storms in dry

regions• Examples: Dustbowl storms in the

1930s. Giant dust storms common in the African Sudan

• Caused by out flowing air from Thunderstorms.

Cultural Connection to Winds in Hawaii

• Mountains as a blocking and triggering force• Winds can go up and over or around the mountains• When winds go up slope they can form Orographic Clouds and rain• Are responsible for localized climates like “wet windward” and “dry

leeward” slopes• Can trigger and anchor thunderstorms

• Predictability Stories and Myths• Mountains are fixed, climate regimes occur• If you know the topography you can predict the general direction of

the winds

• Localized Winds Depend on Local Topography• Local winds and the formation of clouds are related to the diurnal (daily) heating cycle (land

vs. ocean)• Winds and clouds depend on the height of the mountains and the size of the individual

Islands

Cultural Connection to Winds in Hawaii

• Cultural Importance as seen in Oral and Written Literature• Important to maintain knowledge of the weather – needed for sailing and farming• To be considered local or kama’āina (Child of the Land), you may be called upon to recite the winds

or rains of that place.• If you can’t recite these you may be labeled a malihini (a stranger)• Chants listing the winds were often published in newspapers or as part of stories

• To inform the public about the nature of the winds in a certain place

• Drama• People would fight about who was more kama’āina and write critiques back and forth about wind names

and descriptions in the newspapers. • “I’m right, you’re wrong, I’m more local than you!”

• Unique Features• Each island has it’s own unique combination of mountains, valleys, sea, land, and windward

and leeward features.• This causes each island, and different parts of each island, to have localized winds that

differ from the general large-scale (trade wind) flow

Letter to Newspaper Home Rula Repubalika

• When La‘amaomao was living, she was famous because the winds obeyed her, and she could call their names. When she died, her child inherited the power to call the winds.

• O reader, here are these six issues from the newspaper Ka Hae, so I am shortening this for later. However, I will tell all of you some of the winds that were called by Kūapāka‘a, the child of Pāka‘a from his union with a Moloka‘i chiefess. Pāka‘a taught him all the duties that he sought out on behalf Keawenuia‘umi, and we already saw the winds of Hawai‘i in the newspaper Ka Hokuloa. So I recite to you the winds of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau, their names and the places in which they reside, as follows:

• The names of the winds are then listed by location.

• Lehua has a Moa‘e wind, • Kawaihoa has a Miki‘oi wind etc.

Wind Names • There are over 300 names for the

different winds that blow over the Hawaiian Islands.

• They are important since they reflect the Ancient Hawaiians emphasis on keen observations of the environment and knowledge of topography

• The names describe the characterisics, direction, origin, force and timings.

Wind Name Examples

• The wind names for Hana Include:

• sea conditions• whether or not it will rain• if the sun typically shines• if the wind is good for sailing• cloud types• the direction of the wind• the location (e.g. top of mountain)• how common it is

The Wind Gourd of La’amaomao

• The Wind Gourd of La‘amaomao is a translation of Moolelo Hawaii o Pakaa a me Ku-a-Pakaa, na Kahu Iwikuamoo o Keawenuiaumi, ke Alii o Hawaii, a o na Moopuna hoi a Laamaomao

• “The Hawaiian Story of Pāk’aa and Kū-a-Pāka’a, the Personal Attendants of Keawenuiaumi, the Chief of Hawaii, and the Descendants of La’amaomao”.

• The book contains the names of the winds of all the Hawaiian Islands, known as the Territory of Hawaii in 1902 when the book was written (9 years after US took over).

The Wind Gourd of La’amaomao

• Set mainly on Hawai‘i, Kaua‘i, and Moloka‘i

• Concerns the close relationship between the ali‘i (Chief) and his kahu iwikuamo‘o, or personal attendant, and their responsibilities to each other and the people they ruled.

• Ancestry was essential in establishing status and access to privileges and special powers (such as control over the winds)

The Wind Gourd of La’amaomao • The wind gourd referred to in the title of this legend was

believed to contain all the winds of Hawai‘i, which could be called forth by chanting their names.

• The gourd is an embodiment of Lono, the Hawaiian god of agriculture and fertility

• In the Pāka‘a legend, the gourd, along with the marvelous wind chants naming dozens of local winds, is passed down from La‘amaomao, the Hawaiian wind goddess (lit. “distant sacredness”), to her granddaughter La‘amaomao; to her granddaughter’s son Pāka‘a; to Pāka‘a’s son, Kū-a-Pāka‘a.

• The female gender of the wind deity in the Pāka‘a story seems to be a Hawaiian development as the wind deity in other Polynesian traditions is male (Ra‘a—Society Islands, Raka—Cook Islands, Raka-maomao—New Zealand).