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Jim Kelly, of the Hawaiian Electric Company, shares updates and preparations for Tropical Storm Nolo; HPR checks in on classrooms on Kauaʻi in the latest installment of Homeroom Hawaiʻi.

HPR looks ahead for storm updates on Hurricane Nolo and looks back on some of our past stories highlighting the human body.

Our Hawaiian word for today is ʻAuina lā. ʻAuina means “descending” and lā means “sun.” So the afternoon when the sun is setting is called the ʻauina lā. Aloha ʻauina lā is a good afternoon greeting.

Hawaʻi Island Mayor Kimo Alameda joins HPR live to share how the island fared Hurricane Nolo; HPR’s Bill Dorman reports on ongoing fires and power outages on Maui.

Piʻi mele, two words that used together mean “musical scale.” Just as we sometimes call the scale do-re-mi in English, in Hawaiian we sometimes call the piʻi mele by the first three notes: pā-kō-lī.

Pahu and hau combine to give us the Hawaiian word for ice box or refrigerator. Pahu is a box, chest, cabinet, or similar container, and hau means cool, iced, ice, frost, dew, snow. Put them together and you have an ice box: pahu hau.

If you listen to the weather forecasts, you will often hear the name ʻAlenuihāhā, our Hawaiian word for today. It is the name of the channel between Hawaiʻi and Maui, and is often mispronounced. It means “great billows smashing.”

Hemahema means “unprepared, awkward, clumsy, unskilled, inefficient.” We can think of a lot of people who are hemahema; it's much better to be mākaukau – prepared.

We often hear aliʻi in conjunction with pageants and other places where our chiefs are portrayed. Yes, aliʻi means chief, chiefess, officer, ruler, monarch, king, queen. And aliʻi nui then is the “High Chief.” Nowadays we often hear mōʻī for king, but he was an aliʻi nui in the old days.

Wai means “water.” Wai is a very important thing to Hawaiians, and for that reason is included in many names—both place names, such as Waimānalo, Waikīkī, and Waiehu, and in many family and given names. Wai can be used for any type of liquid except sea water.