Volcanic Ash Helps Make Beautful Sunsets

Mt. Redoubt, our backyard volcano, has been calmer the past few days, but the cloud cover has been annoying. It has been hard to get a good look at the mountain with good light for pictures. Mt. Redoubt is in a constant state of simmering. It almost always has a gas, steam plume with some ash and when it erupts, has lots of ash. I went to the beach to try and get pictures of the volcano but no luck with the cloud cover. So when life gives you lemons make lemonade, right?
The particles of ash in the air made a fun addition to the sunset colors looking across Cook Inlet even if you can't see the mountain.

Ash Fall..........Snow Fall

This past week has been very eventful with Mt. Redoubt, lots of eruptions!! I have lost track of the total number of eruptions since the show began on March 22, 2009. Brandon got to see a lightening storm associated with one eruption on Friday night. He said it was pretty cool!! He was on his way home from a school dance and just happened to be in the right place and at the right time. We have had very little ash to worry about but we woke up to 3 new inches of snow this morning......I think Spring forgot about us, but the moose haven't!!

Volcanic Ash & Color Codes

The "Restless" mountain has shown a quiet, gentle side today which has been nice. Especially after the 6 eruptions yesterday. It is still venting steam and gas according to the latest news info. The clouds still prevent us from getting a look at what will be obvious changes to Mt. Redoubt.
The ash from yesterday went North and to the West, away from us. The photo is courtesy of the AVO/UAF-GI and it is an ash particle collected in Healy, Alaska. It is easy to see why the scientists say volcanic ash is very abrasive. Also included is an explanation to the color codes used for the volcano.
Aviation Color Codes
GREEN
Volcano is in typical background, noneruptive state or, after a change from a higher level, volcanic activity has ceased and volcano has returned to noneruptive background state.
YELLOW
Volcano is exhibiting signs of elevated unrest above known background level or, after a change from a higher level, volcanic activity has decreased significantly but continues to be closely monitored for possible renewed increase.
ORANGE
Volcano is exhibiting heightened or escalating unrest with increased potential of eruption, timeframe uncertain, OR eruption is underway with no or minor volcanic-ash emissions [ash-plume height specified, if possible].
RED
Eruption is imminent with significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere likely OR eruption is underway or suspected with significant emission of volcanic ash into the atmosphere [ash-plume height specified, if possible].

Eruption and a new color Code....RED

Beginning last night (Sunday March 22, 2009) at approximately 22:38 AKDT, Redoubt Volcano produced a series of five explosive eruptions that each lasted from four to thirty minutes. The last one ended at 5:00 AM AKDT this morning (March 23). National Weather Service radar, pilot reports, and AVO analysis of satellite imagery suggest that these events produced ash clouds that reached 60,000 ft above sea level (asl), with the bulk of the ash volume between 25 - 30,000 ft asl. Traces of ash fall have been reported in Skwentna, Talkeetna, Wasilla, and Trapper Creek.

AVO remains at Aviation Color Code RED and Alert Level WARNING. Seismic unrest continues at Redoubt in the form of elevated volcanic tremor. NEXRAD radar data show that the last significant ash emission was concurrent with the final explosive event at 5:00 AM AKDT. Since that time, no ash has been visible in radar, suggesting that if ash emission is occurring, it is below approximately 13,000 ft asl and/or too fine to be detected. Poor weather at the volcano currently hinders visual observations.

Last night's explosive eruptions caused melting of the Drift glacier and greatly increased discharge down the Drift River. AVO plans a helicopter overflight to the area today to assess conditions at the volcano and along the Drift River. The explosions also destroyed one seismic station near the volcano's summit (RSO), and disrupted telemetry from AVO's observation hut. This telemetry outage affects the web camera, a continuous GPS station, and two broadband seismic stations. Repairs to this data link will be undertaken as conditions permit. Seven telemetered seismic stations surrounding Redoubt remain in operation.

The eruptions were preceded by approximately 60 hours of elevated seismicity in the form of discrete earthquakes under the volcano. AVO raised the Aviation Color Code/Alert Level from YELLOW/ADVISORY to ORANGE/WATCH on Saturday, March 21 at 22:09 AKDT. This increase in seismicity likely reflected the upward movement of magma towards the surface. Prior to this weekend, Redoubt had exhibited signs of volcanic unrest beginning in the Fall of 2008 which then escalated in late January, 2009. Last night's explosions were the first significant ash-producing eruptions of the unrest.

Further explosive activity could occur with little or no warning, and could occur intermittently for weeks or months. AVO remains staffed 24 hours per day will issue further information as it becomes available.

For up-to-date Ashfall Advisories and wind trajectories, please refer to the National Weather Service website: http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.php.

This posting came from the AVO website. The graph also comes from the AVO webicorder and shows the activity that lead to the eruptions. Also a cool picture(Cyrus Dean, AVO/USGS) of the top of Mt. Redoubt the day before it erupted

The events of the past day has kept the scientists busy. We just watch the winds, which for now have carried the ash cloud away from us, and wait for color changes. We are getting good at practicing our colors. We were Yellow last Fall, changed to Orange after the first of the year and in the last week went from Orange back down to Yellow, back to Orange and now we are Red.
Brandon is in school for now, if the winds were to change and we start to get ash fall then schools would get closed. We are getting excited to get a glimpse of the mountain. Clouds are preventing any view today.

Redoubt Huffed & Puffed and Yep........Erupted!!!

An eruption of Mt. Redoubt began at approximately 22:38 (10:38 p.m. AKDT, March 22, 2009 (0638 UTC). AVO is raising the aviation color code to Red and the alert level to Warning. Initial height of the eruption cloud is estimated at less than 20,000 ft above sea level at present. Further reports will be issued as more information becomes available. An eruption is occurring. We will post more information as we interpret the data. Current estimate for eruption cloud height are 50,000 ft above sea level.
This is the official notification from The Alaska Volcano Observatory's website. The cameras are dark so we have not seen the mountain yet. It was cloudy today so the mountain was not really visible at all today. We'll see what tomorrow brings. The mountain had a small eruption a week ago and I took these pictures then.

Spring Break

Spring Break in Alaska hardly resembles Spring. We still have 2 feet of snow on the ground and the temperature has been hovering around 30 degrees the past 2 days, but on a day when the wind isn't blowing and the sun is shining we stand in the doorway and remark how "warm" 30 degrees feels.
Brandon made the most of one day out of school and hit the slopes at Alyeska Ski Resort with a friend for a day of snowboarding.

Orange is a Pain

Well, Mt. Redoubt didn't like being down graded to Yellow watch status I guess and has rumbled itself back to an Orange watch code status. The level of seismic activity has increased and a pretty good steam and gas plume was visible on Sunday (that's when we first noticed it). We woke up to good ol' spring snow again today so the mountain is not visible because of the clouds, but this is what it looked like yesterday. The blue skies pic was taken by the AVO Reasearch team and the sunset pictures are mine.