~ Another surface flow breakout west of Kalapana Gardens ~

Above: The lava in the foreground was flowing only hours before; and in the background kipuka trees smolder. Further yet we see some of the Kalapana Gardens homes.

Yet another breakout from the large tube system less than 2000-feet due west of Hawaii County’s viewing barricades. The flow broke out of the tube late afternoon yesterday and flowed due east for 600-feet through the night. This morning it had already nearly stalled but still had some small advancing hotspots. If you click on the image for a larger view size you can see some glowing lava in the crack on the lower left.
Below: A zoomed in look across the new hot lava towards the homes; intense heat waves caused the image to distort.

As shown in the photos above and below, the advancing surface flow ignited grasses, low vegetation and small patches of trees that had survived previous breakouts. The grass in the foreground has already burned up from the lava advancing by the tree. Methane explosions were loud and strong in those areas.

Above: Here we are standing directly on top of the main lava tube feeding the coastal plain and the ocean entry beyond (behind us in this image). The Pulama Pali in the background displays the exact path of the winding lava tubes by their degassing fumes. Up above the pali you can almost spot where the TEB and Pu`u O`o vents are fuming as well. Fumes are also wafting from the big fissures in the tube crust. The silvery lava to the right of the tube is the root of the present lava flow and is still red hot.

I am pretty sure the Hawaii County coastal lava viewing area is closed for the day because the breezes are still causing the ocean entry, degassing and vegetation fumes to lay overtop that entire section of the coast and beyond. You can phone them for updates at: 961-8093