~ Lava breakout high on Pulama Pali affecting coastal flows ~

Above: A zoomed-in photo of the lava glowing into degassing fumes and low cloud high up on the Pulama Pali. Taken at 10:00 PM last night.

Apparently pilots reported seeing lava flowing on the surface yesterday afternoon somewhere around the 1500-foot elevation or higher.
We should know more later today. A large pali breakout will very much affect all activity downstream, and already has, as mentioned below.

On my photo above, viewed larger, it seems to me we are seeing the brightest glow beyond the 1800-foot elevation but are also able to see a smaller glow much further down the pali at maybe the 1000-foot elevation, but sill not visible on the surface from the angle I took the shot, which was from Kalapana Gardens; it is really hard to guess the elevations at night from far below.

When this new pali flow broke out there was a correlating drop in all surface breakouts down on the coastal flats and adjacent Kalapana Gardens vicinity. At around dusk we witnessed a large dark steam-cloud soar up from the ocean entry zone, which looked to me to be a bench collapse. Soon aftrwards there was no ocean entry steam plume to be seen for awhile.

After dark we could still see a few small breakout glows and the ocean entry was barley visible. Below is a poor-quaility zoomed in photo showing a few weak breakouts and very subdued ocean entry. (click the images for a larger size)I think the triangle shaped glow on the lower left is actually the corner of Gary Sleik’s lava-burned roof, which is reflecting lava glow that is in front of it. I will hike out there again soon and see what further changes took place at his site.

Public lava viewing:
Light winds could possible close the county viewing area, as they did two days ago.
Phone the lava hotline at 961-8093 for updates, or better yet; phone the Janguard personnel who are on site after 2:00 PM at 430-1966 or 217-2215

~ Gary’s volcano viewing chairs ~

Placed right there on that open rise of lava, the high point of land near his house with the best view, is where Gary Sleik placed his two special chairs when he first began building his home nearby five years ago: one for him an one for any friends who might drop by.

The chairs could be seen from quit a ways away from across the old raw 1990 lava to the east and would beckon lava junkies and wayward guests; it was THE place to plop down, talk story and gaze out across the mango forests to the west or upslope towards the infamous Pulama Pali…

… And as the various lava flows began creeping down that pali, the chairs were the best vantage point in the area, far away from the bustling suburb of Kalapana Gardens… a comfortable 1000-feet away, which Gary told me was why he built off and apart from the gang up there in the Gardens proper…

Late one night on July 22nd, just four days after Gary lost his access road to the July flow this year, he and I sat in those chairs under a starry sky and sipped a couple of Eye-of-the-Hawk beers I had hauled across the ninety flow to share with him. Right there before us was the entire July lava flow unfolding: from mountaintop all the way onto Gary’s property; fields of molten lava were covering hundreds of acres of land and forests. We calmly watched trees flare up like giant torches and then subside. Mango’s heavy with fruit were falling to the massive on-slot of lava – All of this before us; not a single house or street light within this expansive lavascaped evening—just Jupiter, a zillion stars above us and miles of orange-red glowing lava below… Yep those were special chairs.

Up until July 24th, only the chairs up there on the highpoint for years, nothing else. The picnic table was something Gary and I and two other friends saved from Gary’s carport as the lava encroached onto his yard this past July 24th; Gary’s thoughts on that decision were, “We’ll we might want something to sit on when she burns”.Which is exactly what happened early the next morning:

And the little round-roofed structure you see here was added after the lava took out his home. It was made from the top of his original lava-burned gazebo, which had remarkably been lifted up by the lava as it inflated below.

Gary and Dave made the gazebo come back to life on October 3rd, for the special gathering Gary had for a bunch of his friends before he headed off the island for family time on the mainland.

And yes, as you can see here, we all took turns sitting on the chairs… Pictured above from left to right: Jean, who’s home burned on Saturday, Dave, Steve and Gary – all of these four share properly borders, and two of them have lost homes to lava in the past four months. Dave & Charlene had lava within 130-feet of their beautiful large home by August 2nd, and Steve had not built yet when the molten lava covered his land beginning in July and is still flowing across it today. (By the way, Steve is actually ‘The man from Montana’ from my story about him building the rock walls to stop Pele – He went by Andre Kaukane for that one (His walls are still holding by the way))

Yep; so here is Steve and Gary talking story in those chairs as lava smolders through the forests and jungle beyond.

So I was happy to see the chairs on Friday had escaped the lava flowing through the area as seen here above and below and the picnic table and gazebo top were all still there even though a fresh burst of lava had flowed around them all – completely surrounding the site, even inflating five feet higher on one side, yet without harming a single item left there… Sunset through Gary's gazebo and lava ignited noni tree orchard, in front of Jean's house on Friday November 26th. Jeans house now with lava just forty-feet away from it as seen through Gary's new gazebo
But 24-hours later molten lava broke out of that surround and gushed across Gary’s Last Stand. As you can see from the photos below, just hours before Jean lost here home to lava , Gary’s last stand, his last piece of original occupied space on his property, was consumed by a new lava breakout Saturday afternoon, November 27th, 2010. I happened upon the scene as it unfolded, as did Carl and the other Lava Dave.
Above, the red under the gazebo is molten lava, below, we can see Jean's house only a few hours before it too was overtaken.We were all saddened to see the chairs go—though at that point only one remained, I think Lava Dave had saved one the day before, leaving the other for Gary … Whose chair is now permanently encased in lava--- but—if no more lava covered it after I took these photos, I could imagine setting another cushion on what remains and still having the best lava view on the island!
– Well maybe after we let the rock cool down under it a few more days.

~ 2nd Kalapana Gardens home destroyed - ignited by lava ~

Above, home engulfed in lava-ignited fire. Further down are some other images in sequence of the event.

EDIT November 29th:
If you would like to see some of the video footage I took of Jean’s sad loss of home and orchard, this highlighted link to Hawaii News Now will go right to it.

As I shared with you on yesterday’s posting, advancing fields of molten lava were approaching this occupied home all day Friday the 26th, but the lava stalled a mere twenty-feet from reaching the wood structure by 3:00 AM Saturday morning.
Entering her property on November 22nd, the lava took five days to travel 200-feet to her home:

The owner of the home slept in the house Saturday night as the Hilo Fire Department personnel stood watch outside. Police had the access road to the home blocked for all but the residents and emergency vehicles. The public viewing area was closed for a second day.

Around 4:00 PM yesterday lava was licking at one corner of the post-and-pier foundation, engulfing it by 4:30 PM and bringing the second roof of the two seperate but adjoining sections of the home to the ground by 5:30 PM.

This is the 2nd home taken out by this July Quarry Flow, the 1st being Gary Sleik’s on July 25th this year.

The following images tell yesterday's tragic story: Smoke wafts up from a house post burning on the other side at 4:00 PM. Owner gathers some favorite plants from the backyard. In the distance, above the home, we can see the lines of degassing fumes from the lava tubes carrying the lava to her house.


Fire crews do last minute look over of the premises but can do nothing to stop the lava from overtaking the house. (Twenty years earlier, during the 1990-Quarry Flow, fire crews did attempt to squelch molten lava that was advancing onto one home. The experiment did slow down the lava’s progress but ultimately the massive force of the lava could not be contained for long)








5:34 PM, Saturday, November 27, 2010

~ Molten lava at doorstep of Kalapana Gardens home ~ Road closure ~

Moonlight shines across spreading lava fields while molten edges advance toward the home -- Click on photo for larger images.

Hawaii County Civil Defense closed the pubic lava viewing access road yesterday as lava advanced up to one occupied residence of Kalapana Gardens.

Stars filled the sky above threatened home overnight.

By midnight lava had slowed its advance but was extremely close to the home. Hawaii Fire Department were stationed near the home and police and Jan-guard Security restricted road access throughout the day and all night.

This home was one of the very first to build on top of the 1990 lava flow field within Kalapana Gardens subdivision. You might remember seeing this home with lava flowing nearby from my July 22nd posting, with the photo below: As well as other more recent reports of the lava entering the backyard of this property three previous times in the past couple of months.

By 3:00 AM this morning much of the advancing lava had stalled but continued inflating higher. Surface flows of lava have spread across a large portion of the coastal flats in the past 48-hours.

Another chunk of the road was also covered up.

I will return to the area later this morning.

The public lava viewing area may likely be closed today, but you can phone Civil Defense at 961-8093 for updates, or try 430 1966 or 217-2215 after 2:00 PM for onsite information

~ Three flow fronts on coastal flats ~ Gary’s final stand holds ~

As of yesterday, there were three main leading edges to this ongoing and sprawling coastal flats lava flow:

(Click on any image for a larger view size) Above: #1 -- Small remnant patches of brush and trees left behind from previous flows (named kipuka’s –pronounced key-pooh-kah) are overtaken by advancing lava due west of Kalapana access road and due north a few hundred feet of where the barricades on that road were destroyed and covered by lava days ago.

#2: Below, the old Waikupanaha viewing area trail and site near the coast. This flow front was breaking out fast and hot Wednesday night but had nearly stalled by yesterday. This leading edge shown here is right on top the view site and about 300-feet from reaching the ocean.Those of you who walked that trail from March 2008 to when that entry stopped on January 3rd this year will recognized those foot-path markers covering the ¾ mile hike from the access road.

#3: Above & Below, Gary Sleik’s house site and moving east of there last night. For those who follow this blog a bit you will recall Gary held a little party right there on October 3rd for those who were there supporting him when lava overtook his home July 25th this year. If you missed the original big story you can get a full recap here on my> October 3rd post and scroll down to the lava-at-the-house-images.

But what I found amazing is that between Wednesday night and yesterday afternoon molten lava had completely surrounded Gary’s last stand, his picnic table & chairs and salvaged gazebo roof, but not harmed any of these things! The lava next to there is even higher than the table site!

As you can see from these photos the lava is still busting out pretty good. Lava pressures seem to be pulsing through the lava tube system and out of the breakouts in almost a rhythmic fashion: ocean entry strong – surface flows slow down, ocean entry lava drops off to a trickle and surface lava gets stronger quickly.

Two of these breakouts were visible from the public view site at roads end. Many people were opting to pay a few dollars to get the various local guided tours to see lava up close. Those tours can be found at the vendors area at the end of highway 130.Above: lava has past Gary's site and moved further east toward Kalapana Gardens homes. These surface flows are filling in low areas and also creating new higher mounds as they go.

~ Eruption anniversary ~ Surface flows continue ~

Above: Looking southwest, stars and moonlit clouds partly illuminate the scene from the new location of the Hawaii County Civil Defense site at 10:00 PM: ocean entry on the left and you can see the red glows from continued lava breakouts further out on the coastal flats beyond. These distant lava breaks are mostly out near the main lava tube system about 1800-feet away. If you click on the photo you will be able to also see the yellowish glow beyond the far forest line; this is brush burning from another aggressive surface flow of lava. These photos were taken with a wide-angle lens; the breakouts are much larger than they appear

Below: looking south at the same location reveals more breakouts of lava closer to the viewing site plus larger ones further away.

Continued slow rise of recorded magma pressure will likely keep these surface flows active. These are the longest running and greatest spread of surface lava breakouts since July I think. Though advancing rather slowly at this time, the most easterly of the breaks could create a serious threat to a few homes should lava continue inflating higher and advancing. Molten lava has already come within two-hundred feet of one occupied home the past few days.

TEB: Thanksgiving Eve Breakout, the designation used for lava flows that started with a breakout on November 21, 2007 and continues delivering the lava to the coast right now. Click the highlighted text to see the original USGS press release on that eruption event; taken from the Kilauea Volcano eruption timeline 2007 to 2009.


A small magnitude 4.6 earthquake occurred at 6:34:13 PM (HST) yesterday 10 mile south of Makena, Maui at a depth of 6 miles; surprising residents on that island. Here on the Big Isle, we have many light quakes every day: 33 in just the past two-weeks! You can look at the ongoing list of island quakes here

Pu`u O`o has some very hot spots on the crater floor; I spotted those on that craters overlook cam. Halema’uma’u crater floor vent hole continues glowing brightly most nights

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Public viewing information for the coastal eruptions:

Rains sweeping across the Big Islands windward side may dampen some lava viewing today and tonight, though the area of lava flows is generally drier.

Public lava viewing is from the access road off the very end of Highway 130. There is a parking area, port-o-potties and security personnel on site between 2:00 PM and 10:00 PM daily. Last car allowed in at 8:00 PM, but you can stay in the area until about 9:30 PM.
A half-mile walk down the road from the parking takes you to where recent lava covered it, as well as affording vista views of the lines of degassing fumes wafting from the underground lava tubes that presently carry tremendous amounts of liquid rock for miles down slope to the sea.

And from the road you can see where the lava vigorously pours into the ocean and huge plumes of steam rise up. After dark the base of this steam will glow red and orange colors from reflective molten lava. Periodically, as we are having right now, there have been sizable surface flows of lava breaking out well within view of the access road; these breaks have often flowed close to, and on to, the viewing site these past months; conditions for that change weekly.

You can get on-site information updates for the public access road by phoning management personnel stationed there after 2:00 PM:
430-1966 or 217-2215. The main Civil Defense lava viewing hotline is 961-8093.

~ Surface flows near Kalapana Gardens stalling ~

I have no solid reports for the surface flows on the coastal plains from this morning, but I was out there at 11:00 PM last night and could see that most of the breakouts near the end county access road, which is now the new viewing site, as well as the lava flowing into the backyard of one Kalapana Gardens had stagnated: no longer advancing.

There were, however, continued breakouts across a wide range of the coastal plains or flats; the strongest of these were out along the lava tube itself, but another was far east of there and very close to Gary Sleik’s burned out home. At that spot brush was also burning. Any advancement of lava in that area becomes a threat to homes along the edge of Kalapana Gardens.

That said, there is a continued rise in magma pressures within the reservoirs under Kilauea Volcano, in recent months a rise in these pressures has correlated with increased lava pressure in the tubes carrying molten lava down the mountain and to surface breakouts from weak fissures along the tubes themselves. So we could perhaps see continued breakouts in the days & nights ahead. This increase in lava pressure will also likely escalate the land forming into the sea - out on the new lava delta… which will make the outer edge of the delta/bench very unstable and highly prone to collapses.

Yesterday’s posting here tells the story of this latest flow, or scroll down to yesterday’s post below this one.

~ Surface flows continue expanding on plains ~

very hot lava fields near a home and the latest location for the county viewing area.
Molten lava destroyed barricades over the weekend-- the relocated site is now 200 feet further east up the road as shown here. The barricades were lifted up by the lava and are still perched on top- they were originally about five feet below this!(Click on any images here for a larger size)


Molten lava continues to breakout in many areas of the coastal plains, some of which is very close to Kalapana Gardens homes. One home in particular has lost a couple-hundred more feet of her lower orchard to the lava just in the past 48-hours, as shown in these photos from this morning. Lava advancement here has halted for now… This is the third time in less than two months this home has had lava in the backyard…coconut trees still smolder along the property border of this lot.

These various surface lava breakouts all stem from the established lava-tube system that is feeing the ocean entry and originates many miles above, near the Pu`u crater TEB eruption site. These latest breakouts cover a much wider range than the others we have seen over the past few months; several are a mile apart from each other.

The lava that covered more of the terminus of highway 130/Kalapana Gardens access road is stagnating but appeared to still be inflating, or rising higher, a little this morning, and was molten only 12 to 18-inchs below what you see in these photos. You can see a little bit of red glow in some of the images.

The public lava-viewing site was relocated after the previous one, shown above and below here, was overtaken by the lava flow early Sunday morning. Apparently there was a miscommunication regarding the removal of the barricades ahead of the advancing lava…

As of 8:30 this morning: the ocean entry continues, some lava is breaking out south and west of the viewing site. A few remnant bushes were burning; most of those same things will likely be visible tonight at the county viewing area.

Hawaii County lava viewing information:

Public lava viewing is from the access road off the very end of Highway 130. There is a parking area, port-o-potties and security personnel on site between 2:00 PM and 10:00 PM daily. Last car allowed in at 8:00 PM, but you can stay in the area until about 9:30 PM.
A half-mile walk down the road (it’s getting shorter each month!) from the parking takes you near to where recent lava covered it, as well as affording vista views of the lines of degassing fumes wafting from the underground lava tubes that presently carry tremendous amounts of liquid rock for miles down slope to the sea. And from the road you can see where the lava vigorously pours into the ocean and huge plumes of steam rise up. After dark the base of this steam will glow red and orange colors from reflective molten lava. Periodically, as we are having right now, there have been sizable surface flows of lava breaking out well within view of the access road; these breaks often only last a day or two; conditions for that change weekly.

You can get on-site information updates for the public access road by phoning management personnel stationed there after 2:00 PM:
430-1966 or 217-2215. The main Civil Defense lava viewing hotline is 961-8093.
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