Pali lava goes from dim to bright ~ Same with Halema’uma’u ~ Inflation holding

(Click on the photo for a larger size)

The 200+ visitors to Hawaii County’s lava viewing area did not see much in the afternoon, just some smoky areas in a line down the pali on the western edge of Royal Gardens to the coastal Plains. As evening came on we could at first see only a few dots of lava in the same area. Then later, after 8:30 PM, a far more distinct line of red-orange molten lava was quit visible. I took the above photo with a 200mm lens at 9:00 PM. The area covered in the image is only a small portion of the entire line of lava running down the pali, and in this shot we can see trees alight with glow as well. Far east of this lava, and high on the pali, we could also see a broad area of red glow reflecting off clouds and also a few bright lava glows on the very edge of the pali; indicating there is a lot of surface lava just out of view: between the pali edge as viewed from sea level and the eruption site 2+ miles further up the mountain beyond view.

USGS/HVO’s Kilauea Status page this morning states about last night view from Jaggar Museum in relationship to the continued inflation:“The increase in activity produced the strongest glow in almost a week within the gas plume visible from the Jaggar Museum Overlook.”

That inflation is showing on the deformation graph like this:


A few new earthquakes recorded on USGS/HVO recent earthquakes site last night: And by clicking on the link you can see a few more quakes recorded after this saved image from last night.

Summary:

Views of both the Halema’uma’u crater glow and the molten lava running down the pali should both be nicely visible after dark; depending on the weather, vog and wind direction – especially true for the Jaggar Museum overlook; conditions change there by the hour sometimes. If you are considering a visit to the Hawaii County viewing area, binoculars make the sights a little better to see.

Speaking of the Hawaii County lava viewing area, located off the end of highway 130 near Kalapana, the county is considering creating a new trail and lava viewing area west of the current trailhead. A half mile west is a large lava mound deposited by last Octobers surface flow and this mound would make for a nice vantage point for visitors. Plans for this new path are in the works and I will let you know when it is open.

Inflation returning ~ Molten lava reaches coastal plane

(Click on the image for a larger size)
The USGS/HVO posted this image above, along with other detailed aerial and ground images of the current surface flow of lava, on their Kilauea Images page. But also checkout the other images on their site linked above to see what is happening there.

On one of the images (above) I added a note pointing out where Jack Thompson’s house is located. Thompson is the last resident still occupying, and living in, a home within the infamous Royal Gardens subdivision. Lava flows have been covering over portions of the subdivision for many years now. He has had molten lava approach close to his home on all sides over the years. Jack has a beautiful home and I hope he can withstand this latest onslaught of molten rock, which is now running down the slopes and burning forest only a few hundred feet away.

Out at the Hawaii County lava viewing area off the end of highway 130, visitors can still see smoke & lava in the distance. The USGS monitored Deformation had been registering deflation the last few days, which has slowed some of the intensity, but it continues and will likely respond with more intensity in the days ahead to the present inflation that started very early this morning:

The National Weather Service Honolulu has a high surf warning for all the Hawaii Islands. The other islands will see North/Northwest swells of 10 to 20 foot faces, while Hawaii may get some of it:
“SURF ALONG WEST FACING SHORES OF THE BIG ISLAND WILL BUILD TO HEIGHTS OF 7 TO 10 FEET TODAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT.” Might be some clean surf rides ovah thayr ;)

Deflation continues slowing activity ~ Nice line of lava viewed after dark ~ Southwest rift-zone quakes

Photos of the day ~ A reposting of what the flow fields looked like last week (the two above and one further below). I am posting these three again because of how similar the lava looks out there right now; too similar to bother retaking the photos. The main difference to be seen now, though, is that now the visible lava can be seen much further down to the left than is visible in these images. (Click on any image or the maps below for a larger viewing size.


Deformation monitors are showing continued deflation of magma pressures beneath the two recording stations: Halema’uma’u and Pu`u O`o:

A couple of hundred people gathered at Hawaii County’s lava viewing area to witness molten lava slowly moving down the pali yesterday and into the evening. During the day we could see sections of forest burning and the occasional ball of yellow flame shoot-up as individual trees caught fire. After dark the burning forest really stood out, as well as a broken line of red-orange lava that ran from the base of the pali all the way to the top: an approximate elevation drop of 1600-feet across a two-mile run down the mountain.

The recently updated flow field map by the USGS/HVO shows the location of the entire eruption (From ‘D-vent’ into Royal Gardens).

Recent earthquakes map shows that Pahala has received four quakes recently: two at a magnitude of 3 or more and two near the 2.0 range. Three of these were at a depth of around 22 miles, and a smaller 2.0 at a shallow 3 miles. These quakes are along the southwest rift-zone and would be of great interest to geologist because the tremblers may indicate magma movement in that area.

Deflation slowing down ~ Upper & lower flow fields still active ~ Gusty cold north winds continue

Photo of the Day – 2008 Waikupanaha ocean entry lava explodes into the sea while a surface breakout of pahoehoe lava spreads inland -(Not what is happening now unfortunately)

I was unable to go to the flow fields for firsthand look yesterday, but I did receive reports stating the molten lava continued down the new pathway from the top of the pali to its base. (Here’s an image took of this flow earlier this week)

According to tiltmeters on top of Kilauea’s Halema’uma’u and Pu`u O`o craters, the current episode of deflation is leveling off after over 24 hours of dropping. As per usual, we can expect this deflation to reflect onto the current surface flow by manifesting as a lessening of lava feeding it. These kind of changes are not always abrupt and I would imagine molten lava will still be quite visible from the Hawaii County viewing area tonight after dark.

Halema’uma’u Crater cam this morning displayed a strong plume blowing southwesterly.

USGS/HVO update this morning stated that glow from inside the craters pit vent was weak last night.

Cold north winds have blasted the Big Island for over 30-hours straight. Click here complete Hawaii Islands weather update.

Molten lava river reaches base of pali ~ Deflation slows advancing lava ~ Cold & gusty north winds

Shot of the Day: Pahoehoe lava formation termed a ‘Toe’ by geologists

My house is being blasted by very strong, gusty and cold north winds this morning!

Reports from the active lava flow fields from all sources say that the long line of moving lava coming off the top of the pali and running down through the western side of what was the Royal Gardens subdivision, has continued and now has reached the base of the pali and may move out onto the coastal flats toward the ocean.

The movement of lava out across the lava flats, across previous flows, may be jeopardized by the onset of deflation beneath the Kilauea and Pu`u O`o craters.
As the USGS Hawaii Volcanoes Observatory often points out, as they did in their Volcano Observatory update this morning, deflation of monitored magma often leads to a reduction in the Halema’uma’u, and possibly the Pu`u O`o pit vent brightness and followed soon after, a lessening of surface flow activity of molten lava from the eruption fissures.

I may go out to the lower flow fields’ today/tonight and take a look at the activity and give a report tomorrow.

Little change in activity

The Halema’uma’u on a magic night: setting half moon with Jupiter above (Click on it for a larger size view)

Surface flow lava continued to be visible from the Hawaii County Civil Defense viewing area at the end of Highway 130 and they are open 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM or so, depending on the number of visitors, which has been around 100 to 130 each day in the past few weeks. The viewing area is still presently open every day of the week regardless of lava activity on the adjacent flow fields.

I will offer a more comprehensive report in the days ahead, or if lava activity does something new and exciting. If you would like more information on the lava activity please use the links I provide on the bottom right and throughout my blog posts,
Leigh

Lava continues moving down the pali ~ Rare moonlit night rainbow

(Click on any image for a larger size)

Even three nights after being full, the moon was still bright enough from the east to produce a colored rainbow inside a rain shower inland last night around 10:00 PM. I took this photo, and the ones to follow, from my home. The right side of the rainbow and a star.

The shower was moving fast so I had only seconds to catch this zoomed in photo; it was hard to lock in the focus in the dark, but at least I was able to capture the phenomenon. In this photo above we can actually see lava reflecting off low clouds eighteen miles away - seen as a pale reddish horizontal line just above the fuzzy treetops. This is the same lava flowing down the pali as shown close-up below:


Taken with a 300mm lens from the Hawaii County lava viewing trailhead last night at 8:00 PM – light rain showers and low clouds reflect the surface lava. The people gathered there witnessed molten lava moving and the occasional tree blazing into a fireball. Those who brought binoculars got the best views. You can compare this to the wide angle night view of this scene I posted yesterday.

The recent inflation of magma has leveled out but appears to still be pressurized near the baseline of zero, according to the USGS/HVO deformation monitors: I expect we will continue seeing the lava moving down the pali in the days & night ahead.