STORM2K

Any ideas on what the volcanic ash from Iceland will do to the weather in the U.S. this year?

Cool down summer temps? Affect Atlantic hurricane season? Influence next fall and winter?

Just curious...

Excerpt from link to Dr. Jeff Master's discussion (in Talkin' Tropics).

Per Dr. Masters:

Let's examine recent volcanic eruptions that have had a significant cooling effect on the climate. In the past 200 years, Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines (June 1991), El Chichon (Mexico, 1982), Mt. Agung (Indonesia, 1963), Santa Maria (Guatemala, 1902) Krakatoa (Indonesia, 1883), and Tambora (1815) all created noticeable cooling. The Mt. Pinatubo and El Chichon eruptions caused a greater than 10% drop in sunlight reaching the surface. The eruption of Tambora in 1815 had an even greater impact, triggering the famed Year Without a Summer in 1816. You'll notice from the list of eruptions above that all of these climate-cooling events were from volcanoes in the tropics.

Above the tropics, the stratosphere's circulation features rising air, which pulls the sulfur-containing volcanic aerosols high into the stratosphere. Upper-level winds in the stratosphere tend to flow from the Equator to the poles, so sulfur aerosols from equatorial eruptions get spread out over both hemispheres. These aerosol particles take a year or two to settle back down to earth, since there is no rain in the stratosphere to help remove them. However, if a major volcanic eruption occurs in the mid-latitudes or polar regions, the circulation of the stratosphere in those regions generally features pole-ward-flowing, sinking air, and the volcanic aerosol particles are not able to penetrate high in the stratosphere or get spread out around the entire globe.
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Texas Snowman wrote:Any ideas on what the volcanic ash from Iceland will do to the weather in the U.S. this year?

Cool down summer temps? Affect Atlantic hurricane season? Influence next fall and winter?

Just curious...

Its not that big of a volcano. Doubt it will have any measurable impact.

Due to the ash plume drifting across the airlanes the impact of what is a relatively modest eruption has been disproportionate. That said the stronger events from Redoubt and Sarychev last year probably did have some effect on Summer weather in the US.

I just read that ash-laden breathed air has no long term ill effects, although may exacerbate temporarily asthma and acute lung conditions. This was a quote from a NYC expert pulmonologist. Ash contains fluoride as I understand it, and affects Icelandic cattle's long bones, teeth etc, so they are being rounded up quickly. After 911 and effects on the first responders lungs, it's hard to imagine any air-borne particulate matter long term may not have an ill-effect. But I'm no expert on this, rather just a WeatherLovingDoc.