Eruption of Mt. Redoubt Volcano, Alaska ALERT: ADVISORY; YEL

[Dionne]

AVO reporting 4 eruptions so far. Waiting for daylight.

Ashfall now showing up on radar NWS Anchorage from Redoubt to
Skwentna.

[angelwing]

Oh wow!!! I didn't need to see this! Getting in touch with my gf now, thanks for the info!!!

[Dionne]

Alaska Air flight 871 left Honolulu last night and is scheduled to arrive Anchorage at 8:06AM AKDT. I wonder if they will try to make it in or divert? Ak Air website shows them on time. Other enroute flights have already diverted.

EDIT: 3 minutes ago.....AVO reporting another large eruption at Redoubt.

[lurkey]

Alaska volcano Mount Redoubt erupts 4 times
By MARK THIESSEN – 1 hour ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano erupted four times overnight, sending an ash plume more than 9 miles high into the air, but the state's largest city has likely been spared from any ashfall.

"The ash cloud went to 50,000 feet, and it's currently drifting toward the north, northeast," said Janet Schaefer, a geologist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

The first eruption occurred at 10:38 p.m. on Sunday night and the fourth happened at 1:39 a.m. Monday, according to the observatory.

The current wind patterns are taking the ash cloud away from Anchorage and instead heading toward Willow and Talkneetna, two communities near Mount McKinley, North America's largest mountain in Denali National Park.

Geophysicist John Power said no cities have yet reported any ash fall from the volcano, but noted that it's still early.

Using radar and satellite technology, the National Weather Service is predicting ash to start falling later Monday morning.

Dave Stricklan, a hydrometeorogical technician with the National Weather Service, expected very fine ash

"Just kind of a light dusting," he said. He said the significant amount of ash probably dropped immediately, right down the side of the volcano.

"The heavier stuff drops out very quickly, and then the other stuff filters out. There's going to be a very fine amount of it that's going to be suspended in the atmosphere for quite some time, but nothing to really affect anything such as aviation travel. The heavier stuff will filter out," he said.

The 10,200-foot Redoubt Volcano, roughly 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, last erupted during a four-month period from 1989-90.

But the volcano became restless earlier this year. The observatory had warned in late January that an eruption could occur at any time.

Increased earthquake activity over the past 48 hours prompted scientists to raise the alert level for Mount Redoubt on Sunday.

On Sunday morning, 40 to 50 earthquakes were being recorded every hour.

A steam plume rising about 1,000 feet above the mountain peak was observed Saturday.

On the Net:
Alaska Volcano Observatory: http://www.avo.alaska.edu

[Nimbus]

This cam updates every 4 hours for 5 minutes.

Thanks Luis

Assuming an F stop of 4.8 / time of sunrise in Alaska / amount of ash /

When do we get a picture?

edit: where is the real time SAR imagery when you need it?

[lurkey]

Color Code RED : Alert Level WARNING


Mount Redoubt Volcano Erupts Five Times, So FarBy LiveScience Staff

posted: 23 March 2009 09:35 am ET
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Mount Redoubt volcano in Alaska erupted explosively five times starting late Sunday night, nearly two months after scientists heightened concerns about the event.

The volcano's first eruption came Sunday at 10:38 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time, sending a cloud of volcanic ash to an estimated 50,000 feet above sea level. Scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory are monitoring the volcano closely as the eruption continues. The latest eruption was Monday at 4:31 a.m. Alaska Daylight Time, an observatory spokeswoman told LiveScience.

The current estimate for the eruption cloud height is 50,000 feet above sea level. Wind patterns now are taking the ash cloud away from Anchorage and toward Willow and Talkneetna, two communities near Mount McKinley, North America's largest mountain in Denali National Park, according to the Associated Press.

A January forecast of an imminent eruption at Redoubt was based on magma rising toward the surface from beneath the volcano. And seismic activity at Redoubt, which is 106 miles (170 km) southwest of Anchorage, had increased recently.

There are more than 40 active volcanoes in Alaska, many of which are situated on the Aleutian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Redoubt's neighboring volcano Mount Augustine (located 177 miles, or 285 km southwest of Anchorage) last blew its top in 2006.

In fact, the Aleutian Island chain makes up the northern part of the Ring of Fire, which circles the Pacific Ocean and produces frequent activity along the coasts and interior regions of North and South American and Japan. The Ring of Fire is considered one of the most volcanically and seismically active regions in the world.

The Aleutian Islands are themselves the result of volcanic activity, forming as the Pacific plate dives beneath, or "subducts," the North American plate. More than 75 percent of the world's volcanoes lie along the Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates dive beneath other plates

[Chacor]

FVAK23 PAWU 231120
VAAAK3
VA ADVISORY

DTG: 20090323/1115Z

VAAC: ANCHORAGE

VOLCANO: REDOUBT 1103-03

PSN: N6029 W15245

AREA: SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA

SUMMIT ELEV: 10198 FT/3109 M

ADVISORY NR: 2009-2

INFO SOURCE: GOES/AVO/PILOT REPORT/RADAR/HYSPLIT

AVIATION COLOUR CODE: RED

ERUPTION DETAILS: ERUPTIVE ACTIVITY CONTINUES

OBS VA DTG: 23/1045UTC

OBS VA CLOUD: SFC/FL400 N6254 W15305 - N6235 W14943 - N6011 W15215 -
N6052 W15507 - N6254 W15305 MOVING N 55 KNOTS.

FCST VA CLOUD +6 HR: 23/1715Z SFC/FL400 N6330 W14801 - N6001 W15116 -
N6052 W15503 - N6253 W15308 - N6330 W14801

FCST VA CLOUD +12 HR: 23/2315Z SFC/FL400 N6417 W14308 - N5930 W14852
- N6050 W15504 - N6407 W15229 - N6417 W14308

FCST VA CLOUD +18 HR: 24/0515Z SFC/FL400 N6459 W14107 - N6035 W14539
- N6010 W15734 - N6455 W15313 - N6459 W14107

REMARKS: INTERMITTENT ERUPTIVE ACTIVITY CONTINUES.

NXT ADVISORY: 20090323/1715Z

TRENZ MAR 2009

[cycloneye]

Below you can see the big plume of ash as it moves from the volcano site.

[cycloneye]

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
728 AM AKDT MON MAR 23 2009

AKZ145-232000-
/X.EXT.PAFC.AF.Y.0001.000000T0000Z-090323T2000Z/
SUSITNA VALLEY-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...TALKEETNA...WILLOW...CANTWELL
728 AM AKDT MON MAR 23 2009

...ASHFALL ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON AKDT TODAY...

THE ASHFALL ADVISORY IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON AKDT TODAY.

REDOUBT VOLCANO AT 60.5N 152.7W HAS ERUPTED SEVERAL TIMES DURING
THE NIGHT. LIGHT ASHFALL HAS ALREADY BEEN REPORTED AT SKWENTNA.
LIGHT ASHFALL IS POSSIBLE THROUGHOUT THE SUSITNA VALLEY THROUGH THE
MORNING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

AN ASHFALL ADVISORY MEANS THAT ASH WILL BE DEPOSITED IN THE
ADVISORY AREA. PEOPLE IN AREAS OF ASHFALL SHOULD SEAL WINDOWS AND
DOORS. PROTECT ELECTRONICS AND COVER AIR INTAKES AND OPEN WATER
SUPPLIES. MINIMIZE DRIVING. LISTEN TO YOUR RADIO STATION FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION.

&&

$$

[RL3AO]

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ANCHORAGE AK
728 AM AKDT MON MAR 23 2009

...ASHFALL ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON AKDT TODAY...

Wow. They actually have an advisory for that.

[KWT]

Very interesting, does anybody have an idea just how large these eruptions are?

Very interesting, I suspect the Sat.imagery will show the ash plume very nicely.

[Chacor]

Very interesting, does anybody have an idea just how large these eruptions are?

Very interesting, I suspect the Sat.imagery will show the ash plume very nicely.

Not very easy to find sats covering Alaska. There are a few, but even on those nothing shows up yet.

[lurkey]

Any pictures, yet? sunrise is 8:03am Alaska time

Per Twitter feed: Webcam near volcano not longer working


alaska_avo The eruption of Redoubt volcano continues.Ash plumes generated by the explosive bursts so far have all drifted to the north.Ashfall advisories are available on the National Weather Service site http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.phpAVO\'s web camera near the volcano is no longer functioning about 1 hour, 18 minutes ago from Twittermail


alaska_avo Station RSO is no longer transmitting data as of 4:15am this morning. Data from other stations is intact. An ashfall advisory is in affect:http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.php

alaska_avo The eruption of Redoubt volcano continues. Ashfall advisories are available on the National Weather Service site http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.phpAsh is still being emitted from the volcano and the National Weather Service Ashfall Advisories will be updated with changing conditions.

[cycloneye]

An erupting Mount Redoubt exploded again at 4:31 this morning -- its fifth and strongest discharge yet -- sending an ash cloud to new heights, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported.

Ash has now been detected at 60,000 feet above sea level, the National Weather Service reported.

Winds are still carrying the ash plume north over the Susitna Valley, and minor ash fall has been reported in Skwentna, Willow, Trapper Creek and Talkeetna, according to the Weather Service, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and eyewitness reports.

Ash is not expected in Anchorage or Wasilla at this time, the Weather Service said.

In the Su Valley, the ash fall is being described as fine gray dust.

"It's coming down," Rita Jackson, 56, said early this morning at a 24-hour grocery store in Willow. She slid her fingers across the hood of her car through a dusting of ash.

She was taking a sip of coffee when she tasted something funny on her lips, Jackson told The Associated Press. It was ash. She said she then hurried home to get a motorcycle, snowmachine and vehicles under protective blue tarps.

Redoubt began erupting Sunday night, with the first explosion coming at 10:38 p.m., followed by another at 11:02 p.m., a third at 12:14 a.m. and a fourth at 1:39 a.m., the AVO reported.

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport remains open, although some airlines have canceled or diverted flights. Alaska Airlines reported canceling 19 flights in and out of Anchorage because of the ash.

Elmendorf Air Force Base reported that 60 planes, including fighter jets, cargo aircraft and a 747 commercial plane, are being sheltered. The base initially ordered only essential personnel to report for duty; that was later changed to all personnel reporting at 8 a.m.

School is in session in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough.


Mount Redoubt, a 10,197-foot stratovolcano 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, last erupted during a fourth-month period in 1989-90. Its recent period of volcanic unrest began Jan. 25.

An official with the Federal Aviation Administration at the Anchorage airport early Monday said there were no immediate plans to close the airport.

The Weather Service advised people in areas of ash fall to seal windows and doors, protect electronics and cover air intakes and open water supplies as well as minimize driving.

The AVO staff also warned authorities at the Drift River Oil Terminal -- on the western shore of Cook Inlet downriver from the volcano -- that mud flows and flooding from melting glaciers might be headed their way.

Cook Inlet Pipe Line Co., which operates the terminal, said early this morning that it had begun shutting the facility down.

At a 3 a.m. press conference today, John Powers of AVO said given the hot material landing on snow, mud and snow slides could be expected and staff would check the Drift River area at first light today.

Protective dikes have been constructed at the terminal since Redoubt last erupted nearly 20 years ago..

Powers also said -- looking at the history of Redoubt eruptions -- that this event could be expected to go on for some time, even months.

The eruption has apparently disrupted transmissions from the observatory's webcam inside a hut near the volcano, AVO geophysicist Peter Cervelli said.

For two hours prior to the eruption, AVO scientists reported heightened seismicity at Redoubt and warned there could be a quick escalation to eruptive activity.

The volcano had been on orange "watch" status for most of Sunday after activity began increasing Saturday, but was changed to red after the first eruption.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

[lurkey]

alaska_avo The eruption of Redoubt volcano continues.Ash plumes generated by the explosive bursts are drifting north-northeast. Ash fall has been reported in Skwentna and the Chuitna area.Ashfall advisories are available on the National Weather Service site http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.phpAVO\'s web camera near the volcano is no longer functioning.AVO is planning an overflight of the volcano later this morning. about 14 minutes ago from Twittermail

pictures from Saturday

[lurkey]

alaska_avo The eruption of Redoubt volcano continues and the color code and volcano alert level remains at RED/WARNING. Sesimic activity remains elevated, but has declined slightly over the past several hours. The last large explosive burst occurred at 4:31 AKDT. There have been several smaller bursts lasting for 1-2 minutes since then. AVO has received no new reports of ash emission in the past hour. Ashfall advisories are available on the National Weather Service site http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/volcano.php AVO\'s web camera near the volcano is no longer functioning. AVO has an overflight of the volcano in progress. about 1 minute ago from Twittermail

[KWT]

Its a shame the webcam is no longer functioning, would have been very interesting to see.

[Dionne]

Its a shame the webcam is no longer functioning, would have been very interesting to see.

Someone has a pic. Eventually us poor folk will get to see.......

[lurkey]

alaska_avo The eruption of Redoubt volcano continues and the color code and volcano alert level remains at RED/WARNING. Seismic activity remains elevated, but has declined slightly over the past several hours. The activity consists mostly of volcanic tremor with some discrete events. AVO has received no new reports of ash emission since early this morning. The ashfall advisory has expired. AVO\'s web camera near the volcano is now functioning and meltwater flooding along the margins of Drift glacier is evident. AVO has an overflight of the volcano in progress.

[cycloneye]

As mentioned above,the cam most closest to the volcano is working.See it below.

Web Cam