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Download the AppBack in January I got to fly around what was then known as Fissure 8 just as the sun came up. The early morning sun and the steam from what is now Ahu'aila'au was absolutely unbelievable! Now that we have an official name for this baby, I updated and reuploaded the video I shot that day. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luqMbPTX-z8
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Episode 18 high fountains have started!
Ryan Finlay · 1 month ago
Episode 17 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began at 10:15 p.m. HST on April 7, 2025 with the start of lava overflowing from the south vent. Low spatter fountains from the south vent have been increasing from initial heights of 15-30 feet to 30-60 feet by 3:00 am HST on April 8. Tremor continues to gradually increase as well and is accompanied by slow deflation of the summit. - USGS Volcanoes
Ryan Finlay · 1 month ago
Episode 16 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended at 12:03 p.m. HST on April 2 when high fountaining at the south vent stopped. Fountains from the south vent sustained heights of 600-700 feet (180-210 meters) for over 23 hours, then dropped to less than 300 feet (90 meters) at 9:50 a.m. HST this morning, April 2. Overall, episode 16 lasted just over 37 hours with the last 25 hours and 39 minutes consisting of fountains from the south vent. During episode 16, lava flows covered over 50% of the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu within the southern part of Kaluapele (Kīlauea caldera). Weak winds also resulted in deposition of Pele's hair and tephra in closed areas of Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park and on Highway 11 between mile marker 35 and 37 on April 1. Additional details about the eruption were posted earlier in the March 31 Status Report and the April 1 Status Report and the April 1 Daily Update for Kīlauea along with the April 2 Daily Update for Kīlauea. The UWD tiltmeter recorded just over 14 microradians of deflation during episode 16, with 11 microradians lost on the SDH tiltmeter. Deflation rate was constant throughout the first part of the eruption reflecting the stable nature of activity from the south and north vents. The deflation rate slowed slightly after the north vent shut down April 1 at 9:22 p.m. HST. The end of the eruption was coincident with a rapid change in tilt from deflation to inflation at the summit and a decrease in seismic tremor intensity when the fountains ceased at 12:03 p.m. HST. Each episode of Halemaʻumaʻu lava fountaining since December 23, 2024, has continued for at least 13 hours, and up to 8 days, and episodes have been separated by pauses in eruptive activity lasting less than 24 hours to 12 days. Timeline of eruption episodes since December 23, 2024: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/science/eruption-information Two Kīlauea summit livestream videos are available here: Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii (West Halemaʻumaʻu crater) v1cam and Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii (East Halemaʻumaʻu crater)v2cam No changes have been detected in the East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone. HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and will issue an eruption update tomorrow morning unless there are significant changes before then. Kīlauea Volcano Alert Level/Aviation Color Code remain at WATCH/ORANGE. All current and recent activity is within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Via USGS Volcanoes
Ryan Finlay · 2 months ago
The high fountaining stage of episode 16 has begun just now! “High fountaining began from the south vent at 10:24 am HST on April 1. The change was preceded by about 5 minutes of steadily increasing vigor. South vent fountains are currently about 200 feet (70 meters) high. No change at north vent.”
Ryan Finlay · 2 months ago
Update: the cycles are continuing with gaps of about 4 minutes. I started documenting these not thinking there would be this many cycles before the main fountaining started on this episode 😂. I'm going to head to bed so I won't be filling any more of the data in tonight. Have a good night everyone and enjoy the show. Episode 15 might be starting very soon! The lake was just visible with a good bit of fountaining, and now has dropped down. This cycle will keep repeating until the more vigorous fountains are continuous and much higher. When will the large fountains arrive? We shall see! North Vent Fountain Activity: 1st: Start 9:26 AM - Stop 9:32 AM - Gap to Next 23 minutes 2nd: Start 9:55 AM - Stop 10:01 AM - Gap to Next 10 minutes 3rd: Start 10:11 AM - Stop 10:20 AM - Gap to Next 9 minutes 4th: Start 10:29 AM - Stop 10:39 AM - Gap to Next 9 minutes 5th: Start 10:48 AM - Stop 10:58 AM - Gap to Next 9 minutes 6th: Start 11:07 AM - Stop 11:18 AM - Gap to Next 8 minutes 7th: Start 11:26 AM - Stop 11:37 AM - Gap to Next 7 minutes 8th: Start 11:44 AM - Stop 11:56 AM - Gap to Next 7 minutes 9th: Start 12:03 PM - Stop 12:19 PM - Gap to Next 6 minutes 10th: Start 12:25 PM - Stop 12:41 PM - Gap to Next 6 minutes 11th: Start 12:47 PM - Stop 1:03 PM - Gap to Next 5 minutes 12th: Start 1:08 PM - Stop 1:24 PM - Gap to Next 4 minutes 13th: Start 1:28 PM - Stop 1:41 PM - Gap to Next 5 minutes 14th: Start 1:46 PM - Stop 1:58 PM - Gap to Next 2 minutes 15th: Start 2:00 PM - Stop 2:15 PM - Gap to Next 4 minutes 16th: Start 2:19 PM - Stop 2:32 PM - Gap to Next 4 minutes 17th: Start 2:36 PM - Stop 2:48 PM - Gap to Next 3 minutes 18th: Start 2:51 PM - Stop 3:03 PM - Gap to Next 3 minutes 19th: Start 3:06 PM - 3:18 PM - Gap to Next 3 minutes 20th: Start 3:21 PM - 3:33 PM - Gap to Next 4 minutes 21st: Start 3:37 PM - 3:49 PM - Gap to Next 3 minutes 22nd: Start 3:52 PM - 4:04 PM - Gap to Next 3 minutes 23rd: Start 4:07 PM - 4:18 PM - Gap to Next 3 minutes 24th: Start 4:21 PM - 4:33 PM - Gap to Next 4 minutes 25th: Start 4:37 PM - 4:48 PM - Gap to Next 3 minutes 26th: Start 4:51 PM - 5:17 PM - Gap to Next 3 minutes 27th: Start 5:20 PM - 5:31 PM - Gap to Next 4 minutes 28th: Start 5:35 PM - 5:45 PM - Gap to Next 3 minutes 29th: Start 5:48 PM - 6:00 PM - Gap to Next 4 minutes 30th: Start 6:04 PM - 6:14 PM - Gap to Next 4 minutes 31st: Start 6:18 PM - 6:30 PM - Gap to Next 5 minutes 32nd: Start 6:35 PM - 6:46 PM - Gap to Next 4 minutes 33rd: Start 6:50 PM - 7:01 PM - Gap to Next 4 minutes 34th: Start 7:05 PM - 7:17 PM - Gap to Next 5 minutes 35th: Start 7:22 - tbd Once the gaps stop, and the fountaining becomes continuous, the large fountains will very soon begin.
Ryan Finlay · 2 months ago
When lava stopped fountaining in the north vent, the south vent fountain increased in height significantly around 8am to possibly just over 700 feet as seen in this video!
Elijah Finlay · 2 months ago
Great video, mahalo Cory. Any idea what the teal streak is at 1:52, just below the forest line? It kinda looks like smoke, but the color is odd for that.
Mar 7, 2021
Thank you! I do believe it's smoke. The color could have been an effect of my color grading. I never really noticed it before.
Mar 7, 2021
Sure is steamy in the mornings.
Mar 7, 2021
It's pretty incredible
Mar 7, 2021
Beautiful video Cory! Thanks for sharing!
Mar 7, 2021
Thank you Ryan!
Mar 7, 2021