Following a 19-day pause in which the final 4 days hosted numerous intermittent overflows, episode 56 of Kīlauea’s ongoing summit eruption began at 12:10 PM today, following the ramp up to continous output around 10 AM. While a small overflow occurred on Halloween night, October 31 at 8:31 PM, the start of precursory activity with large lava flows was marked by the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory this past Monday, November 2 at 11:43 AM, with 42 overflows from the north vent in the first day alone. While the already-waning lava fountain is expected to continue until this evening, maximum fountains heights reached 660 feet or 200 meters around 2 PM, and the episode has already produced 4 million cubic meters of lava within its first 3 hours. This puts it within the group with the highest output rates of the whole eruption, similar to episode 55, but also to the era of twin fountains during episodes 34 to 43.
An ashfall advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service, as upper level winds from the east-southeast are blowing the plume top to the southwest above Kaʻū, 18,000 feet or 5,000 meters above sea level. At ground level, strong trades are blowing volcanic emissions and tephra away to the southwest into the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, so the ashfall threat to Kaʻū is from smaller particles, such as fragments of Pele’s hairs. Sulfur dioxide emission rates have also been elevated in recent days during the overflows, and peaked earlier this afternoon at the same time as the lava fountain. Both during and between episodes, vog and tephra remain the most common hazards for island residents, and the usual precautions and preparations apply, especially for those with respiratory sensitivities – more information at https://vog.ivhhn.org/.
Earthquakes under Kīlauea summit, especially in the south caldera area, elevated marginally over the weekend as the volcano recharged on the way to start overflowing, but quieted to background levels well before the onset of deflationary tilt that extended precursory activity and delayed the onset of episode 56. As usual, but accompanied by live views of the episode this week, we summarize the monitoring signals, imagery, and reports available courtesy of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory as well as our broader community, annotating the presentation on-screen and discussing live viewer questions as we go.
