Mt. Fitzherbert

Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coupled with eruption models, show that ash clouds that rise high above the crater rim today would drift east-northeastward.

Seismicity remains at a low level compared to that observed early in this unrest. The current seismicity is consistent with a continuing, slow rise of magma driving uplift of the crater floor and feeding the extrusion of lava onto the surface. Since Monday night, the crater floor has been shaken by as many as eight earthquakes greater than magnitude 2 and as large as mag-2.8. Although slightly larger than seen recently, they represent nothing unusual in the expected growth of a lava dome, a complex process that varies slightly on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis. The overall low rates of seismicity and gas emission suggest that the lava reaching the surface is gas poor, thereby reducing the probability of highly explosive eruptions in the near term.

The volcano webcam this morning shows a clear view to the crater, although low clouds are gathering. The steam plume that rises from the dome is drifting northeastward. Weather permitting, field crews will try to complete missions that include gas monitoring, photogrammetry, and FLIR-camera infrared monitoring. An attempt will be made to recover and replace, by helicopter slingline, a defective GPS receiver that was installed on the new dome.