Mt. Fitzherbert

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

Recent observations: The volcano is obscured by clouds today. Weather permitting on Friday, we plan to install two instrument packages on and near the new lava dome. A package on the northeast portion of the uplifted area between the new and old lava domes will contain a video camera and gas sensor. The video camera will provide detailed information on rates and patterns of dome growth and the gas sensor will provide real-time information on volcanic-gas concentrations in the air near the dome. The other package will be installed on the north end of the new lava dome. It will contain a GPS unit and a seismometer. The aim of both installations is to obtain data that will help us to correlate dome movements and seismicity so that we can better understand the process of dome extrusion.