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 first eastward and then strongly southeastward as the afternoon progresses.

Recent observations: The volcano is mostly obscured by clouds again this morning. Over the past couple of weeks, seismicity has gradually picked up but has now leveled off at a rate similar to that of mid-December. Small earthquakes (M<1.5) occur 2-3 times per minute beneath the new dome. The GPS receiver located on new dome rock continues its remarkably steady east-southeastward progression, having moved about 70 m since installation January 3, an indication that the new lava dome extrudes relentlessly. GPS receivers on the 1980-86 dome, which lies to the north, continue their trifling northward travel, as if the new extrusion is still shoving the old dome northward ever so slightly.