Mt. Fitzherbert

Potential ash hazards: Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coupled with eruption models, show that any ash clouds that rise above the crater rim today would drift westward to southward early in the day and southeastward later.

Recent observations: The volcano is clear this morning and displaying a moderate steam plume. No ash is visible on the new snow that fell in the crater during the past few days. A seismic event early this morning was accompanied by a period of glow on the VolcanoCam and likely represents a rockfall that exposed hotter lava below the cool crust of the lava dome. The lack of ash on the new snow suggests that the event did not produce appreciable ash, but some parts of the crater wall are obscured by steam and may have a slight dusting. Depending on weather conditions, we will be in the field tomorrow or Wednesday to sling a seismic and GPS instrument (spyder) onto the new lava dome and to conduct a gas-sensing flight.