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 east-northeastward.

Potential ash hazards to aviation: Under current eruptive conditions, small, short-lived explosions may produce ash clouds that exceed 30,000 feet in altitude. Ash from such events can travel 100 miles or more downwind.

Recent observations: New snow covers the crater and Pumice Plain this morning and clouds continue to obscure the growing lava dome and the upper flanks of the volcano. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will continue to sling new instruments into the crater to replace those destroyed earlier in the month. Results from the digital elevation model produced from imagery of 21 February show that the highest part of the new lava dome was 12 meters (about 40 feet) higher than on 1 February and that the volume of dome and surrounding uplift had increased by 3 million cubic meters (4 million cubic yards) during that three week period. The average rate of growth continues at about 2 cubic meters (2.6 cubic yards) per second.