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 northwestward to northward at all elevations early, remain in that trajectory at low elevations all day, but shift to a northeastward trajectory at high elevations later in the day.

Recent observations: Over the past few days, crews successfully installed a tiltmeter in the crater and new cameras at the crater mouth and on the east crater rim, repaired and replaced seismometers and installed a new GPS on the new lava dome, repaired communications linkages, and collected new thermal imagery. Views from various vantage points show clearly that the active part of the new lava dome has risen several tens of meters since latter October, demonstrating without doubt that dome growth continues. This growth continues to be accompanied by a remarkably regular and repetitive series of small earthquakes. Clear conditions at the volcano this morning reveal a vapor plume emitting from the area of active growth.