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 eastward.

Recent observations: The volcano is obscured by clouds this morning, but the weather this weekend looks promising for a visit to the National Volcanic Monument with good viewing conditions. Small rockfalls continue from the growing lava dome following last Sunday night’s major rock avalanche. We’ve received numerous questions about why the seismic signal that accompanied the avalanche isn’t in the list of recent earthquakes and given a magnitude. The answer is that it wasn’t a simple earthquake. It was a complex event with multiple pulses, so it can’t be compared with typical earthquakes.