With all the recent activity in Hawaii, we sat down with a volcanologist to get lava low-down on what’s happening with Kilauea, and what you can expect should a larger eruption occur.
Special thanks to University of Hawaii Professor Dr. Kenneth Rubin for speaking with us.
After an eruption of the Kilauea Volcano early Thursday morning, the National Weather Service in Honolulu, HI issued an ash fall advisory for parts of the Big Island of Hawaii.
The NWS says ash plumes were spewed from the volcano, possibly as high as 30,000 feet. The ash was seen falling around the summit and immediate vicinity.
The NWS said ash accumulation as much as a 1/4″ per hour would be possible in the advisory areas, but light ash could also fall from the sky over other parts of the Big Island.
Ash can be seen falling from the sky in this image from the summit of #Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii! Image courtesy: USGS pic.twitter.com/i7LcNZAS7K
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) May 17, 2018
Since that explosion of ash occurred, levels have dropped once again. We spoke with Jamie Kibler of the Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center Thursday to see what could happen if a larger ash plume occurred.
“If you had a large ash eruption event, the impacts would be to aviation, international and domestic airlines. Our information would go out to those users, along with the FAA, and the forecast offices. Activity is still seismically high, so additional large eruptions to say 20 or 30 thousand [feet] are still very possible,” explains Kibler.
We spoke with Jamie Kibler at the @WashVAAC on volcanic ash impacts should a larger eruption occur #Kilauea. pic.twitter.com/UNyd6VdJjd
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) May 17, 2018
We have a crew on the scene in Hawaii and will bring you live visuals and updates on air and on social media.
A large enough ash fall event can be impactful to people and animals, too. Here are some other safety tips on ash fall, should that become a concern in Hawaii:
