July 7, 2016 Lava Toward Ocean
Pele continues to move across the coastal flats, widening the flow field and making steady headway toward the ocean. Pele rolled over the Pali a week ago, mostly between Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the abandoned Royal Gardens subdivision. This new flow is now over 5 miles long, and just over a half mile from the ocean. Only one major flow was seen this morning on the Pali, a quarter-mile long pahoehoe flow, which burned its way downslope. Most of the flows on the Pali and above have crusted over, many forming lava tubes, which transport Pele’s lava downslope. The volume of lava seen in the many skylights today was very high, but the weather prevented a trip to the vent to observe activity there. Numerous outbreaks, mostly pahoehoe continue to ooze at the tip of the flow. It would appear that the flow could reach the ocean in days or weeks. The bottom portion of the flow is now almost entirely within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Leilani the Hula Girl and Lava Ducky joined us today, along with special guest,John Baker Sr. Bruce Omori and I were back with Paradise Helicopters’ premiere pilot, Pete Stachowicz, who unexpectedly took a turn at the stick this beautiful morning. Mahalo, Pete!March 17, 2016 Plenty Lava Flows
Mahalo to Paradise Helicopters and Bruce Omori at Extreme Exposure