March 31, 2016 Voggy Volcano
This morning was one of the voggiest overflights we have ever done. The air throughout East Hawaii was remarkably ugly in spite of the prevailing north to south winds over the Pu`u O`o flow field, which generally blow the vog away from East Hawaii. Special guest, Tom Kualii, Bruce Omori, Leilani, Lava Ducky and I reunited with Paradise Helicopters’ superb pilot, Pete Stachowicz this morning. The north forest continues to burn, although very weakly, in a half dozen places up to about 5 miles from the Pu’u ‘O’o vent. The distal tip however is extremely sluggish, sending up a very small amount of smoke, with almost no visible lava in the trees. The entries we observed in the forest were found over a 3 mile span. One large ropey pahoehoe outbreak in the middle of the flow field was the largest we observed… with lava moving quickly, creating picturesque ropey, folding formations. Pu`u `O`o was completely inaccessible, shrouded in steam and smoke. The one skylight we’ve seen regularly at the bottom of the north flank remains visible, but is quite small. These windows, or breaks in the lava tubes allow us to see the river of lava below. There are several between this lowest one and the vent, but most often the are hidden from view. Forest activity remains within two miles of the closest infrastructure, but is paralleling the subdivisions’ boundaries, and moving sluggishly at best. Pele is not threatening any communities at this time.
Mahalo to Paradise Helicopters and Bruce Omori at Extreme Exposure