May 5 (Boy’s Day), 2016 Lava Hiding
Our overflight revealed overcast skies, and diminished surface lava this morning. But a high volume of lava rushing through the tubes visible though skylights or breaks in the tube surface indicates the eruption is still robust, but somewhat hidden from view. Numerous small outbreaks throughout the flow field again demonstrated what the USGS describes as a leaky tube system. Lava is being delivered through the lava tubes to the northeast from 1.5 to 3.5 miles from the Pu’u ‘O’o vent, but less so to the northern forest. Only one sizable forest entry to the north continued to burn slowly, posing no threat to communities to the north and east. More outbreaks of lava were noted this morning toward the middle of the flow field rather than near the north forest. We were also able to access the Pu’u ‘O’o vent, and observed the weakly active spattering lava lake on the western end. Several skylights on the north flank reveal the steady supply of lava downslope. Leilani the Hula Girl and Lava Ducky were both on board, along with special guest, Nick Iwamoto. Bruce Omori and I joined Paradise Helicopters’ master pilot, Ryan Moeller. All activity remains about two miles away from the closest infrastructure, and is not threatening any communities at this time. No lava was evident toward east, anywhere near the crack that carried lava downslope to Pahoa some 18 months ago. Oddly, Pu’u ‘O’o’s plume was blowing strongly toward the west today, but Halemaumau’s plume some 12 miles away appeared to be going straight up. Skies in east Hawaii were mostly cloudy today, but not much rain to speak of… and wonderfully clean air.
Mahalo to Paradise Helicopters and Bruce Omori at Extreme Exposure