Redoubt status returned to Orange


Image courtesy of AVO/USGS. Taken by Cyrus Read

Based on the current levels of seismicity over the past 36 hours, AVO has returned Redoubt to Orange/Watch status from Red/Warning. This doesn't mean that the eruption is over, just that things have settled down a bit. Flights to and from Anchorage have resumed as well. You can read the full statement here, but the take-home messages are:

  • AVO expects this to be like the 1989-1990 dome-building eruptions, although no new dome magma has been seen yet (mostly thanks to poor weather).
  • Dome collapse will likely generate pyroclastic flows with little to no warning. These may move down the Drift River glacier - this will produce lahars, mudflows and floods.
  • Dome growth and destruction (sometimes explosively) will likely occur for the next few months at least.

So, expect explosions, slow magma extrusion to form domes, pyroclastic flows, Peléan-style (named after Mont Pelee in Martinque) dome collapse and lots of ups-and-down on the Redoubt rollercoaster.

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Image courtesy of Calvin Hall. Taken 3/28/2009 during an eruption at 10:59 AM3:28 PM. UPDATE 4/2/2009 at 11 AM Pacific: I'm moving this up from the comments, but Eruptions reader Doug Cole pointed out (and I have no idea how I missed this) that Redoubt has a new webcam! This one is at the DFR…
Today looks to be a doubleheader of volcano news: RedoubtImage courtesy of AVO/USGS, taken by Rick Wessels. An infrared image of the north slope of Redoubt showing the hot, new dome material and hot block & ash flows confined to the valley. At 11:30 AM yesterday, AVO put Redoubt back to Orange/…
Redoubt from Ninilchik, AK. Image courtesy of Calvin Hall. It has been a few days since we've talked about Redoubt. Well, it might be because the volcano has settled down for the past week, to the point that AVO put the volcano back to Orange/Watch status last week and hasn't had to go back to Red…
Image courtesy of AVO/USGS AVO has posted a series of images taken around Redoubt and around the Cook Inlet since the new eruptions started the night of March 22nd. You can begin to see the extent of the ash fall, what the explosions have done to the Drift Glacier and the new deposits in the Drift…

Lets hope the weather clears soon so we can see what happen.

By theroachman (not verified) on 25 Mar 2009 #permalink

Another explosion today, looks like it might be the biggest yet. Latest from AVO: "A major explosive event occurred at 09:24 AKDT. Pilot reports the cloud height to be at least 65,000 ft above sea level."