* A new lava flow map was issued late last week. Using that map along with the USGS Kilauea eruption updates, we know that there are some visible surface lava flows on the pali (cliff). I saw surface flows on the pali last year and it was truly amazing to see the red and orange glow of lava on the ... Read More »

On a recent visit to Washington DC, Andy and I enjoyed a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Of course my Hawaii radar triggered onto red alert when I saw an exhibit on volcanoes with Hawaii in the spot light. It’s a very nice exhibit on volcanoes that even shows examples of a’a and pahoehoe lava. We ... Read More »

After an 18 month absence of lava flowing to the ocean inside the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park’s boundaries, there’s a new lava ocean entry point inside the park. This new point is at Wahaula which is between the end of the Chain of Craters Road and the other lava flow point at Waikupanaha which is at the end of Highway ... Read More »

Seems like yesterday brought some extreme weather across the US. Hawaii was pounded with rain and there’s even a winter weather warning for Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa and Haleakala with 3 to 5 inches of heavy wet snow possible. We had thunderstorms and tornado warnings  in North Carolina yesterday, while south Louisiana had a rare snow. Strange weather day, huh? ... Read More »

* Lava is flowing towards Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. According to this KGMG story and video, a mile-wide lava flow is 0.25 miles away from being inside park boundaries.  The story says that hikers can make a six-mile trek to see the flow.  I’d advise that you not do that until the trail is marked. It’s very easy to get ... Read More »

According to the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, lava stopped flowing to the ocean for a few days last week, but it has returned again.  Shane Turpin of Lava Ocean Adventures tells me that the lava flow volume into the ocean has been heavy since the return.  Shane provide the above photo that he captured from one of his boat tours.  Pretty ... Read More »

These are really exciting times around Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii.  I check the Hawaii Volcano Observatory Kilauea updates and web camera images fairly regularly.  For quite a while there’s not been much going on incandescence-wise at Puu Oo, but take a look at the above image that I captured from the observatory’s web cam just this ... Read More »

Whoa!  You’ve got to check out these two tremendous videos of Kilauea volcano activity.  The first video was shot over the past couple of days. (Credit for this video find to Bobbie at the Virtual Scratchpad.)  This week, the Hawaii Volcano Observatory began reporting that some of the lava tubes that had been carrying lava to the ocean had ruptured ... Read More »

There are two distinct types of hardened lava you’ll likely see in Hawaii – pahoehoe and a’a.  These are Hawaiian names that have been adopted universally for describing the two main types of lava. Pahoehoe (pronounced like “pah hoy hoy”) is a smooth lava produced when lava flows slowly and gently.  A’a (pronounced like “ah ah”) is a very rough ... Read More »

You never know what you are going to find when you go searching for lava flowing on Hawaii’s Big Island.  Though Kilauea has been erupting consistently for decades, you can’t really predict when and where lava will pop up or disappear next.  In this article, we’ll take a look at the same lava viewing point from mid-March compared to early ... Read More »