February 7, 2006
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VOLCANOES THIS WEEK
Augustine Volcano in Lower Cook Inlet quieted and was downgraded to concern level orange.
Cleveland Volcano, out in the Aleutian Islands, erupted and emitted an ash cloud.
Augustine is within line-of-sight of populated parts of the Alaskan
mainland, is ringed with seismic sensors and overseen by two
webcams. We have had daily bulletins reporting its activity
throughout this eruption sequence.Cleveland is remote from the populous areas, has no seismic network, no
webcams. The eruption and ash cloud were reported by pilots who
happened to see them as they flew by.Augustine made the national TV news and appeared in the syndicated newspaper feature, Earthweek. Our local radio stations kept us informed of ashfall hazards several times a day. Even the Alaska Volcano Observatory doesn’t know what’s going on out at Cleveland.
Yesterday in my Neighborhood
The temperature was about 23 degrees. The snow was soft but not
wet or slushy. The air was moist and breathable. Bareheaded
and gloveless, I was comfortable enough to go out the cul de sac. I could feel the warmth of the sun on my face.
I found a few traces of ash on the snow, some large flakes that might
have come from someone’s chimney, or could have come from the
volcano. Other than those few bits of ash and even fewer
fragments of trees scattered on the snow, the berms and tracks left by
the snowplow, and one other set of footprints besides mine, the surface
was pristine.
Today, it doesn’t look like this. The sky is overcast. The
temperature is 30 degrees, right at the slush threshhold. The
wind blew yesterday, knocking some of those big clumps of snow out of
the trees. The snowpack is pocked and ragged-looking. If we
get any precip today, it will be freezing rain. Next time I go
out there, it will be a whole different world.
Comments (5)
I love the photos of the snow on the trees.
BTW, thank you very much for the clarification and viewpoint on feminist movement. I learned something, and that is good.
CLEVELAND Volcano? C l e v e l a n d?! O.0
:::mutters about stupid Ohio and – - meh!:::
Such beautiful pictures, thank you.
cleveland deserves a volcano that no one pays attention to. actually, those pics of your neighborhood look like cleveland (the city) right now under a few layers of lake effect snow. (its the worst kind because it never stops, but its pretty because its light and fluffy)
Your site is really cool. Thanks so much for subbing to mine.
Jill