Showing posts with label volcano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label volcano. Show all posts
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Before I call it a night, here is some beautiful footage of Mt. Redoubt captured by my friend Dennis Zaki.
Just one of the very talented people in our little Scooby gang.
Thanks Dennis.
Lisa Murkowski requests MORE funds to monitor America's many volcanoes. Plans to throw Bobby Jindal into Mt. Redoubt to placate volcano gods on hold.
With her family trapped in Alaska by the eruptions of Mount Redoubt, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, took to the Senate floor this week to appeal for a stable source of funding for volcano research and monitoring.
“Recently, there were some comments made about federal spending for volcano monitoring and the suggestion that this might be wasteful,” she told the Senate. “I can assure you that monitoring volcanoes is critically important to the nation, and especially, to my home state of Alaska, where we are being held hostage by a volcano.”
Murkowski recounted the hundreds of flights canceled at the Anchorage airport, including the one scheduled to bring her sons back to the nation’s capital from spring vacation in Alaska.
Murkowski is seeking an annual appropriation of $15 million for the U.S. Geological Survey to monitor, warn and protect Americans from harm from volcanic activity.
Her bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, would set up a National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System at the federal agency.
I have to applaud the fact that Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich are thinking about the safety of ALL Americans who have potentially active volcanoes in their back yards.
As we Alaskans have learned many times in the past, mother nature MUST be respected and learning when she is about to blow off a little steam (and ash) can keep the episode from causing serious harm, and possibly fatal results.
In December 1989, a jet flying 150 miles northeast of Anchorage encountered an ash cloud from Mount Redoubt and lost power in all four engines. The plane, with more than 200 passengers on board, dropped more than 10,000 feet before the pilots were able to restart the engines and land safely.
(That almost makes me wet my pants every time I read it.)
Our early warning system has served us well these last few months and I believe there is a very real need to implement a similar program throughout the nation.
However I still think throwing Bobby Jindal into Mt. Redoubt couldn't hurt. And don't we want to err on the side of caution?
“Recently, there were some comments made about federal spending for volcano monitoring and the suggestion that this might be wasteful,” she told the Senate. “I can assure you that monitoring volcanoes is critically important to the nation, and especially, to my home state of Alaska, where we are being held hostage by a volcano.”
Murkowski recounted the hundreds of flights canceled at the Anchorage airport, including the one scheduled to bring her sons back to the nation’s capital from spring vacation in Alaska.
Murkowski is seeking an annual appropriation of $15 million for the U.S. Geological Survey to monitor, warn and protect Americans from harm from volcanic activity.
Her bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, would set up a National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System at the federal agency.
I have to applaud the fact that Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich are thinking about the safety of ALL Americans who have potentially active volcanoes in their back yards.
As we Alaskans have learned many times in the past, mother nature MUST be respected and learning when she is about to blow off a little steam (and ash) can keep the episode from causing serious harm, and possibly fatal results.
In December 1989, a jet flying 150 miles northeast of Anchorage encountered an ash cloud from Mount Redoubt and lost power in all four engines. The plane, with more than 200 passengers on board, dropped more than 10,000 feet before the pilots were able to restart the engines and land safely.
(That almost makes me wet my pants every time I read it.)
Our early warning system has served us well these last few months and I believe there is a very real need to implement a similar program throughout the nation.
However I still think throwing Bobby Jindal into Mt. Redoubt couldn't hurt. And don't we want to err on the side of caution?
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Mt. Redoubt ash falls on Anchorage. Cough cough cough!
The sky over Anchorage started to darken around 5:30 p.m. as an ash cloud from an eruption of Redoubt volcano two hours earlier drifted in from the south. Ash was soon falling in south Anchorage, and the ashfall spread north as the cloud thickened, bringing with it a whiff of sulphur.
We knew it was coming, we just did not know when. Well when is now.
We knew it was coming, we just did not know when. Well when is now.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Mt. Redoubt and the potential for a more damaging oil spill than the Exxon Valdez.
My blogger buddy AKM has a very important post up at Huffington today.
It concerns the very real possibility that the erupting Mt. Redoubt may rupture one or more of the numerous tanks filled with oil RIGHT NEXT THE VOLCANO!
Please click the title to read AKM's frightening warning about the devasting pollution the next eruption may spill into our precious Cook Inlet.
It concerns the very real possibility that the erupting Mt. Redoubt may rupture one or more of the numerous tanks filled with oil RIGHT NEXT THE VOLCANO!
Please click the title to read AKM's frightening warning about the devasting pollution the next eruption may spill into our precious Cook Inlet.
Monday, March 23, 2009
BOOM goes the mountaintop! Mt. Redoubt blows its lid four times!
A fourth explosion rocked long-threatening Mount Redoubt at 1:39 a.m. today after three eruptions earlier in the night sent an ash cloud an estimated 50,000 feet into the air, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported.
The first eruption came at 10:38 p.m. Sunday followed by another at 11:02 p.m., and a third at 12:14 a.m. today.
Winds were carrying the ash plume north toward the Susitna Valley, and an ash advisory has been issued for the area until 8 a.m., the National Weather Service said.
Ash was not expected in Anchorage or Wasilla at this time, the Weather Service said, although they said a light dusting might be possible.
Volcanic eruptions are no joke in Alaska. I remember the eruption of Mt. Augustine in 1976, when my father's snowmachine burst into flames because of a clogged carburetor. That scared my poor sister to death.
I also remember in 1992 when Mt. Spurr erupted and the whole sky grew so black it looked like the end of the world. Airports and schools closed, and I spent several long hard days cleaning up the seemingly endless amount of volcanic ash that covered Anchorage.
Yeah volcanic eruptions are definitely joke here in Alaska. Perhaps Governor Bobby Jindal would like to take a tour of our most recent eruption so he can see first hand just why volcano research is so important in Alaska. Perhaps spending a day sweeping up volcanic ash would give him a healthier respect for the devastation that can be caused when the earth literally bursts forth with fire and ash. Perhaps that would serve as a "stimulus" for his lazy intellect.
Update: Mt. Redoubt has erupted for a FIFTH time.
An erupting Mount Redoubt exploded again this morning at 4:31 a.m. -- its fifth and strongest discharge yet -- sending an ash cloud to new heights, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported.
Ash has now been detected at an elevation of 60,000 feet above sea level, the National Weather Service reported.
This is going to be a LONG day my friends.
The first eruption came at 10:38 p.m. Sunday followed by another at 11:02 p.m., and a third at 12:14 a.m. today.
Winds were carrying the ash plume north toward the Susitna Valley, and an ash advisory has been issued for the area until 8 a.m., the National Weather Service said.
Ash was not expected in Anchorage or Wasilla at this time, the Weather Service said, although they said a light dusting might be possible.
Volcanic eruptions are no joke in Alaska. I remember the eruption of Mt. Augustine in 1976, when my father's snowmachine burst into flames because of a clogged carburetor. That scared my poor sister to death.
I also remember in 1992 when Mt. Spurr erupted and the whole sky grew so black it looked like the end of the world. Airports and schools closed, and I spent several long hard days cleaning up the seemingly endless amount of volcanic ash that covered Anchorage.
Yeah volcanic eruptions are definitely joke here in Alaska. Perhaps Governor Bobby Jindal would like to take a tour of our most recent eruption so he can see first hand just why volcano research is so important in Alaska. Perhaps spending a day sweeping up volcanic ash would give him a healthier respect for the devastation that can be caused when the earth literally bursts forth with fire and ash. Perhaps that would serve as a "stimulus" for his lazy intellect.
Update: Mt. Redoubt has erupted for a FIFTH time.
An erupting Mount Redoubt exploded again this morning at 4:31 a.m. -- its fifth and strongest discharge yet -- sending an ash cloud to new heights, the Alaska Volcano Observatory reported.
Ash has now been detected at an elevation of 60,000 feet above sea level, the National Weather Service reported.
This is going to be a LONG day my friends.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
My daughter is scheduled to fly out today. Or maybe not.
All major airlines flying out of Anchorage's international airport said Monday night they planned to resume normal operations today, but all warned passengers to check Web sites before heading to the airport, just to make sure the winds hadn't changed again.
"We'll keep a very close watch on the National Weather Service," said Caroline Boren, an Alaska Airlines spokeswoman.
Ash from Kasatochi volcano, one of three currently smoking on the Aleutian Chain, stranded more than 6,000 travelers Sunday and Monday after a shift in the wind moved a giant ash plume into flight routes.
My daughter has been stranded by erupting volcanoes before.
In 1992 Mount Spurr erupted and stranded my daughter in Juneau, and my future ex-wife's two sons in Seattle.
Just another challenge for people living in the last frontier.
"We'll keep a very close watch on the National Weather Service," said Caroline Boren, an Alaska Airlines spokeswoman.
Ash from Kasatochi volcano, one of three currently smoking on the Aleutian Chain, stranded more than 6,000 travelers Sunday and Monday after a shift in the wind moved a giant ash plume into flight routes.
My daughter has been stranded by erupting volcanoes before.
In 1992 Mount Spurr erupted and stranded my daughter in Juneau, and my future ex-wife's two sons in Seattle.
Just another challenge for people living in the last frontier.
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