On Sunday afternoon, the “tiny and tempestuous” Bogoslof Volcano erupted for approximately 45 minutes, shooting ash as high as 35,000 feet into the air, according to reports. In response, the Alaska Volcano Observatory temporarily elevated the Aviation Color Code to red, the highest such alert. The code was eventually lowered to orange again, as ash emissions had ceased and seismicity remained low.
Pireps recorded a volcanic cloud moving to the northeast of Bogoslof, and the National Weather Service’s Alaska Aviation Weather Unit issued volcanic ash advisories, noting on Tuesday morning that the volcanic ash had “likely dissipated.”
However, the AVO still warns that Bogoslof Volcano “remains at a heightened state of unrest and in an unpredictable condition.” Volcanic activity could occur again with little notice or warning, and the result could include VA clouds higher than 15,000 feet.
“Although we are able to detect energetic explosive activity in real-time, there is typically a lag of tens minutes until we can characterize the magnitude of the event and the altitude of the volcanic cloud. It is possible for low-level unrest, including explosive activity, to occur that we are unable to detect with existing data sources. Such low-level periods of unrest and possible explosions could pose a hazard in the immediate vicinity of the volcano,” the AVO explained.
No aviation issues have been reported in connection to Bogoslof’s volcano ash as of yet.
