Madame Pele is continuing to provide a bit of a break for lower Puna residents as they prepare for Tropical Storm Ana’s arrival.
Madame Pele is continuing to provide a bit of a break for lower Puna residents as they prepare for Tropical Storm Ana’s arrival.
Activity along the June 27 lava flow continued to weaken Wednesday, keeping the ongoing threat to Pahoa from becoming imminent.
Hawaii County Civil Defense estimated the flow advanced about another 25 yards as of Wednesday morning.
That’s down from 45 yards Tuesday and between 75 and 85 yards Monday.
Activity along breakouts where lava enters a ground crack system also has dropped recently.
Tim Orr, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist, said that might be due to deflation at Kilauea.
He said the flow is about 100 meters wide and has widened more at the front than it has advanced recently.
“Overall, there’s not a lot of lava out there,” Orr said. “It’s been that way for several weeks, since mid-September.”
But he cautioned that trend could easily be reversed.
“This could change at any time, either more lava or less lava,” Orr said.
“…Trying to understand how much lava there is in the system as a whole is difficult to determine.”
HVO said its lava overflight planned for Friday might be cancelled due to the storm.