Hawaii County officially is opening a lava viewing area near Kalapana today after the Pu‘u ‘O‘o lava flow reached the base of Pulama pali.
The viewing spot extends from mile marker 21 on Highway 130 along the gravel emergency route up to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park boundary, said Ed Teixeira, interim Civil Defense administrator. Security guards will be posted to advise visitors to stay on the roadway and help ensure they are prepared for the 3-mile hike to the park boundary, he said.
Parking will be available between mile markers 21 and 22. Nonemergency vehicles will remain barred from the emergency route, established in 2014 along an 8-mile stretch of Highway 130/Chain of Craters Road covered by earlier lava flows from the ongoing 33-year eruption.
Teixeira said lava viewing times will be from 3-9 p.m.
Security guards will ask visitors to leave the area at 9 p.m., though he acknowledged challenges regarding enforcement.
“We know the record will reflect there are people who abuse that and have gone in after midnight before,” he said, referring to the last time lava was in the area about three years ago.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Tim Orr said the flow was about 4.7 miles long and had reached the base of the pali as of Wednesday afternoon.
It’s not threatening homes.
The flow’s advance is expected to slow considerably as it fans out over flatter terrain.
Orr said it remains difficult to say when or if lava will reach the ocean, helping add new land to the island.
Meanwhile, the lava lake at Kilauea’s summit is dropping after the volcano entered a deflationary phase.
Orr said that might reduce the volume of lava exiting Pu‘u ‘O‘o on the volcano’s East Rift Zone, but any change is not expected to be significant.
The summit lake was 25 meters below the adjacent crater floor Tuesday, allowing
splatter to be visible from the Jaggar Overlook. HVO said it dropped an additional 10 meters by Wednesday morning.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
