Ginger and Mary (Life in Alaska): Mt Redoubt (continued)

It has been an active few days for Mt Redoubt. After an eruption at approx 3:30pm and 7:30pm yesterday there was enough ash falling in Anchorage to close the International Airport leaving many people stranded coming and going. We have friends in Vegas who probably can not get home today? (Just heard they will make it to Seattle but can get no further)

The ash is significant enough in Anchorage for people to be wearing face masks. Also, contact wearers have been told to wear their glass as the ash can scratch your eyes if it gets under your contacts.

The biggest threat for the peninsula came on Thursday when we had a couple of "big blows" in the morning after school had begun. This was a problem because as luck would have it, the winds shifted and were blowing directly across the peninsula. Seward (east) is a distance from the volcano (but closer than Anchorage (north)). The emails were flying from the district with constant updates. I found this very helpful as I made some minor language changes and forwarded updates to my staff. The impact on Seward has been minimal but that could change at any time.

Mary is headed back to Anchorage today so she will be in the "thick of it" - sorry could not resist the pun. We are prepared with masks and goggles. I posted the Alaska Volcano Observatory link under "Favorites" on the right. This will give you easy access to the latest information. Click on the "Puff Ash Cloud Predictions" - This will show you the current wind direction and where the ash will go. The colors represent the height of the eruption - most eruptions have been 30,000 t0 60,000 ft.

Finally as you hear news about the eruptions and ash fall - all the "agencies" have agreed on the following terms to describe the ash fall.

Trace Ash - (weather service will issue "statements") is less than 1/32nd inch of ash
Minor Ash - (weather service will issue "advisory") is 1/32nd to 1/4 inch of ash
Substantial Ash - (weather service will issue "warning") is more than 1/4 in of ash

Anchorage was at "warning" last night.

Check back here regularly for updates - Ginger