This before-and-after comparison shows the ash covering snow to the east of the volcano.
Alaska's Shishaldin Volcano stained a large area of snowpack after an eruption last weekend sent ash thousands of feet into the sky.
The eruption occurred on Saturday amid clear skies, which made for stunning views of the volcano's ash and lava. Alaska Volcano Observatory tweeted the ash plume reached up to 30,000 feet above sea level.
Ash from the eruption drifted eastward, and some of it fell on the snowpack of Unimak Island, where Shishaldin's peak rises to just over 9,300 feet. Unimak Island is located in the eastern portion of Alaska's 1,200-mile-long Aleutian Island chain.
You can see the ashfall turn the snowpack from bright white to dark gray in the before-and-after comparison of satellite images above.
Most of the area of where the ash fell is unpopulated, but traces of ash were reported about 23 miles northeast of the volcano in the small community of False Pass.
The town's public safety officer told Alaska Public Media that some precautions were put in place, including a recommendation that residents should wear masks and eye protection.
Shishaldin Volcano is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian Island chain. This most recent round of eruptive activity began last summer.
We've seen other examples of volcanic ash covering snowpack around the world. Last spring, two volcanoes left their marks on snow cover in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
No comments:
Post a Comment