ALASKA VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT
U.S. Geological Survey
Thursday, March 17, 2011, 1:06 PM AKDT (Thursday, March 17, 2011, 21:06 UTC)

CLEVELAND VOLCANO (VNUM #311240)
52°49'20" N 169°56'42" W, Summit Elevation 5676 ft (1730 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: ADVISORY
Current Aviation Color Code: YELLOW

Partly to mostly cloudy conditions obscured views of Cleveland volcano by satellite today. No reports of activity have been received.

Without a real-time seismic network on Cleveland volcano, AVO is unable to detect local earthquake activity related to volcanic unrest and cannot rely on seismic data to forecast possible eruptive activity. Brief explosive bursts in the summit vent may generate ash clouds that could rise more than 20,000 ft. above sea level and drift from the volcano with the prevailing winds. Without a seismic network in place, the only way to detect such ash clouds is to observe them in satellite imagery. Satellite images of Cleveland volcano are acquired about every two hours. Small volume ash emissions occur frequently at Cleveland and do not necessarily mean a larger eruption is imminent. The last ash cloud we detected was on September 12, 2010. Weak thermal anomalies have been regularly observed in the summit crater for the past eight months through February 2011. AVO continues to monitor the volcano using satellite imagery, pilot reports, and local observations made by passing boats.




CONTACT INFORMATION:

John Power, Scientist-in-Charge, USGS
jpower@usgs.gov (907) 786-7497

Ken Dean, Acting Coordinating Scientist, UAF
kdean@gi.alaska.edu (907) 474-7364

The Alaska Volcano Observatory is a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

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