Description: From Neal and others (2005): "On December 11, 2002, the National Weather Service office in King Salmon reported a 'large steam plume' emanating from mountains east of King Salmon and extending up into the cloud deck. No discoloration was noted in the cloud. AVO staff examined the real-time seismic data from the Katmai area network and saw no evidence of anomalous behavior. No cloud or thermal anomaly was detected in Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) images. This information was relayed back to NWS in King Salmon.
"About 45 minutes later, the NWS at the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center issued an urgent pirep (UUA) based on a pilot report of a ‘strange plume' from Martin or Mageik that extended into cloud deck at about 7,000-10,000 ft. AVO concluded that this was the same observation reported earlier from King Salmon and took no further action.
"Mageik and Martin are adjacent, mostly ice-covered stratovolcanoes within Katmai National Park and Preserve on the Alaska Peninsula. Other than fumarolic activity from summit craters, there are no credible reports of historical eruptive activity at either volcano (Fierstein and Hildreth, 2000). Steam from the 500-meter-wide (1,640 ft) summit crater of Martin is vigorous and nearly continuous, with plumes occasionally rising 600 m (2,000 ft) or more above the vent and extending downwind for up to 20 km (12 mi). Steam plumes rising from the summit crater of Mageik are also common. This activity at both volcanoes results in frequent telephone calls to AVO."