Alaska Volcano Observatory

ALASKA VOLCANO OBSERVATORY INFORMATION STATEMENT
U.S. Geological Survey
Saturday, December 13, 2025, 11:11 AM AKST (Saturday, December 13, 2025, 20:11 UTC)

SHISHALDIN (VNUM #311360)
54°45'19" N 163°58'16" W, Summit Elevation 9373 ft (2857 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: ADVISORY
Current Aviation Color Code: YELLOW

Strong northerly winds in the vicinity of Shishaldin Volcano have picked up loose volcanic ash and dust on the surface and are carrying it to the south-southwest. The National Weather Service has issued a SIGMET (https://www.weather.gov/aawu/sigmets) for this low-level event and suggests that the maximum cloud height is 9,000 ft (2.7 km) above sea level.

This phenomenon is not the result of recent volcanic activity and occurs during times of high winds and dry snow-free conditions at Shishaldin and other volcanic areas of Alaska. No eruption is in progress. All of the volcanoes of the Katmai area (Griggs, Katmai, Novarupta, Mageik, Martin, Snowy and Trident) remain at Aviation Color Code GREEN and Alert Level NORMAL. Resuspended volcanic ash should be considered hazardous and could be damaging to aircraft and health.

Shishaldin Volcano, located near the center of Unimak Island in the eastern Aleutian Islands, is a spectacular symmetric cone with a base diameter of approximately 16 km (10 mi). A 200-m-wide (660 ft) funnel-shaped summit crater typically emits a steam plume and occasional small amounts of ash. Shishaldin is one of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian volcanic arc, with at least 54 episodes of unrest including over 26 confirmed eruptions since 1824. Most eruptions are relatively small, although the April-May 1999 event generated an ash column that reached 45,000 ft above sea level.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Matt Haney, Scientist-in-Charge, USGS mhaney@usgs.gov (907) 786-7497

David Fee, Coordinating Scientist, UAFGI dfee1@alaska.edu (907) 378-5460

Contact AVO: https://avo.alaska.edu/contact

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.