Pavlof Volcano continues to spew ash and shake for a fourth-straight day after a week of relative calm. Earlier this week, the Alaska Volcano Observatory again raised the alert level for the volcano to orange because of an increasing chance the Aleutian Chain volcano will erupt.
Ash emissions from Pavlof continued Saturday. Seismic tremors and small explosions detected by monitoring stations near the volcano accompany the ash. Elevated surface temperatures near the volcano's vent were observed in overnight satellite images. The heat suggests that some molten rock flowing from the vent.
Satellite images on Saturday morning showed southeast winds carrying an ash plume 30 miles from Pavlof. Clear views from Cold Bay, a small town of about 100 residents in the eastern Aleutian Chain, showed an ash plume rising a few thousand feet above the volcano, the observatory reported.
Located in Southwest Alaska about 30 miles northeast of the community of King Cove, the 8,261-foot peak is arguably the state's most active volcano, having erupted about 40 times in recorded history. Pavlof first awoke on May 13, when thermal imaging revealed that the volcano was heating up. Two days later, a dark ash cloud rose to about 20,000 feet.
The volcano was downgraded last week after seismic and thermal activity dropped off. However, the volcano observatory noted, this decline was consistent with Pavlof's past eruption patterns.
Contact Jerzy Shedlock at jerzy(at)alaskadispatch.com