Two new eruptions at Bogoslof volcano in the Aleutian Islands overnight Sunday sent up an ash cloud that was spotted near the Pribilof Islands on Monday morning.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory said in an update early Monday that the volcano, roughly 60 miles west of Unalaska, erupted over the course of about half an hour beginning around 10:30 p.m. Bogoslof has been periodically erupting since mid-December, but prevailing winds have carried ash above the Bering Sea rather than over land.
"Seismic data suggest two strong eruptive pulses within that period…consistent with two distinct volcanic clouds observed in satellite images," AVO staff wrote. "The second cloud is larger and reached as high as 35,000 feet (above sea level). Winds are blowing the volcanic clouds to the northwest."
Anchorage-based National Weather Service meteorologists said a sighting of the ash cloud was reported to the Alaska Aviation Weather Unit at about 7:30 a.m. Monday. The pilot who sent in the report, flying west of St. Paul in the Pribilof Islands, confirmed the estimated height of the cloud at 35,000 feet.
Sunday's eruptions raised the aviation color code at Bogoslof to red, the observatory's highest level.