Precursory eruptive activity begins for Episode 30 of Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at Kīlauea

Precursory eruptive activity for episode 30 of the Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at Kīlauea began around 5:51 a.m. on Monday, with short flows ending at 5:59 a.m.

“Lava overflowed from the north vent at 5:51 a.m. and drained back with little spattering in the vent by 5:59 a.m. HST in a typical gas-pistoning cycle that produced short overflows. This had been preceded by an earlier gas-pistoning event with lava appearing at 5:14 a.m. HST and draining back with no lava flows and little spattering at 5:18 a.m. HST,” according to a status update from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

HVO scientists say it is unclear exactly when sustained eruptive activity may start, however, high lava fountaining is likely to begin today or tomorrow if summit inflation resumes.  Tilt at the summit has been weakly deflating since 4 a.m. after rising overnight.  

According to the National Weather Service, winds are forecast to blow moderate trade winds from the north to northeast directions today, which suggests that volcanic gas emissions and volcanic material may be distributed to the south and southwest, according to the HVO.

• All eruptive activity is confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park; commercial airports in Hawaii County (KOA and ITO) will not be affected by this activity.
• Three Kīlauea summit livestream videos that show eruptive lava fountains are available here: V1cam, V2cam, V3cam.
• KPcam and MKcam provide views of the plume height for aviation purposes.

In recent episodes of the ongoing eruption within Halemaʻumaʻu, low-level precursory activity has lasted from a few hours to a few days, according to the HVO. This activity can include eruptive vent spattering, small dome fountains and lava overflows.

Scientists say that at the start of previous episodes, precursory activity has rapidly escalated into sustained high fountaining over minutes to tens of minutes. During previous episodes, fountains reached heights of more than 1,000 feet and the eruptive plume reached heights of up to 20,000 feet above ground level soon after sustained high fountaining began.

Most episodes of Halemaʻumaʻu lava fountaining since Dec. 23, 2024, have continued for around a day or less and have been separated by pauses in eruptive activity lasting generally at least several days. 

Kīlauea Volcano Alert Level/Aviation Color Code remain at WATCH/ORANGE. All current and recent activity is within Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.