| Observer: | Ben VL, Carol & Bill, Kitt, SteveO, Steve & Lori, Russell, Tom C, Dan W & Ian, MA, Dirk, Klaus, and many more! |
| Comments: | SUPERB eruption!
Arrived at about 0730 to relatively mediocre activity. Not too long after the sit started we were able to get the temperature data for overnight and the previous day, which included spikes at around 1400, 1745, & 2140 on 9-30, and at about 0130 & 0615 this morning. Based on that, we thought we would probably get some kind of push around the 0900 hour. Occasional mild vertical, a few bounces and babbling brooks here and there, but nothing really all that energetic until after 1100. The push leading into the eruption started with a better than average minor around 1238 that put out some nice runoff. Another about 1240. Woo/WooHoo ~1245. NV was having really nice volume at idle at this point. Another nicer minor at 1249, and then two WooHoo+'s at 1250. 1253 we had a WooHooPlus+ (Heart Stopping minor) that opened with a NV vertical shot over 40' & SV 20'-25' (I started screaming at this point because I didn't think it was going to take all that much to get it going). It dropped down, came back up about 50' or so and hung there for a few seconds before taking off. Relatively clear skies, and a wind direction just south of the parking lot made for spectacular viewing conditions for the entire eruption. GREAT pressure waves on the climb! The top could easily be seen, I'd say at least 300'. It maintained most of it's height during the first five or so minutes. Clean water until about 3 minutes in when NV started to get dirty and develop a little puffball of continuous splashing in the vertical area about 15'-20'. NV started to sputter a little bit. It gradually shifted over to vertical and got progressively thicker as the vertical splashing section grew. By 1304 (11m), NV had started loud, percussive Granding in massive, separated bursts of dirty water and rocks 50'-150' (and sometimes higher). Tom C. noted that the it had a very "8 minutes into Grand" feel to it. Except like Grand squared. Some bursts shot outward all they way over the SV back shoulder. During all of this, SV had a steady stream of mostly clear water, and transitioned to steam at some point while NV was Granding. There were a couple times where SV steam started getting a lot louder and NV started acting in a way where we thought it might try to choke, but it never did. Towards the end of the water phase, NV started to have brief moments between (most) bursts where it would shoot out a LOUD steam jet with such force that there was no turbulence on the side of the jet for a good 20' or more. At 1341/2 (48/49m) the wind shifted out of the restart area and NV started getting smaller bursts with more steam between. Full steam at 1342/49 minutes. SV had water again at 1508, 36, and a couple other times. No pauses or restarts when I left the area about 1740 (4h 47m). Cistern down 6"-8" @ 1559 (3h 6m).
After discussing the activity, we concluded that it had skipped an active period, and erupted after. The interval felt fairly straightforward with regular active periods. The eruptive push came right on time for a double interval, and when the activity picked up, it erupted on its first opportunity. We all liked the lack of surprises on this one. |