(ABOVE VIDEO) The June 27 lava flow is still active, as video taken Sunday evening by Mick Kalber aboard Paradise Helicopters shows. The audio is from Monday morning’s Hawaii County Civil Defense message.

NEWS BRIEFS

• Civil Defense says lava flow activity continues along the edges of the leading surface lava flow this morning, primarily along the north side of the flow. The flow front has not advanced since yesterday.
• The small breakout flow upslope from the leading edge remains active and has advanced approximately 100 yards in a north direction.

INSIGHTS

During a Sunday evening overflight, “vulcanographer” Mick Kalber observed a “sluggish flow front with various outbreaks of active lava, but no unified flow front making significant progress.” Kalber said lava tubes near the Pu’u ‘O’o vent show a steady flow of lava, but it appeared to him to be “significantly less than prior to the slowdown experienced about ten days ago.” This morning’s Civil Defense observations confirm what Kalber saw last night.

PRIMARY SOURCES

This morning’s assessment shows lava flow activity continues along the edges of the leading surface lava flow. Activity is primarily along the north side of the flow. The flow front has not advanced since yesterday however; the small breakout flow upslope from the leading edge along the north flank remains active and has advanced approximately 100 yards in a north direction. The breakout flow remains further upslope and to the north and does not pose an immediate threat to area communities.

No evacuation is needed at this time and area residents will be given adequate notice to safely evacuate should that be necessary.

Smoke conditions were light to moderate with light trade winds out of the northeast. There is no fire threat at this time.

HELCO crews are continuing with work in the Government Beach road area. This will result in the road being blocked and the access will be limited to beach road residents only to minimize disruption and delays to the operations.

The public is reminded that the flow is not visible and cannot be accessed from any public areas. Access to the Kaohe Homesteads subdivision will remain restricted to area residents only.Hawaii County Civil Defense on Sept. 29

A Civil Defense overflight on Monday morning found that the leading edge of the June 27th lava flow had not advanced in the past 24 hours, although it was active along its northern margin. The flow lobe upslope and north of the leading edge advanced by 90 m (100 yards) since it was observed on Sunday morning. HVO plans to conduct an overflight of the entire June 27th lava flow field later on Monday.

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Observations: There was no net change in ground tilt at Puʻu ʻŌʻō over the past day. Glow was visible overnight above several outgassing openings in the crater floor. The most recent sulfur-dioxide emission-rate measurement for the East Rift Zone was 550 tonnes per day (from all sources) on September 25, 2014. Seismic tremor is low and constant.

Summit Observations: A small amount of inflationary tilt was tracked by a slight increase in lava level at the summit over the past 24 hours. A few earthquakes occurred beneath Kīlauea’s south flank, and seismic tremor at the summit varied with changes in spattering on the surface of the lava lake but overall remained low. GPS receivers spanning the summit caldera recorded about 5 cm (2 in) of extension between early May and early July. Since then, little significant extension or contraction has occurred. During the week ending on September 23, 2014, the elevated summit sulfur-dioxide emission rate was measured at 4,400–6,300 tonnes/day (see caveat below), and a small amount of particulate material was carried aloft by the plume.USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Sept. 29

Photo over the June 27 Lava Flow taken by Mick Kalber (Tropical Visions Video) aboard Paradise Helicopters, taken on the evening of Sept. 28

Photo over the June 27 Lava Flow taken by Mick Kalber (Tropical Visions Video) aboard Paradise Helicopters, taken on the evening of Sept. 28

USGS HVO map shows the distal part of the June 27th flow in relation to nearby Puna communities. The black dots mark the flow front on specific dates. The most vigorous breakouts were on top of a pad of lava within the crack system about 5 km (3 miles) back from the stalled front, and midway along the length of the flow just upslope from where lava first entered the crack system.