(ABOVE PHOTO) One of the floats in this weekend’s Pahoa Holiday Parade, which was held Saturday despite the threat of lava upslope. Still image from video by Baron Sekiya of Hawaii247.com.

NEWS BRIEFS

• The lava flow remains active and is starting to move forward again after a few days of little to no movement. The flow front has advanced approximately 250 yards in the last 24 hours, and is now 2.3 miles upslope of the Highway 130 and Pahoa Village Road intersection.
• During a media conference call on Monday, Civil Defense administrator Darryl Oliveira reported that the lava has entered the flat topographical corridor in which numerous lines of steepest descent converge. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said it was still too early to say which line the flow might follow as it continues to advance. Until the flow passes this area, scientists say the future flow path is uncertain.

INSIGHTS

This morning’s recorded civil defense message:

PRIMARY SOURCES

This morning’s assessment shows that the flow front remains active and has advanced approximately 250 yards in the last 24 hours. The active flow front is approximately 2.3 miles upslope of the Highway 130 and Pahoa Village Road intersection. Current activity does not pose an immediate threat to area communities and Civil Defense and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory personnel are maintaining close observations of flow activity. Residents down slope will be kept informed of any changes in flow activity, advancement, and status.

Smoke conditions were moderate this morning in the immediate area with a light south east wind blowing the smoke in a north northwest direction. Smoke conditions may increase in some areas and residents that may be sensitive or have respiratory problems are advised to take precautions and to remain indoors.

The Pahoa Village Road remains open to all traffic and motorists are advised to exercise caution as some utility pole protection material remains in place. Everyone is asked to please respect the residents of the area who were affected by the lava flow and to not trespass on private property.

Once again we would like to thank everyone for your patience and understanding and your cooperation and assistance is greatly appreciated. Hawaii County Civil Defense on Dec. 8 at 9 a.m. HST

The flow front has also entered a burn scar which has significantly reduced the amount of smoke seen from the flow front in our webcams.

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Observations: There was weak deflation at Puʻu ʻŌʻō over the past 24 hours. All other monitoring data indicate no significant changes at Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Seismic tremor is low and steady, and webcams revealed no strong variations in the pattern of glow from degassing vents or the configuration of the crater floor. GPS-measured deformation across the cone has shown neither extension nor contraction since July. The most recent measurement of sulfur dioxide emissions from the East Rift Zone was about 250 tonnes per day on November 26, 2014.

Summit Observations: There was no significant ground tilt at the summit since midday yesterday. The summit lava lake showed the usual fluctuations associated with changes in spattering behavior, which are also manifested as variations in tremor amplitudes. Small amounts of particulate material were carried aloft by the plume. The average emission rate of sulfur dioxide was 4,300 tonnes/day for the week ending on December 2 (see caveat below).USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Dec. 8 at 9:54 a.m. HST