(ABOVE VIDEO) This morning’s Civil Defense message with video courtesy the County of Hawaii (filmed Jan. 7).

NEWS BRIEFS

• The flow front remains stalled half a mile from Highway 130, but there is some surface activity 300 yards upslope of the leading edge.
• The two breakouts have advanced 130 yards since yesterday. The breakouts are 1 to 1.5 miles behind the flow front on the north margin, and are moving in a northeast direction. The rate of advanced increased since the day before when it went 50 yards.
• Changes are in store for the public lava viewing area at the Pahoa Transfer station. First there will be a change in hours of operation: Effective today, the new hours of operation will be from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Come February, the county plans to close the transfer station for repairs in order to return it to service as a full transfer station.

LATEST MAPS

Civil Defense Lava Flow Map – Updated Friday, 1/9/15 at 7:00 am

PRIMARY SOURCES

This morning’s assessment shows that the flow front and south margin breakout remain stalled and there has been no advancement since last Friday. The front or leading edge remains .5 miles upslope of the Highway 130 and Pahoa Village Road intersection. Some surface activity continues approximately 300 yards above or upslope of the flow front. Two breakouts along the north margin approximately 1-1.5 miles upslope or behind the flow front remain active and have advanced approximately 130 yards since yesterday in a northeast direction. Other surface breakouts and activity along both margins continues upslope however, current activity does not pose an immediate threat to area communities. Civil Defense and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory personnel are maintaining close observations of the flow. Residents and businesses down slope will be kept informed of any changes in flow activity, advancement, and status.

Smoke conditions were light to moderate with a light trade wind blowing the smoke in a southwest direction. Smoke conditions may increase in some areas and individuals who may be sensitive or have respiratory problems are advised to take necessary precautions and to remain indoors.

The Railroad Avenue Alternate Access Road has been closed to all traffic effective 12:00 noon this past Wednesday January 7th. This closure is necessary to allow for road maintenance and to preserve the road until such time that it is needed. We appreciate everyone’s cooperation and understanding with this closure and assure the community that the alternate access roads will be opened well in advance of any threat or impact of the lava flow.

The hours of operation at the public lava viewing area at the Pahoa Transfer station will be adjusted effective today, Friday January 9th. The new hours of operation will be from 10:00am to 4:30pm daily. This adjustment is based on the peak hours of visitation. We apologize for any inconvenience this change of operations may cause.

On behalf of the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency and our partners we would like to thank everyone for your assistance and cooperation. Hawaii County Civil Defense on Jan. 9 at 8 a.m. HST

Kīlauea Volcano continues to erupt at its summit and within its East Rift Zone. In the East Rift Zone, the tip of the June 27th lava flow remained stalled; however, active surface breakouts up slope of the front continued. A narrow flow lobe about 2.5 km (1.6 mi) upslope of Pahoa Marketplace continued to advance toward the north-northeast. This morning, Civil Defense reported that this lobe has advanced about 130 m (140 yds) since yesterday. Minor changes in ground tilt were recorded over the past day at the summit and at Puʻu ʻŌʻō.

June 27th Lava Flow Observations: The flow that advanced toward Pahoa Marketplace in past weeks remained stalled approximately 800 m (0.5 miles or 880 yards) from the intersection of Highway 130 and Pāhoa Village Road; however, there were active breakouts about 350 m (380 ys) behind the stalled front. In addition, a 2-fingered narrow flow lobe about 2.5 km (1.6 mi) upslope of Pahoa Marketplace advanced about 130 m (140 yds) toward the north-northeast since yesterday morning according to Hawai`i County Civil Defense. This lobe has entered a drainage area that leads to the steepest-descent path that crosses Highway 130 about 1 km (0.6 mi) south of the Makuʻu Farmer’s Market, but the flow is still 3.3 km (2.1 mi) uplsope from Highway 130 (straight-line distance to intersection of highway 130 and steepest descent line) and moving slowly. Other areas of surface lava were also active 0.9 – 3.5 km (0.5 – 2 mi) upslope of the Pāhoa Marketplace. Breakouts further upslope, near the True/Mid-Pacific geothermal well pad, are also active.

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Observations: Continuing slow deflation was recorded by a tiltmeter on the north flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone since early Wednesday afternoon. All other monitoring data indicated no significant changes at Puʻu ʻŌʻō. The most recent measurement of sulfur dioxide emissions from all East Rift Zone vents was about 250 tonnes per day on December 19, 2014.

Summit Observations: Weak inflationary ground tilt recorded at the summit over the past 2+ days has slowed since noon yesterday. The summit lava lake has shown minor fluctuations associated with changes in spattering behavior, which are also manifested as variations in tremor amplitudes and gas release. The lava level was measured at around 48 m (160 ft) below the lip of the Overlook crater Tuesday morning. Small amounts of particulate material were carried aloft by the plume. The average emission rate of sulfur dioxide was around 5,400 tonnes/day for the week ending on January 6.USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Jan. 9 at 9:04 a.m. HST