Kilauea Eruption 12/23/24

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

2025 Puna, Hawaii "Darwin Award" goes to:

All it would take is for the wind to shift 30 seconds in their direction and they’d be steamed. 

A close runner up was the guy arrested recently who broke into and robbed multiple homes in East Hawaii while they were being fumigated for termites.  His mug shot looked exactly like a guy breathing deadly fumes.

https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/update-paho...residence/

There was also a termite fumigation robbery early in December that mentioned the thieves cut the fumigation tent, broke into the house and stole rifles.  From reading the news, there seems to be many more instances on Hawaii Island of criminals stealing guns and possessing firearms that they didn’t have before, than of homeowners protecting themselves with guns.

https://www.hawaiipolice.gov/police-inve...residence/

[Obie]

There are many neighborhoods where it would be wise to camp out in a tent in your driveway when you have a house tented.

At least remove guns and valuables .

Last time I had a house done I stayed with a neighbor directly across the street so I could keep an eye on my house.

[Durian Fiend]

And the 2025 Puna, Hawaii "Darwin Award" goes to:

"Kīlauea eruption shows 2 men walking through volcano’s restricted area"

https://bigislandnow.com/2025/12/25/live...cted-area/

One viewer assumed the men were tourists. More likely they were residents.

I feel for the poor, beleaguered park staff.  They have been overwhelmed lately.  We were up there yesterday and it was crazy busy.  I prefer to go real early AM but that's a hard sell with my wife.

[leilanidude]

More likely they were residents
---------
Agreed. Several youtube "content creators" routinely showing themselves in what appears to be restricted areas, filming.

[MyManao]

All it would take is for the wind to shift 30 seconds in their direction and they’d be steamed..

David Johnston at Coldwater II, 1900 hours, May 17, 1980. Dave did not survive the next day's eruption. Coldwater II was re-named "Johnston Ridge" in honor of Dave.

Yep, it’s fascinating, and that whole moth to a flame thing, captures the masses mind.. is just so much internet fodder. Wannabe’s YouTube channels omgoodness run for your lives, or at least like and follow me, the sky is falling. Yep these folks in their made for social media moments don't really need an in-depth understanding to draw conclusions.. sound bites are preferable. And OMG those fools walked in front of a camera! If anything that got Barney’s blood boiling.. tail awaggin’. 

When I began working out at the eruption site I asked, well, how close is too close? And the answer was a clear and unequivocal, you’ll know it when you see it.. well, feel it to be more precise. That stuff is hot.. so hot that it’s forbiddingly hot a long way from it. And yet there are times/conditions, and the lure of data. The temperature, gas content, of the melt at the moment it erupts into the atmosphere has a big draw. We’ve been collecting that kine stuff since Jaggar first set up shop hereabouts. And still 2,000 degrees is way frickin' hot! We instinctively move the other way as soon as it even begins to get warm.

So chalk it up to telling, saying anything about it to a social media ai kine driven hyper like me follow me crowd when in fact folks have been doing like that for all kine reasons from the get go.

And, ya know, not too many folks have gotten dead for it. Literally, all things considered, by the numbers we’re batting pretty damn good. Better than crossing a street, or driving a fracking Tesla .

Of course there was those folks who got flashed with steam down at the coast when it was flowing from Puu Oo into the sea. And one or two folks went poof in delta collapses. We had a vid of one guy being thrown into the air and as far as anyone could tell he was vaporized. In the following frames he never fell back down. It was a zoomed in, analog, night time, shot of the guy walking on a clearly restricted area when the ground he was walking on collapsed and in an instant turned into a boiling cauldron of molten lava as the ocean rushed in.

But of the ‘famous’ there just ain't all that many. Of course, Harry Glicken and his research adviser and mentor David A. Johnston’s story of their little dance over who got the night shift out at Mt St. Helens, as told in chapter one, The Legacy of David A. Johnston, and concludes with chapter two, Harry Glicken’s wikipedia page which covers his, and Maurice and Katia’s last moments as they were buried by an incandescent lahar.

But otherwise? Viewing, even by stupid tourons that haven’t a clue, has been a pretty safe sport hereabouts over the eons. In other words, moths may be attracted to flames, but humans don’t like excessive heat..


Observing the fountains at Puu Oo..

[HiloJulie]

(This post is meant to be sarcastic, yet humorous, please accept it as only that)

And OMG those fools walked in front of a camera! If anything that got Barney’s blood boiling.. tail awaggin’.

Barney's blood no longer boils since we put him on a well needed Thorazine drip, but he is a big tail "awaggin" fan of those who compete for the Darwin Award here in Puna and even here in all of Hawaii in many ways, such as being potentially vaporized by the good Madame by going into restricted areas, regardless of their social media status. And while Barney agrees that its one thing for trained volcanologists to gather data and record information during a good lava show, it's a whole different ball game when it's some local moke or a tourist schmuck.

He's even gone so far now as to start his own book making webpage and is currently taking bets on the number of illegal fireworks fatalities there will be in Hawaii this New Years Eve.

A "dime" minimum bet, but the odds are still fluctuating quite a bit.

At any event, when the lava is flowing - its a beautiful show. Go see it. But please be safe. And maybe skip the illegal fireworks too. Last thing we need is Barney getting independently wealthy off an illegal bookmaking scheme.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Today’s report says next eruption is imminent. There were two incidents of lava spattering last night.

“Forecasting models suggest the window for lava fountaining episode 40 is between January 10 and 14.”

[HiloJulie]

As Kilauea puts on yet another beautiful show today, the first 2 contestants for the 2026 Puna Darwin Awards take stage front and center:

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Episode 41 just started.  Saturn 5 moon launch size fountains.  Fountains are visible from Volcano Golf Course, even lower areas which is highly unusual.  I heard the Village is “getting pounded.” Reports of volcanic rocks (tephra) falling on roofs in Mauna Loa Estates (across from Volcano Village).  Check the wind direction before you go.

From National Weather Service (NWS) (USA)
...PERIODS OF ASHFALL LIKELY FROM KILAUEA VOLCANO...
Episode 41 of lava fountaining in Halema'uma'u began at the summit of Kilauea at 11:10 am HST today. Web cams and radar data indicate that occasional small
bursts of volcanic ash continue to emanate from Halemaumau Crater. Low level winds are variable today, while the upper level winds are out of the west.
Ash fallout will be possible across southeast Big Island.
As the plume gets higher in elevation, any ashfall will likely drift towards the east.
Avoid excessive exposure to ash which is an eye and respiratory irritant. Those with respiratory sensitivities should take extra precaution to minimize exposure.
Hawaiian Beaches
Ainaloa
Pahoa
Big Island Interior-Big Island South-Big Island
Southeast-Big Island East

[Kiana]

Small pieces of ash tephra and Pele's hair in mid-HPP right now, 2:30 pm Saturday 1/24. Was swimming laps in Pahoa pool at 1:30 pm and they had to close the pool. Our car was covered in it. Pahoa town getting it more thickly than here in HPP. The plume is huge and dark in the southwest sky. Disconnect your catchment in flow if needed.