Volcanic Plumes and Ash Clouds

The La Palma volcano hasn’t changed much since I last wrote about it. It continues to belch out lava and volcanic ash. From up close it looks no different from a week ago. However, from a distance, we see that the tall plume and ash cloud are back.

The above picture was taken this morning. The contrast with the picture below, taken a week ago, is significant. Keeping in mind that the activity of the volcano as seen up close was no different then than it is today, there appears to be a message hidden in the height of the volcano’s plume and ash cloud.

Last time this happened, the volcano became noticeably more active over the following weeks. If we get a repeat of this we have a pattern that might be useful in predicting the trajectory of volcanic eruptions.