Whats going on at yellowstone?

WOW. The live feed of Old Faithful is showing lots of activity around the area now. Does anyone know if it's usual for so many geysers to be letting out large amounts of steam at once?

Originally posted by dustystrings
Old Faithful is really cookin' this morning.

Been in either eruption or steam phase continually for hours...

If the feature is a heat feature and the weather is cold it is going to steam big time. A few weeks ago I took a really hot shower that steamed up the bathroom. The wife opened up the window to let some of the steam out. The problem is that the outside temperature was in the single digits with a wind chill in the area of -20. The result was a rush of steam into the bathroom. It was as if someone opened the door to a cloud. This happened because the very cold air was introduced to a very warm and humid air mass. Same applies to Old Faithful and the very cold Yellowstone weather.

reply to post by MadDogtheHunter


The commentator on the live web cam really reminds me of the cartoon character in Jurassic park explaining the DNA extraction method...

reply to post by Lebowski achiever


I agree, lol. I muted the cam, it got a little annoying after a few loops. Its interesting and useful information, but they should add more to it.



[edit on 1/3/2009 by MadDogtheHunter]

reply to post by Indy


Its really a great feature to have this live cam. All looks calm, but if i see your avatar running in front of the camera screaming..I think we better hit the deck!

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service

EDIS Number VA-20081229-19822-USA
Event type Volcano Activity
Date / time [UTC] 29/12/2008 - 22:48:18
Country USA Area Yellowstone National Park
County / State States of Montana, Wyoming

Not earthquake?

Originally posted by Palace fan
WOW. The live feed of Old Faithful is showing lots of activity around the area now. Does anyone know if it's usual for so many geysers to be letting out large amounts of steam at once?

Yes, thats normal. And as stated in a post above, with the bitter temperatures, the steam clouds look larger than they would during other seasons, so the geyser events will look more spectacular and more intense in winter.

[edit on 1/3/2009 by MadDogtheHunter]

Well there has not been a quake since yesterday afternoon...looks like Yellowstone has come to a calm at last

reply to post by Brian777


Its early still out there in Yellowstone, the day isn't over yet.

Someone mentioned earlier that some of the steam looks darker..I see that too, I wonder what makes some of it look more like smoke?

reply to post by Yummy Freelunch


Shadow and density of the steam will give it a blend of dark and light grays. Also the varying intensity of the sun shining on the steam adds to the various shades.

Is it just me or is the camera going insane, shaking right now?

Ahh, thanks for the answers, I guess I fell asleep in science class when we studied about that

[edit on 3-1-2009 by Yummy Freelunch]

reply to post by Yummy Freelunch

The darker looking steam is probably caused by shadows due to thick steam being lit by a sun that is low on the horizon.

reply to post by SevenandFive


The seismometers used by GEE are the same as those used by U of U. There is no difference except the display method. They may have a station or two of UU's that UU doesn't put out as helicorder records (but UU still uses those data to record earthquakes).

Chouet works at the USGS where many of the YVO folks work, so you probably won't get a very different story from him than you would from anyone else associated with the response.

Does anyone have any screenshots of Old Faithful from years past when the temperature and lighting conditions were the same? Darker steam or not, I don't know.

Maybe the ice crystals formed by the steam make it seem darker in winter than summer.

Maybe the dark background in the summer makes the steam seem lighter then and the snow on the ground makes it seem darker now.

Originally posted by Brian777
Well there has not been a quake since yesterday afternoon...looks like Yellowstone has come to a calm at last

I've seen three quakes via GEE in the last 20 minutes.

-K

[Edited to remove poorly worded query]

[edit on 1/3/2009 by Knobee]

www.destination360.com...

Looks dark to me.

Originally posted by Yummy Freelunch
Is it just me or is the camera going insane, shaking right now?

From what I can see, I think its the combination of the wind (which you can its effects on the steam) and the person controlling the camera.

reply to post by Yummy Freelunch


I was thinking the same thing. It was shaking quite a bit for a few minutes.
Maybe its from wind?

hi all and happy new year...........


I have been watching the quakes at yellowstone since it first started a week ago, and in the last 24 hours there hasnt been any quakes .....


which raises the question is it over? or is it the calm before the storm?