Wednesday, May 1, 2019, 5:26 PM MDT (Wednesday, May 1, 2019, 23:26 UTC)
YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO (VNUM #325010)
44°25'48" N 110°40'12" W, Summit Elevation 9203 ft (2805 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: NORMAL
Current Aviation Color Code: GREEN
Recent work and news
There were two water eruptions of Steamboat geyser in April 2019, on April 8 and 25 -- the latter just in time for the opening of the region to visitors! Speaking of visitors, if you will be in the Yellowstone area in May, we invite you to join us for a pair of public lectures. The first will be on May 16 at 6:30 PM local time at the community center in Gardiner, Montana. The second will take place on May 22 at 6:30 PM local time at the Holiday Inn conference room in West Yellowstone, Montana. Each event will feature presentations by YVO scientists about Yellowstone hazards, monitoring, recent activity, and scientific results. There will be plenty of time for questions as well as one-on-one interactions. The month of May also marks the start of field season, so keep your eyes open for YVO scientists in the Park this month. They will be conducting maintenance on monitoring stations, deploying new equipment, and conducting geologic mapping and water studies.
Seismicity
During April 2019, the University of Utah Seismograph Stations, responsible for the operation and analysis of the Yellowstone Seismic Network, located 57 earthquakes in the Yellowstone National Park region. The largest event was a microearthquake of magnitude 2.6 located 8.5 miles south-southwest of West Thumb, WY, on April 28 at 11:18 PM MDT. The earthquake was not reported felt.
Yellowstone earthquake activity remains at background levels.
Ground deformation
There were no major changes in surface deformation in the Yellowstone area as recorded by GPS stations. Ground subsidence of Yellowstone caldera continues, as it has since 2015, at a rate of a few millimeters per month. In the area of Norris Geyser Basin, GPS data suggest the possibility of slight subsidence over the past 1-2 months, following ~5 months of no deformation. At this point, it is not clear if this marks a subtle transition to subsidence at Norris, or if the recent change is only temporary.
An example of GPS data can be found at http://www.unavco.org/instrumentation/networks/status/pbo/data/NRWY (click on Static Plots / Cleaned)
The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) provides long-term monitoring of volcanic and earthquake activity in the Yellowstone National Park region. Yellowstone is the site of the largest and most diverse collection of natural thermal features in the world and the first National Park. YVO is one of the five USGS Volcano Observatories that monitor volcanoes within the United States for science and public safety.
YVO Member agencies: USGS, Yellowstone National Park, University of Utah, University of Wyoming, UNAVCO, Inc., Wyoming State Geological Survey, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Idaho Geological Survey
CONTACT INFORMATION
Michael Poland, Scientist-in-Charge
mpoland@usgs.gov