Onset of next Kīlauea episode is forecast between March 30 and April 8

The Halemaʻumaʻu eruption of Kīlauea is paused. The summit is currently deflating, but tremor continues. Preliminary models suggest the forecast window for the onset of episode 44 lava fountaining is March 30 to April 8.

No significant activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.

High winds and heavy rains (up to 20 inches) are impacting the USGS monitoring network and can cause aberrant signals.

• A summary of episode 43 can be found in this Status Report. 
• Significant changes in activity between Daily Updates are posted here: https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/observatory-messages

Webcams overnight had zero visibility and vent glow could not be determined. At this time, both vents are quiet and emitting plumes of gas when visible through the rain and clouds. Abundant steam is rising from the hot lava flows within Halemaʻumaʻu crater.

Seismic tremor continues with bursts of tremor every 10-20 minutes. There were no recorded earthquakes located across the summit region during the past day. 

The UWD tiltmeter began recording deflation just after noon yesterday. This morning UWD shows 9.5 microradians of inflation since the end of episode 43, a loss of 1.5 microradians in the past 24 hours, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

During eruptive pauses, like the current conditions, the SO2 emission rate from the summit has varied within a typical range of 1,000 to 5,000 tonnes of SO2 per day. The National Weather Service forecast for the Kīlauea summit region for today indicates winds from the southwest winds ranging from 23 to 29 mph with gusts up to 41 mph along with heavy rain over the next several days.