#peles hair

Lava fountains reach more than 1,000 feet, volcanic plume soars at least 5,000 feet before most recent phase of eruptive activity — that teased for several days — abruptly ends after just 6 hours and 10 minutes Sunday night.

The fountaining phase of the latest episode began at 3:20 a.m. this morning and lasted for 10 hours and 8 minutes.  

Pele’s hair is the name for the strands of volcanic glass that are created when globs of liquid lava are stretched apart during an eruption.

In addition to a new year and a new eruption, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is ushering in a new era for processing and studying volcanic samples.

Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers on Hawaiʻi Island said the recent eruptions of Kīlauea have caused almost $28 million in damage.

The Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency is asking the public in the volcano eruption zone to be aware of the laze hazard at the lava ocean entry point at Kapoho Bay.

Already reeling from a destructive earthquake and deadly tsunami, Kaʻū residents hoped for a reprieve, but it was slow to come.

Letters of apology to Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, often accompany these rocks.

Drifts of Pele’s hair can survive for years and even decades, but, once the eruption has ended, wind will strip the hair from most surfaces.