In case you missed it , volcanic twister are real . At the outset of June , Anthony Quintano for Honolulu Civil Beat captured a photograph of one drift around near thehyperactiveFissure 8 on Kilauea ’s flanks , and we allbasked in its hellish halo .
joy , dear reader , for the superheroes at the United States Geological Survey ( USGS ) have now provided us with some stunningfootageof a new volcanic tornado , this time seem in the well - defined , constantly flowing , lava boat - filledlava channel created by Fissure 8 .
stand up at a good distance , the USGS used a telephotograph lens of the eye to zoom in on the fiery topsy-turvyness . As you’re able to see in the come video , blebs of lava are being entrain and splurge all over the place .
Aesthetically , this is beautiful stuff and nonsense , but it ’s also scientifically challenging too . As we explained back when the first one was photographed , volcanic tornadoes are n’t quite like ceremonious tornadoes .
[ Ed- if the video is n’t showing above you could view ithere ]
Those more conversant meteorologic mischief - makers form when you get a important updraft of tender breeze that dumps out a slew of moisture as it cools . This often top to the development of a thunderstorm , and the spread out nothingness at height have the thunderstorm swarm to go around . Cold air go down , gets focused by the rotation , and boom – you ’ve get yourself a tornado .
Volcanic crack are a little more self-governing than that . The intense warmth on the ground – in this face , created by some of the hot lava on Earth – triggers an updraft . You do n’t need a electrical storm organization here , just converge , rotating air current , and if you ’re prosperous , you get a lava - throwing whirlpool .
“ We see whirlwinds like this quite often in certain conditions , ” Robert Ballard , a science and operations officer at the National Weather Service , told IFLScience . “ Intense wildfires over the western part of the continental US can create very vigorous , violently inflate giant heater plumes with inviolable updrafts and lightning . ”
Air rushes in at the surfaces to put back that that ’s been violently lifted away . This causes it to reel , creating fierce , often short - live fire convolution .
“ We opine something similar is happening here [ at Kilauea ] , although to a somewhat smaller and weakly scurf , ” Ballard add . If you have an upper low pressure level zone in the sky , mess of heat on the ground , you could get that fundamental updraft that gives rise to these beasties . Do they have an official name , though ?
Back in June , we semi - jokingly called the phenomenon a lavanado . Turns out the USGS is erring on the more conservative side of thing , while harboring rebellion in its social status .
“ We had a peck of word about what to call them and the accurate scientific name is ‘ whirlwind ’ , ” Dr Wendy Stovall , a senior volcanologist with the USGS , severalise IFLScience . “ In the plain , geologists were often holler them lavanados . Even though that ’s not proficient , it for certain does seem to fit ! ”
turn out these whirlwinds have been observed repeatedly over the grade of the eruption . They ’re not see above fields of gloopy pahoehoe lava , though , as their crust cools too quickly . The only heat reference substantial enough is that of the fresh lava within the canal .
That ’s not the only eccentric ofvolcanic weatherwe’ve look around Kilauea . That updraft is also make mint of pyrocumulus pyrocumulonimbus clouds too , which as we’vepreviously explainedare essentially lava - sourced electric storm clouds .
And that ’s not all ! “ The billowinglaze plumeat theshorelinehas also sometimes been producing fallible whirls – perhaps a character of weak waterspout – and there have been write up of electrostatic discharges that I ’ve seen described as an extremely unaccented case of lightning , ” Ballard lend .
Some of this laze - engender steam is even facilitate to pump moisture into the sky and stimulate electric storm there more spartan .
Clearly , Kilauea ’s a weather - changing warlock . We , of trend , are still # TeamLavanado .
