December 2005

30/31 Dec - The Volcanocam server is to be replaced after the 1st January, pending an improvement in the weather. According to the USDA Forest Service, We will be replacing the VolcanoCam web server after the first of the year up at the Johnston Ridge Observatory (JRO). While the VolcanoCam continues to function with no problems, images generated by the camera are not being transmitted to the Forest Service web site by the server. Please bear with us as we await favorable weather. I want to wish everyone a very happy and safe New Year!

25/26 Dec - The communication glitch continues, although half a dozen images were transmitted to the server during the early morning of the 25th - unfortunately there was no sign of the crater or the glow from the lavadome. The was a large tremor last night at 19:48, and a smaller tremor at 06:56 that was noticeable above the background of "drumbeat" tremors that continue on a regular basis. The USGS is reporting that there have been no visual observations of the crater since the 18th December, due to the bad weather.

25 Dec - Merry Christmas! to all...

22/23 Dec - An apparently quiet night on the mountain. No large tremors and still no images...

21/22 Dec - The drumbeat tremors continue at a regular pace every couple of minutes, and there was one larger tremor at 05:57 this morning. There's still no news about the repair of the Volcanocam - it's looking unlikely that it will be fixed before Xmas :-(

20/21 Dec - The snow/rain/freezing rain continues at Mount St Helens, so it seems unlikely that the Volcanocam will be accessible in the short term to fix the problem causing the communications glitch stopping transmission of images to the server. Last night there was another small tremor at 22:05, with the continued pattern of small drumbeat tremors every one or two minutes.

16/17 Dec - The communications glitch is still causing problems and no images from last night have been transmitted to the US Forest Service server. The latest update states that, While the VolcanoCam continues to function with no problems, images generated by it are not being transmitted to the Forest Service web site. Correcting the problem may require another visit to Johnston Ridge. Please bear with us as we attempt to locate the problem and correct it. In the meantime, the USGS have posted a new sequence of images showing the growth of the lavadome that are worth checking out...

15/16 Dec - The communication problems continue, with the Volcanocam website only showing an image of the mountain from 09:31 yesterday morning. Last night was the full moon, the so-called Full Long Nights Moon - and the moon would have illuminated the mountain for the entire night. Hopefully, the problem will be rectified and we will get a view tonight and over the weekend... On Wednesday the USGS reported that, the volume of the dome measured on October 24, 2005, was 70 million cubic meters—about 90% of the volume of the 1980-to-1986 dome.

14/15 Dec - It appears that the transmission problem that sometimes cuts off the Volcanocam from the server has returned - there are no images available from last night :-(

Night of 13/14 December - A glorious night on Mount St Helens. The moon illuminated the mountain and multiple glows flickered away throughout the night. Unfortunately the transmission of images stopped just after 05:00 this morning. Hopefully, this isn't more than a temporary communications glitch. The animation below shows enhanced images of the full view of the crater from sunset until 05:11 this morning - at the approximate brightness as seen in the Volcanocam images.
Flash movie - just the images of the glow  (size 998 kB)

Night of 12/13 December - Clouds obscured the crater until about 05:00 this morning, then the glow was visible briefly. There appears to have been a small rockfall and small plume released at sunrise. The animation below shows enhanced images of the full view of the crater from when the clouds parted until the ash-fall at sunrise.
Flash movie - just the images of the glow  (size 658 kB)

Night of 11/12 December - The glow was visible throughout the night as near-to-full moon illuminated the mountain. Below are two animations combining the images from last night -  the first shows the glow at the approximate brightness as recorded on the Volcanocam images, the second was further enhanced to emphasise the brightness of the glow.
Flash movie - just the images of the glow  (size 631 kB)
Flash movie - slightly enhanced images of the glow, superimposed on a background image of the mountain (only the area around the crater animated) (size 400 kB)

Night of 10/11 December - The glows from the lavadome were visible throughout the night. It is possible to discern several different sources within the crater and there appeared to be a small rockslide at 04:21 this morning. Below are two animations combining the images from last night -  the first shows the glow at the approximate brightness as recorded on the Volcanocam images, the second was further enhanced to emphasise the brightness of the glow.
Flash movie - just the images of the glow  (size 464 kB)
Flash movie - slightly enhanced images of the glow, superimposed on a background image of the mountain (only the area around the crater animated) (size 383 kB)

Night of 09/10 December - The Volcanocam is working and sending back the sharpest night time images we have seen for quite a while. It is now possible to distinguish the individual glows emanating from the different areas within the crater. Below are two animations combining the images from last night -  the first shows the glow at the approximate brightness as recorded on the Volcanocam images, the second was further enhanced to emphasise the brightness of the glow.
Flash movie - just the images of the glow  (only the area around the crater animated) (size 219 kB)
Flash movie - slightly enhanced images of the glow, superimposed on a background image of the mountain (only the area around the crater animated) (size 285 kB)

Night of 06/07 December - The glow was faintly visible for the entire night, but did show some variation in brightness. The low level of the brightness of the glow on the images may be due to the actual brightness of the emitted near IR from the lavadome, but the problem is exacerbated by the focus issue with the Volcanocam diffusing the image over a larger area. Today there is only one animation showing the strongly enhanced images stacked against an image of the mountain. The "glow only" images do not show any further details and just a lot of distracting noise.  The images were not processed to compensate for the focus problem with the Volcanocam.
Flash movie - enhanced images of the glow, superimposed on a background image of the mountain (only the area around the crater animated) (size 310 kB)

Night of 05/06 December - The glow was visible from just before 22:00 until sunrise this morning. Once again it was quite faint and only really noticeable in the strongly enhanced images. Below are two animations combining the images from last night - the first shows the glow at the approximate brightness as recorded on the Volcanocam images, the second was further enhanced to emphasise the brightness of the glow.  Neither of these animations has been processed to compensate for the focus problem with the Volcanocam.
Flash movie - showing enhanced images of the glow   (only the area around the crater animated) (size 310 kB)
Flash movie - enhanced images of the glow, superimposed on a background image of the mountain (only the area around the crater animated) (size 193 kB)

Night of 03/04 December - The crater was obscured by clouds for most of the night, but the glow appeared after 02:00 this morning. Unfortunately it was very faint and there's not much detail to be seen. Below are two animations combining the images from last night - the first shows the glow at the approximate brightness as recorded on the Volcanocam images, the second was further enhanced to emphasise the brightness of the glow.  Neither of these animations has been processed to compensate for the focus problem with the Volcanocam.
Flash movie - showing enhanced images of the glow   (only the area around the crater animated) (size 176 kB)
Flash movie - enhanced images of the glow, superimposed on a background image of the mountain (only the area around the crater animated) (size 130 kB)

Night of 30/01 December - The evening began with a bright outburst at 17:25 and the glow was quite bright for some time. This was followed by another smaller outburst at 22:35. The glow had faded from view by around 02:00 this morning. Below are two animations combining the images from last night - the first shows the glow at the approximate brightness as recorded on the Volcanocam images, the second was further enhanced to emphasise the brightness of the glow.  Neither of these animations has been processed to compensate for the focus problem with the Volcanocam.
Flash movie - showing images of the glow   (only the area around the crater animated) (size 153 kB)
Flash movie - enhanced images of the glow, superimposed on a background image of the mountain (only the area around the crater animated) (size 266 kB)