[Geysers] Geyser Report 11/2 -- GIANT (Stephens)

[lynn stephens]

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17:12 MST 11/2/05 

The big news of today is that Giant erupted this afternoon in a miserably cold freezing rain storm.

The rain started here about 13:15.  (The hills had been fuzzy for awhile before that.)  After Castle started at 13:34, I stayed there until 13:45 to make certain it was a major.  I was at Lower Ham's Parking Lot at 14:15, then left to move my bicycle over to the government area since the West Yellowstone radio station is predicting snow accumulations of 8-12 inches of heavy wet snow tonight.  Giant was ie at 14:44 and I could see water over the trees near Castle as I returned on my way to the Ranger Station to work in the office.  Last water was at 16:13 so I estimate the start time at about 14:30, for an interval of about 24 days 9 hours.

Giant erupted on a recovery hot period.  Grotto marathoned yesterday and had turned off probably not long before 7:45.  Spa was stll bursting at 7:52ie.  Marathon Pool was down about two feet (almost as low as I have ever seen it) and bubbling, and Variable Spring was down about 10-12" this morning at 8:00.  Steve Eide reported Variable Spring was still not full at 12:00.

Steve was at Giant for about an hour after he watched Riverside at 12:24 (the only report of Riverside in the last two days).  Steve noted that "Solstice" was intermittently active--turning on then turning off for a few seconds, then on, then off.  It was still doing that during Giant's eruption.

Oblong erupted at 12:42 and 15:57 today.

Daisy eruptions were at 09:15, 12:16, and 16:04.

Artemisia was 11:40ie.  Fan & Mortar marker was still in place at 07:55 and there is no evidence that Link has had any major activity.

Grand's daylight eruptions was at 12:11, T2Q, duration 11m21s.  (West Triplet was at 11:49 and Rift was at 12:31.)  Bill Warnock and I were the only people there for the entire eruption of Grand.  Two visitors came partway through, took their pictures, and left before the first burst ended.  (And the sky hadn't even started dripping yet.)

Geyser Hill:

The only eruptions of Plume noted today were 8:28 (reported by Matt Johnson), and eruptions at 10:24 and 12:51 seen by both myself and VC staff.  The only eruptions of "Improbable" Geyser seen today were frequent minor eruptions, although I saw one minor that reached 5-6 feet.

Beehive erupted at 08:13, Indicator at 08:11ie just as I was getting back from checking Grotto and friends.

Depression was at 12:56.

The VC (sorry, but I forgot to record which naturalist called it) reported Plate at 12:04ie.

Lion had a series of three major eruptions--initial at 09:54, 11:20 and 12:35.

The only eruption of Little Cub included in the logbook today was one I reported 10:27ns with a duration approximately 5 minutes.

Aurum erupted at 12:47 and 16:43.

>From the Lower Basin--Bill Warnock reported Fountain at 10:47ie.  Steve Eide and I watched Great Fountain at 09:17 (p = 8), a double interval of 26 hours 05 mintues.

Weather--The weather was not bad until about 13:30 when the freezing rain started.  It's still raining here but the hills above us are white already.  Park Service forecast is for 2 inches of snow accumulating tonight.  The West Yellowstone radio station is predicting 8 to 12 inches of heavy wet snow accumulating tonight.  I sure hope NPS is right!

Lynn Stephens 
 
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