[Geysers] September 28 Geyser Report

[Lynn Stephens]

Selected items from the OFVC logbook

 

Aurum 0900, 1431

Bead 1301, 1322, 1346, break 1455, 1517, 1539, 1559, 1622, 1643, 1706

Beehive 1622

Beehive's Indicator 1619

Box Spring 1307, 1331, break 1501, 1636, 1659

Castle 0107E major, 1421ie major

Daisy 0015E, 0237E, 0500E, 0721E, 0930ie, 1150vr

Fountain 0915ie, 1518 (d=31)

Grand 0134E, 0917ie, 1745ns

Great Fountain 0412 p = 8, 1413 oflw = 84, p = 6

Labial 1717

Lion 1000, 1131ie, 1237vr, 1314

Little Brother active 1736

Little Squirt 0800ie

Oblong 0958ie

Pink Cone 1529 d = 110 min

Plate 0926ie

Plume 0748, 0940

Rift 0902

Uncertain 1536ie

West Triplet 0905ie

White Dome 1438

 

Note the Bead intervals--Eight of them varying from a minimum of 20 minutes to a maximum of 24 minutes with a mean and median of 22 minutes.

 

Another sign of fall--I turned in my Park Park service radio today so won't be calling in the +/- 15-minute prediction while I'm still here for the next two weeks.  I put up the half-hour prediction on the board, then erase it once I leave.  Again today, there were people sitting out on the boardwalk waiting for an eruption when I arrived back about 1845.  I was hoping to photograph a sunset (which didn't materialize).  I made the PSA, saying, "this is a lovely place to watch the sunset, but the next eruption won't happen until about midnight."   (Great Fountain had a really weak eruption, so I'm expecting a short interval.)  The two dozen or so people waiting on the boardwalk quickly exited, with one of them asking in a joking tone, "Where were you two hours ago?"  Well, I was watching rainbows in Pink Cone's eruption.  (Best experience of the day--watching changeling rainbows for 110 minutes during Pink Cone's eruption.  Depending on the wind direction, some of the rainbows were in the curtain to the left of the cone, some straight above the cone in the water column, and some in the curtain to the right of the cone.)

 

The Upper Basin was filled with smoke early this morning.  At first I thought it might be haze from geyser fog, but, as Maureen said, "Geyser fog doesn't smell like that!"  The heavy smoke cleared sometime in mid-morning.  The fire kept the road from Bridge Bay to West Thumb closed again today.  This evening as I was leaving the Ranger Station, a young, international couple, asked if they could ask me a question, then asked where they could hike to see wildlife.  They had asked at the Visitor Center, and their understanding of the response they received was that they should check at the Ranger Station.  But the ranger station was closed.  I told them about the Madison River elk herd, the Fountain Flats bison herd, but then didn't have anything on moose or bear sightings in the areas they could get to since it's impossible to get to the north and east sides of the park without going a LONG, LONG way around.

 

The sandhill cranes have apparently migrated out and I haven't seen an osprey for several days now.  On the other hand, various hawks are migrating through the park.  Yesterday I saw three sitting on snags between Biscuit Basin and Midway and watched another one circling above the Pink Cone Group.

 

While we were watching Great Fountain, Maureen pointed out a red helicopter trailing a water bucket flying from east to west on the north end of the Lower Basin.  There are eight "active" fires shown on the Yellowstone Fire Site.  Three of these are in excess of 1 acre:  the Arnica Fire (9,300 acres last report) which is bringing us the smoke, Butte (180 acres, in the northeast corner), and Rainbow (15 acres, no other information.)  All are being monitored; none are being fought at this time although helicopters are being used to "cool portions of the fire perimeter nearest values at risk." 

 

Weather report on NPS website is still saying the storm should move in Tuesday evening, with 70% chance of precipitation Tuesday evening but they've removed the mention of possible snow Tuesday evening.  Wednesday still looks ugly with 90% chance of precipitation, snow accumulation of 2 to 5 inches, winds 15 mph, highs 35 to 41.  Thursday through Saturday the chance of precipitation drops, but highs stay in the mid 30's to mid-40's.  Guess I'd better move the winter gear from the bottom of the pile behind the seats in the pickup to the top of the pile.

 

Lynn Stephens

 

 

 

 

 
 		 	   		  
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