[Geysers] Geyser Report June 1 & 2

[Lynn Stephens]

THIS MESSAGE IS FOR THE PERSONAL USE OF THE READERS OF THIS LISTSERV AND MAY ONLY BE REPRODUCED FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE AFTER OBTAINING WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR.  (Steve E.--you can use things for the geyser activity column.)
 
On Monday, June 1 I obtained two closed itnervals for Till, one of 11h05m, and one of 10h26m.  The nine intervals I've recorded average 10h51m.  I didn't see either major today so don't know when I'll collect addtiional data.
 
I planned to observe some Flood intervals the afternoon of June 1, but as Scott Bryan and Barbara Lassiter have reported, the pullout is blocked with orange barrels.  There aren't any supplies there and the pavement is good so none of us can figure out why they've blocked off the pull-out.
 
On Firehole Lake Drive Lemon Spring was about 18" below overflow and slightly murky on June 1, only the second time I've seen it below overflow since the road opened on May 22.
 
Great Fountain--continues to have "short" overflows compared to what I have experienced in recent years (excluding 2014 when I wasn't able to spend much time in the park so can't really say anything about 2014).  All overflows I've observed have been 75 to 80 minutes.
 
I haven't entered June 2 data for Gemini into my spreadsheet yet.  Through June 1 I had data for 17 series and hoped to get three more today for a sample size of 20.  But a long interval this (June 2) morning/afternoon between series--6h51m--meant I only collected data for two complete series today.  Visitor comment this morning while Dave DeWitt and I were watching an eruption of Gemini:  "You forgot to bring the hot dogs."  Yesterday while I was watching Gemini/Pebble, I was catching up on some correspondence.  A vistor asked, "Are you signing authographs for the bears?"
   Through June 1 the mean interval from start to start of a series was 4h10m (sample size of 11).  Mean and median number of eruptions per series was 5.  "Average" length of a series (start of the initial to end of last eruption) was 34 minutes, although it varied from a minimum of 22 minutes to a maximum of 52 minutes.
 
This afternoon while Gemini was in a series, I overheard a tour guide tell some visitors that his group had told him White Dome erupts fairly regularly.  So I crunched some numbers for White Dome intervals I have recorded since the road opened.  I have 88 closed intervals plus one interval that I know was at least 2h55m (not included in calculation of mean and median).  Closed intervals--88 count, minimum 10 minutes, maximum 1h48m, median 31 minutes, mean 34 minutes.  Almost 50% of the intervals are less than or equal to 30 minutes; 75% of the intervals are less than or equal to 40 minutes.  So, although I tell people most of the intervals are less than 40 minutes, they can be as short as 10 minutes and as long as 3 hours.  Durations have all been just under two minutes.
 
Rejuventated--Almost all intervals I've recorded have been less than 30 minutes.  Again, I don't have all the data entered into my spreadsheet yet, but it appears intervals have shortened slightly the past few days.
 
There's a pair of sandhill cranes that is spending a lot of time in the Tangled Creek area near the Grand Loop Road.  The other day I saw a pair of mountain bluebirds sitting on a sign near Flood.  The males are obvious as they flit around the snags on Firehole Lake Drive.  There are also several killdeer in the meadows and trees on Firehole Lake Drive.
 
I missed the white wolf that KC and Julie Thomson saw near Nez Perce Creek the other morning.  I've only seen one coyote as it quickly dashed across the road.
 
Yesterday while I was sitting at Gemini a woman asked why all the bison were in the meadow near Madison Junction.  All I could think of to tell her was that the grass was fresh there and the weather hadn't turned hot enough to chase them up into the higher country yet.  I am rather tired of cars and tour buses stopping to take pictures of every lone bull bison on the road between the Lower Basin and 7 Mile Bridge.  
 
Lynn Stephens
 
 
 		 	   		  
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