<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)"> <style>  </style> </head> <body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=blue> <div class=Section1> I have said this for years on here, but here it is again:   In the winter months steam clouds are exaggerated to what is normally seen in the spring/summer/fall.  Having spent around 20 winters at Old Faithful this looks like any large, cold morning steam cloud you get over Biscuit Basin or Midway Basin.  It isn’t a single geyser erupting-on days when the outside temp gets to zero or lower, Lion Geyser can have a 500 foot steam cloud when it is dead calm-Giant, Grand, and Castle are considerably bigger.  I have been in the LGB when Fountain or Great Fountain erupt just before the sun rises or just after the sun sets, and it goes from clear visibility to thick geyser fog covering an area of 2+ miles, usually socking in the entire LGB.  I’m sure any of the winter guides that are on here have experienced the same phenomenon.   More to the point-after the “mystery steam could” appeared, none of the guides or NPS folks have suddenly found a new geyser, geyser basin, or hydrothermal explosion area.  This is just normal winter steam/inversion clouds that appear over thermal areas.   MK   -----Original Message----- From: geysers-bounces@lists.wallawalla.edu [mailto:geysers-bounces@lists.wallawalla.edu] On Behalf Of Wayne Simister Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 1:09 PM To: Geyser Observation Reports Subject: [Geysers] Satellite Image - mysterious steam of   Here's a satellite image showing a yellow line leading from the Old Faithful web cam to the Midway Geyser basin (Grand Prismatic/Excelsior).  The Midway geyser group would lie approximately behind Old Faithful's steam.  So the large steam cloud which lies to the left of  Old Faithful in the web cam image of Dec. 27th is still a mystery.  <img width=198 height=390 src="cid:image001.jpg@01CA8B8C.8B2ACA00"> Yellow Line is line of sight from Old Faithful to Midway Geyser Basin's Excelsior Geyser Yellow dot is the location of Grotto Geyser.  The magenta dot is Solitary Geyser. Wayne Simister <a href="mailto:wsimister@q.com">wsimister@q.com</a> <img border=0 width=800 height=608 src="cid:image002.jpg@01CA8B8C.8B2ACA00"> ----------------------------------- <div> Anyone have a guess what the big steam cloud is. I don't know how long it had been there but it was gone (covered up by the fog) about 5 minutes later. </div> <u1:p></u1:p> <div>  <u1:p></u1:p> </div> L C Daugherty ------------------------------------ </div> </body> </html> No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.430 / Virus Database: 270.14.121/2589 - Release Date: 12/27/09 09:18:00