Officials monitor lava breakouts to the north and south
The leading tip of the June 27th flow has been stalled for several weeks, but scattered breakouts have persisted upslope. OnThursday, one of these breakouts was active south of the stalled tip and about .4 miles northwest of the P?hoa transfer station.
In this thermal image taken Thursday, active breakouts are visible as white and yellow areas. Although active breakouts are absent at the inactive tip of the flow, breakouts are present roughly 550 yards behind the tip, and are also scattered further upslope.
Another view taken Thursday of the leading portion of the lava flow, looking upslope, shows the.Pahoa Marketplace is in the lower right corner of the photograph. Mauna Loa can be seen near the top of the photograph.
While the leading edge of the lava flow above Pahoa remains stalled, breakouts remain active upslope of the front, officials said.
Helicopter overflights of the flow Friday morning and Thursday afternoon showed an active lava lobe on the south margin of the flow, about 0.4 miles northwest of the Pahoa Transfer Station.
Another breakout on the north side of the flow “was showing signs of advancement and will be monitored closely,” Hawaii County Civil Defense said Friday.
The north breakout was about 1 mile upslope from Highway 130 on Thursday.
“Surface breakouts and breakouts along both margins upslope of the flow front continue and provide indication that the tube system continues to be supplied and lava from the source is making its way to the downslope areas,” a Civil Defense update Friday said.
However, “all current activity does not pose an immediate threat to area communities,” the Civil Defense statement said.
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Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists flew over the flow Thursday afternoon and noted scattered small breakouts from 0.3 to 1.7 miles upslope of the stalled flow front.
Other breakouts further upslope, about 2 miles from Puu Oo and west of the Kaohe Homesteads, are also active.
