o VIDEO: Aerial view of lava flow advancing north

Kilauea’s June 27 lava flow continues to advance toward the eastern boundary of the Wao Kele o Puna Forest Reserve and could reach the government road near the Kaohe Homesteads with the next three weeks, according to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Since mid-August, the flow has been following a pattern of entering and filling surface cracks, traveling underground, then emerging as a surface flow. From Saturday to Monday, the flow advanced northward at a rate of about 1,300 feet per day. As of Monday, the flow was .07 miles from the eastern boundary of the reserve, where the Kaohe subdivision begins.

Overall, the flow has traveled about 8.5 miles from where it originally started on the northeast flank of Puu Oo cone.

According to the observatory, the flow could pass through or near the northern part of the Kaohe Homesteads to the government road in Pahoa within 16 to 18 days if lava is not further confined to cracks and down-dropped blocks within the East Rift Zone of the volcano.

The front of the flow was burning through thick forest as of Monday.