Lava from Hawaii Volcano Lights Night Sky amid Warnings 

Spectators watch the lava flow down the mountain from the Mauna Loa eruption, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, near Hilo, Hawaii. (AP)
Spectators watch the lava flow down the mountain from the Mauna Loa eruption, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, near Hilo, Hawaii. (AP)
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Lava from Hawaii Volcano Lights Night Sky amid Warnings 

Spectators watch the lava flow down the mountain from the Mauna Loa eruption, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, near Hilo, Hawaii. (AP)
Spectators watch the lava flow down the mountain from the Mauna Loa eruption, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, near Hilo, Hawaii. (AP)

Waves of orange, glowing lava and ash blasted and billowed from the world’s largest active volcano in its first eruption in 38 years, and officials told people living on Hawaii’s Big Island to be ready in the event of a worst-case scenario. 

The eruption of Mauna Loa wasn’t immediately endangering towns, but the US Geological Survey warned the roughly 200,000 people on the Big Island that an eruption “can be very dynamic, and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly.” 

Officials told residents to be ready to evacuate if lava flows start heading toward populated areas. Monday night, hundreds of people lined a road as lava flowed down the side of Mauna Loa and fountained into the air. 

The eruption migrated northeast throughout Monday and spread out over the side of the volcano, with several distinct streams of lava running down the hillside. 

The eruption began late Sunday night following a series of fairly large earthquakes, said Ken Hon, scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. 

The areas where lava was emerging — the volcano's summit crater and vents along the volcano's northeast flank — are both far from homes and communities. 

Officials urged the public to stay away from them, given the dangers posed by lava, which is shooting 100 to 200 feet (30 to 60 meters) into the air out of three separate fissures roughly estimated to be 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3.2 kilometers) long. 

Volcanic gases wafting out of the vents, primarily sulfur dioxide, are also harmful. 

Air quality on the Big Island more generally is good right now, but officials are monitoring it carefully, said Dr. Libby Char, the director of the state Department of Health. 

Hon said air quality could deteriorate while the eruption lasts, which scientists expect will be about one or two weeks if the volcano follows historical patterns. 

Lifelong Big Island resident Bobby Camara, who lives in Volcano Village, said everyone across the island should keep track of the eruption. He said he’s seen three Mauna Loa eruptions in his lifetime and stressed the need for vigilance. 

“I think everybody should be a little bit concerned,” he said. “We don’t know where the flow is going, we don’t know how long it’s going to last.” 

Gunner Mench, who owns an art gallery in Kamuela, said he awoke shortly after midnight and saw an alert on his phone about the eruption. 

Mench and his wife, Ellie, ventured out to film the eerie red glow cast over the island, watching as lava spilled down the volcano's side. 

“You could see it spurting up into the air, over the edge of this depression,” Mench said. 

“Right now it’s just entertainment, but the concern is” it could reach populated areas, he said. 

Seeing Mauna Loa erupt is a new experience for many residents of the Big Island, where the population has more than doubled from 92,000 in 1980. 

More than a third of the island's residents live either in the city of Kailua-Kona to the west of the volcano, or about 23,000 people, and Hilo to the east, with about 45,000. Officials were most worried about several subdivisions some 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the volcano's south that are home to about 5,000 people. 

A time-lapse video of the eruption from overnight showed lava lighting up one area, moving across it like waves on the ocean. 

The US Geological Survey said the eruption had migrated to a rift zone on the volcano’s northeast flank. Rift zones are where the mountain rock is cracked and relatively weak — making it easier for magma to emerge. 

Lava could move toward the county seat of Hilo, but that could take about a week, Hon said at a news conference. 

Scientists hope the flow will parallel the 1984 eruption, where the lava was more viscous and slowed down. 

Mauna Loa has another rift zone on its southwest flank. Lava could reach nearby communities in hours or days if the volcano erupts from this area. But Hon said historically Mauna Loa has never erupted from both rift zones simultaneously. 

“So we presume at this point that all of the future activity is going to be on the northeast rift zone of Mauna Loa and not on the southeast rift zone,” he said. “So those residents in that area do not have to worry about lava flows.” 

Hawaii County Civil Defense announced it had opened shelters because it had reports of people evacuating from along the coast on their own initiative. 

The USGS warned residents who could be threatened by the lava flows to review their eruption preparations. Scientists had been on alert because of a recent spike in earthquakes at the summit of the volcano, which last erupted in 1984. 

Portions of the Big Island were under an ashfall advisory issued by the National Weather Service in Honolulu. It said up to a quarter-inch (0.6 centimeters) of ash could accumulate in some areas. 

“Volcanic gas and possibly fine ash and Pele’s hair may be carried downwind,” Gov. David Ige said, referring to glass fibers that form when hot lava erupts from a fissure and rapidly cools in the air. The wind stretches the fibers into long strands that look like hair. "So certainly, we would ask those with respiratory sensitivities to take precautions to minimize exposure.” 

Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii, the southernmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago. 

Mauna Loa, rising 13,679 feet (4,169 meters) above sea level, is the much larger neighbor of Kilauea, which erupted in a residential neighborhood and destroyed 700 homes in 2018. Some of Mauna Loa's slopes are much steeper than Kilauea’s, so lava can flow much faster when it erupts. 

During a 1950 eruption, the mountain’s lava traveled 15 miles (24 kilometers) to the ocean in under three hours. 

Mauna Loa’s volume is estimated at least 18,000 cubic miles (75,000 cubic kilometers), making it the world’s largest volcano when measured from the ocean floor its summit. 

Tourism is Hawaii's economic engine but Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth predicted few problems for those vacationing during the eruption. 

“It will be spectacular where it is, but the chances of it really interrupting the visitor industry — very, very slim,” he said. 

Tourism officials said no one should have to change Big Island travel plans. 

For some, the eruption might cut down on some travel time, even if there is more volcanic smog caused by higher sulfur-dioxide emissions. 

“But the good thing is you don’t have to drive from Kona over to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to see an eruption anymore,” Roth said. “You can just look out your window at night and you’ll be able to see Mauna Loa erupting.” 



First Major US Winter Storm of Year Hammers Mid-Atlantic States

 A person walks down a street covered in snow following a winter storm Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP)
A person walks down a street covered in snow following a winter storm Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP)
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First Major US Winter Storm of Year Hammers Mid-Atlantic States

 A person walks down a street covered in snow following a winter storm Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP)
A person walks down a street covered in snow following a winter storm Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP)

The first major winter storm of the new year barreled into the US mid-Atlantic states on Monday, closing down federal offices and public schools in Washington, DC, after dumping a foot of snow in parts of the Ohio Valley and Central Plains.

More than five inches (12.7 cm) had fallen in the country’s capital by midday on Monday, according to the US National Weather Service, with up to 12 inches in some surrounding areas of Maryland and Virginia. The snow was forecast to continue before the system pushes out to sea on Monday evening.

Severe travel disruptions were expected across the storm's path, and officials urged drivers to stay off the roads if possible. Governors in several states, including Kansas, Kentucky, Arkansas, West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland, have declared states of emergency.

In the wake of the storm, dangerously frigid Arctic air was filling the void, bringing freezing rain and icy conditions to a swath of the country stretching from Illinois to the Atlantic coast. The unusually cold temperatures are expected to linger for the rest of the week.

The Central Plains, where the storm dumped heavy snow over the weekend, were already in a deep freeze. Parts of Kansas experienced bitter cold wind chills, with values from 5 to almost 25 degrees Fahrenheit below zero (minus 15 to 32 degrees Celsius) overnight. The cold air will persist, with daytime highs only in the mid teens to lower 20s.

The airport in Kansas City recorded 11 inches (28 cm) of snowfall, the highest for any storm in more than 30 years, the National Weather Service said. The Missouri State Police said it had responded on Sunday to more than 1,000 stranded motorists and 356 crashes, including one fatality.

In Washington, even as the storm struck, Congress met to formally certify Republican Donald Trump's election as president. But federal offices in the nation's capital were closed.

In the city's Meridian Hill Park, hundreds gathered for a massive snowball battle, organized by the so-called Washington DC Snowball Fight Association. The combatants - many wearing ski goggles for protection - fired volleys of frozen projectiles, as one dog tried to catch the ammunition in its mouth.

"I did not come here to make friends!" Jack Pitsor, who lives across the street from the park, shouted with a laugh before launching a snowball toward enemy lines.

School districts in numerous states shut down on Monday due to the storm, including public schools in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Washington and Philadelphia.

The storm also left more than 330,000 homes and businesses in the central and southern US without power on Monday, data from PowerOutage.us showed.

As of 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT), nearly 1,900 flights within, into and out of the United States had been canceled, according to the FlightAware.com tracking service. Amtrak canceled dozens of trains on the busy Northeast Corridor line between Boston and Washington.

The three airports serving the D.C. area - Reagan National, Baltimore/Washington International and Dulles - were all open, with crews working to clear airfields of snow, but were seeing many flights delayed or canceled.

Virginia State Police responded to 300 car crashes between midnight and 11 a.m., while the Maryland State Police received 123 crash reports between 1 a.m. and 11 a.m., spokespeople for the two agencies said.