Kīlauea glows as lava keeps churning at the summit

South winds on December 17 blow the gas plume from the Halema‘uma‘u Overlook vent across Kīlauea's caldera toward Volcano Village. The vent continues to release between 700 and 1,000 tonnes of sulfur dioxide gas each day as the height of the lava column in the vent remains more than 200 m (660 ft.) below the floor of Halema‘uma‘u Crater and 290 m (950 ft.) below the crater rim. When making observations this week from the crater rim above the vent, scientists could not see the lava directly during daylight because of the thick plume, but they often heard loud sounds associated with a vigorously sloshing and spattering lava surface. This activity is typical of the vent since it became active in March 2008. A webcam located directly above the vent on the crater rim captures much of the activity, especially during nighttime, when the plume is not too thick. Images are uploaded at least every 5 minutes during the day and 2 minutes during the night to the following Web page: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/captures/kilauea/hmcam.jpg