If Baker erupted today, Bellingham gets ashed.
Posted by: magmatist | December 3, 2013
Modeled ash plume and deposit thickness for December 3, 2013. Ash 3D model, USGS. Bellingham is not labeled, but is within the orange 3 cm area. Click to enlarge.
A eruption model for Mount Baker today, December 3, 2013, shows that Bellingham could get over an inch of ash (click on the map at left). That would make a nasty mess. Consider: the wind is blowing, so ash would swirl through your neighborhood. The forecast is dry, so no rain to wash it away, or at least help get it out of trees and off surfaces and into the soil. The complete simulation for an eruption today is posted here. Note that no Baker ash has ever been recognized from soil profiles in western Whatcom County. Such wind patterns are relatively uncommon, except in winter. Note that even Seattle gets a trace. The ash plume would shut down all aircraft traffic into the region. Hope you weren't planning a flight to Hawai'i!
Renewed eruptions at Mount Baker could conceivably have a month's notice via seismometer monitoring– or as little as a day or so. Got your paper mask handy?
Eruption plume from Sinabung.
Swirling ash near Sinabung, Sumatra.
The current eruptions at the andesitic Sinabung volcano 40 km northwest of Lake Toba, North Sumatra may serve as a reminder of possibilities here. Read more about Sinabung's renewed eruptions, following a long period of quiescence, on Erik Klemetti's Eruptions Blog.
Sinabung ash on vehicles. If this happens to you, don't brush it off! Ash is abrasive and ruins paint!
Sinabung residents wear dust masks.
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