Although Mount Redoubt Volcano hasn't been in the news much in the last month, we are still seeing activity. Today, I was coming home from running errands and saw a ton of cars pulled off on the side of the highway. I thought maybe there was an accident and a car had gone over the guardrail. I saw a friend of mine on the side of the road and called her cell to see what the commotion was. There wasn't an accident, Mount Redoubt had a massive steam cloud above it, it was very clear across the inlet, and the view was magnificent. Everyone had pulled over to take pictures!
I ran home to grab my camera and instead of heading back to the highway, I walked down our street. Unfortunately, Eric is in Adak and has our better camera with him, but my picture will give you an idea of what I could see.
And now, the news you have all been waiting for.....THE ASH HAS LANDED! It's official, our snow is now gray and we can say that we have been affected by the eruption of Redoubt Volcano. If you enjoy the smell of sulfur, it ain't no big thing!
The wierdest part is that we can be on volcano watch on and off for the next several months. I guess I should start saving for a new air filter for my car. Let's be real, even a volcano isn't going to keep me homebound. I also suppose my contact lenses won't see the light of day for a while. Oh well, such is life when you live in Alaska.
As you can imagine, Redoubt Volcano was the big topic of discussion around here. As I posted on my blog, the majority of the ashfall was 2-4 hours away from here, in Homer and the Kenai Peninsula. I did, however, hear this morning that if Redoubt erupts today, Anchorage could see trace amounts of ash. A series of eruptions occured around 11:00 p.m. last night and as I type this, I just heard news that we just had another one less than an hour ago. More eruptions could continue to happen for a long time. The last time Redoubt erupted like this, it continued on and off for several months. Crazy!
Considering that the powers that be thought the volcano was going to erupt a month or so ago, most people are prepared, if and when the ash hits Anchorage. I have to admit, I'm not one of those people. I know it's naive, but at this point, there is nowhere I absolutely have to be or any reason I absolutely have to go outside. Eric is prepared, so I figure I can just wait for him to get home before I go out or run errands. Or better yet, I can just run right out to the mall this morning to be there before we have another eruption and I can camp out there for the day if we have one while I'm there. Now that would be a bummer!
This morning, I woke up and was a bit surprised to see that is was snowing! So much for Spring break-up! On a beautiful, clear day (usually as the sun goes down), we can see Redoubt from our bedroom window. I thought I'd take a picture of the view for you all to see that there is really nothing to see even though a volacano is erupting, but...it's snowing and we're socked in. You would have no idea from looking at this picture that through the clearing between the houses, we often have an amazing view of the inlet and can see "forever". I still posted the picture though, so you can see that even living here, you wouldn't know a volcano was erupting nearby. I know they're famous last words, but "it's just not a big deal" YET!!!!!!
So far, we have still been unaffected by the eruption of Redoubt. The ash from the eruption this morning is expected to land in Homer, which is several hours from here. To me, the fascinating part about all of this valcano activity is that although the eruption happened around 8:30 a.m. our time, the ash isn't expected to hit land until 12:00 p.m! Who knew? I, of course, didn't expect that ash to fall to the ground right away, but I think it's interesting that it will take hours.
FINALLY...after over a month of anticipation, we have what the experts are considering an "eruption" of Mt. Redoubt. For us here in Anchorage, it is business as usual at the moment. Schools will be in session, the airport is still allowing flights in and out (with a few exceptions) and there isn't even an ash fall warning. There is an ash advisory in the Susitna Valley, which is closer to the Wasilla area. Even there, they are expecting very little ash fall.
No worries here! We are fine and well for now. I'm even going out to blow snow this morning, considering we had about a foot of snowfall over the weekend and we were away skiing.
Growing up and living in Southern California, there were plenty reminders that we were living in "God's Country". We had fires, floods, earthquakes, winds, mudslides and the list goes on an on. I used to think that someday I might leave California and the advantage of doing so would be to leave all of those lovely acts of God behind.
In a blog post (probably about a year ago) I remember sharing that when we got on the plane to move to Alaska, they were forecasting Santa Ana winds in So. Cal. Sitting on the plane, I turned to Eric and told him the one thing I for sure would not miss about California were the Santa Anas. Then, shortly after we arrived here in Anchorage, we had the luxury of experiencing our own "Santa Anas", only ours are called the Chinooks. Then, if you remember, back in November, the Chinooks hit so hard that we had gale force winds that took down a tree in our yard. As a matter of fact, we had such severe Chinooks and melting two weeks ago that schools were closed for THREE DAYS!!!!! It's Alaska for Pete's sake! Our kids went to school in hurrican grade winds, -18 temperatures two weeks prior and suddenly our schools were closed because it was too warm and we didn't know how to function?????
So, it's a little wind, a few sub-zero temperatures, a little ice, quite a bit of snow and then last weekend... it was an earthquake! The earthquake was not that big of a deal for us, considering we've experienced some doozies in California. The one we experienced last weekend felt like the ones that I felt growing up when they were centered in Palm Springs and we were living in Anaheim. We certainly shook a little, but it wasn't very alarming.
O.K., so now it has been a little wind, a few sub-zero temperatures, a little ice, quite a bit of snow, and an earthquake. What else could nature possibly throw at us? In a year, we have experienced it all...or so I thought. WRONG!!!! Now we are "preparing" (call me naive, but I'm not doing much to prepare) for the possible eruption of Redoubt Volcano, which sits approximately 100 miles from us, out in The Cook Inlet. (We actually have a view of Redoubt from our house). What I have learned about Alaska volcanos is that they don't spew lava, they throw violent ash, rocks and other particles thousands of feet into the air. The concern for the Anchorage area is the ash and projectiles. In the past, I have read that the debris has been so severe that it causes the most damage and injuries as it falls from the sky and hits people and things.
As of today, it has now been a little wind, a few sub-zero teperatures, a little ice, quite a bit of snow, and earthquake, and a possible volcano eruption! Who knew?????? The wierd beauty of it all, is that I am somewhat nostalgic and even a little sentimental about the oddities we have experienced here. I wouldn't trade the experiences we have had here in Alaska for anything. I sit here some days and think about the fact that I had to wait 35 years to experience some of the things we have in the past year and then I think about the fact that my kids are 9 and 11 and will have these memories and experiences to take with them throughout the rest of their lives.
For as long as I can remember, I would tell people that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. Last school year, at the age of 37, I finally grew up and began my teaching career. My life (and that of my family) will never be the same again.
I have been married to my husband Eric for almost 16 years and we have two boys, Logan 14 and Kaiden 13. We are all California natives, who transplanted to Anchorage, AK almost 5 years ago. What a journey it has been!
