Volcanic eruptions can be quiet or explosive, and they can produce such hazards as lava flows, poisonous gases, and volcanic ash that can fly through the air sometimes for hundreds of miles. Volcanic eruptions can also be accompanied by other natural disasters like earthquakes, fire, acid rain, landslides, and tsunamis.

Experts define an active volcano as one that has erupted within the past 10,000 years, and there are over 150 such volcanoes located within the US and its territories. Most of them are found in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Pacific Northwest. Knowing what to do in case of volcanic eruption can save your life and that of your family.

1. Have an Emergency Plan Ready

Put together an Emergency Supply Kit that includes water, non-perishable food, flashlights and batteries, and a battery-powered or hand-crank radio. Make sure the kit includes breathing masks and goggles for everybody in the family.

Plan on how to contact or locate people if anybody gets separated. Make plans on how to help children, seniors, or disabled family members. Figure out how to take any pets with you, for if your home is no longer safe for you, it won’t be safe for them either.

Choose a sanctuary ahead of time, for Red Cross shelters don’t accept animals other than service animals like guide dogs. Have everything ready, so that if you get an order to evacuate, you can leave within minutes.

2. Follow the News

Follow a local news station on a battery-powered and portable television or radio for the latest emergency information and instructions on what to do in case of volcanic eruption. Make you pick a local station, for local officials will have the most relevant advice for people in your area.

3. Obey All Orders

If the authorities give an order to evacuate the area, leave. Trying to wait out an eruption can be extremely dangerous. The danger area surrounding an erupting volcano is at least 20 miles – and can sometimes be over 100 miles.

Leave as soon as you get the order, for waiting too long increases the risk of being exposed to ash fall which can damage a car’s engine and make a roof collapse if it piles up there. Follow any official instructions concerning routes and roads, for the eruption may make some roads impassable.

Similarly, the authorities may simply order people to avoid certain areas. Such areas will be those most severely affected by the eruption. Obey the authorities and stay away. Trying to get a close look at a volcanic eruption is a good way to get killed.

4. Stay Inside

If you don’t get an order to evacuate, get and stay indoors. Close all windows, doors, and ventilation sources like furnaces and chimney vents to keep ash and cinders out. If you have pets or livestock, bring them inside, too. After securing the people and animals, put vehicles and other machines in a garage if you have the time. If you don’t have a garage, cover the cars and other machines with large tarps.

5. If You Can’t Find Shelter, Go to High Ground

Moving on to another tip on what to do in case of volcanic eruption, you should also consider altitude. A volcanic eruption will often produce lava flows, mudflows, and floods – and they all flow downhill. Therefore, you should avoid river valleys and other low-lying areas. When approaching a bridge, look upstream to see if anything is coming. Don’t cross the bridge if you see a lava flow, flood, or mudflow approaching.

6. Avoid Places with a Lot of Ash Fall

Volcanic ash consists of tiny particles made from pulverized rock, glass, and minerals. It can damage both your lungs and your car’s engine. You should, therefore, not walk or drive in areas where a lot of ash has fallen. If you’re traveling through the area, check your radio for reports on areas with the heaviest ash accumulations.

Avoid places downwind of the volcano, for they will get the heaviest accumulations of ash. If you need to drive through heavy ash, don’t go any faster than 35 mph to avoid stirring it up.

7. Wear Protective Gear If You’re Outside

Wear clothing that covers as much of your skin as possible. Put on a dust mask to make sure you don’t breathe in particles that can irritate or damage your lungs. If you don’t have a dust mask, hold or tie a damp cloth over your mouth. Wear goggles or eyeglasses to shield your eyes from debris.

8. Avoid Geothermal Areas

Volcanos are often associated with geysers, hot spots, and mudpots. The ground around such places tends to be very thin, so you could easily fall in and get severely burned. Even if the area seems to have cooled, it might be nothing more than a thin crust over dangerously hot lava. Never try to cross a geothermal area.

9. After the Volcano

The first thing to is to let your family and friends know that you survived. The Red Cross set up a website called Safe & Well. Registering on it will help people looking for you find you and let them know you’re alive. If you had to evacuate, don’t go home until the authorities send word that is safe to do so. If you see someone who is injured, practice the Red Cross’s CHECK, CALL, and CARE protocol. Check to see if it is safe to approach the person, call rescue workers, and then administer First Aid if you know how to do so.

Final Thoughts

The above advice on what to do in case of volcanic eruption is admittedly not exhaustive. There are different types of volcanic eruptions, and they can range in severity. Nonetheless, authorities agree on the basics of what to do in case of volcanic eruption. They also agree that anybody who lives near a known active volcano should take steps to prepare themselves in case of an eruption.

Have you ever survived a volcanic eruption? Please describe your experience and what advice you found to be most helpful.

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The Yellowstone Caldera is one of the largest volcanoes in the United States. Thousands come to view the mountain every year and are never disappointed by what they see. There is much to learn about the Caldera and its many mysteries. Here are ten Yellowstone super volcano facts that you should know.

1. Yellowstone Is in a Park in Wyoming

The first of ten Yellowstone super volcano facts is that the mound is in a park. The Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming has the pleasure of hosting one of the most dangerous lava holders. The highest point of the Yellowstone volcano is at 9,203 ft. (2,805 m). The parent range of Yellowstone is the Rocky Mountains.

There is no denying that the land in which the Yellowstone volcano is embedded is beautiful. Yellowstone River flows through the area known as Hayden Valley. Most of the nature that you see is the result of small eruptions in the volcano that spilled over. How’s that for Yellowstone super volcano facts?

2. The Yellowstone Caldera Is a Significant Thing

This isn’t your ordinary volcano that pushes out a few miles worth of lava. The Yellowstone Caldera has a molten rock that reaches 12 to 28 miles beneath the surface. Another one of many Yellowstone super volcano facts is the site’s volume of 46,000 cubic kilometers, which is nearly five times larger than its shallow upper crustal magma chamber.

It seems that the more one studies the depth of this volcano, the more they are faced with the reality of Yellowstone having the ability to do significant damage if it were to erupt without warning. The reservoir alone could fill the Grand Canyon 11 times over. The Grand Canyon is a 1,000-cubic-mile stretch.

3. The Caldera Is Two Million Years in the Making

There have been three super eruptions of Yellowstone’s volcano over the past two million years. The Huckleberry Ridge eruption was the oldest and first in the group and brought about the Island Park Caldera and the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff. The Mesa Falls eruption followed the path of destruction more than a one million years after Huckleberry with an eruption that created the Henry’s Fork Caldera along with Mesa Falls Tuff. The Lava Creek eruption was the final to occur in the series and brought about the Yellowstone Caldera and the Lava Creek Tuff.

4. No One Truly Knows the Hotspot of Yellowstone

Of significant interest in Yellowstone super volcano facts is the notion of no expert being capable of pinpointing a direct hotspot. Some geoscientists make the educated guess of the source of Yellowstone’s power being found in activity in the relationship between the lithosphere and the upper mantle convection. Other experts believe that the super volcano’s strength comes from a deep mantle origin called mantle plump. Both of these hypotheses could potentially be correct since Yellowstone’s hotspot suddenly appeared on the geologists’ radar.

Also of significance is the fact that the Columbia Basalt flows came to the spotlight at the same time as the hotspot appeared. This phenomenon has made some experts believe that the Columbia Basalt flow is the same as Yellowstone’s hotspot. Again, this theory could be correct as well.

5. Yellowstone Causes Earthquakes

The volcano itself has been peaceful regarding eruptions over the past several thousand years. Earthquakes caused by Yellowstone within the past few years, however, have been pretty persistent these past few years. More than 500 earthquakes happened in the region from December 2008 to January 2009, and all of the tremors were related to Yellowstone.

More than 1,500 small quakes occurred in the area between January 2010 and February 2010 with all of them having Yellowstone as their commonality. The good news is that most of the earthquakes have been 3.9-magnitude or less. There was, however, a magnitude 4.8 quake caused by Yellowstone in 2014 that was the greatest since 1980.

6. Yellowstone Is an Active Volcano

Yes! Yellowstone volcano is the real thing with eruption dates and all. The last notable disturbance occurred around 174,000 years ago and created what is today known as the west wing of Yellowstone Lake. Lava last flowed from the volcano 70,000 years ago.

7. This Is Indeed a Super Volcano

Scientists have deemed Yellowstone a super volcano because of its ability to cover more than 240 cubic miles of magma with a single eruption. Two out of three eruptions in Yellowstone’s history either met or exceeded the 240-cubic standard that scientists set for supervolcano classification.

8. Yellowstone Has Shown Consistent Signs of Stability

One of the great things about having Yellowstone super volcano facts is knowing that there is no immediate danger of distress. This supervolcano hasn’t erupted in millennials and, according to scientists, shows no signs of overflowing anytime soon. Geologists have reported relative calmness within the mountain’s quarters that has remained constant over the past 30 years. It is highly unlikely that an eruption will occur within the next 1,000 years. Even 10,000 years is a stretch regarding a natural disaster caused by Yellowstone.

9. Don’t Worry! An Eruption Will Show Signs

Experts from the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) use several monitors to detect activity in the mound and throughout the region. Sudden temperature increases around the volcano could be an indication of rising lava levels inside. Scientists predict that implications of a buildup leading to natural disaster could come weeks in advance. There is, in other words, no need to fear so long as you stay alert and aware of Yellowstone super volcano facts.

10. It Is Completely Safe to Visit Yellowstone

You need not fear being engulfed in skin melting liquid when you go anywhere near Yellowstone. Scientists have deemed the location safe to visit for more than 25 years.

Summing Up

A visit to the Yellowstone National Park yields significant connections to nature. Visiting the region with these fast facts in mind will help you better appreciate the experience.

How do blizzards form, you might ask? Each season has its own mix of challenges to it. But some say that winter is the worst of them all. This chilly time of the year lowers the outdoor temperatures to below the zero mark. It sends cascades of thick ice so heavy that it breaks power lines and sends cars spinning into ditches when they attempt to drive over it. And there is also plenty of snow. While the people of the southernmost region of the United States dream up images of what it is like to have a white Christmas, those who live in the North know that snow is mostly a hassle to deal with, especially when heavy amounts of it get thrown about during a blizzard.

What Is a Blizzard?

Most snow storms pass within an hour or two. Sometimes, they last through the night, but there is only an accumulation of a few inches or so by the morning. The northern part of the United States is often hit with severe winter storms that can create snow drifts that are several feet deep. That is because the wind reaches speeds of over 35 miles per hour. The snow is scattered through the air over and over, which creates a white-out that no one can see through. If this wind speed is continued for at least three hours or more, and the visibility from the white-out is less than a quarter of a mile, weather experts consider this to be how blizzards form.

Some people think that there must be a heavy amount of snow falling from the sky for a snow storm to be considered a blizzard, but this isn’t true for how do blizzards form. The rate of snowfall actually has little to do with it. The wind is the key factor in the determination since it can pick up loose snow from the ground and carry it for long distances, especially if the snow is freshly fallen. Wet snow clumps together, so it reduces the likeliness of a blizzard occurring.

How Do Blizzards Form?

Many people might wonder how do blizzards form in the first place? Blizzards are caused by a collision of warm and cold air temperatures during the winter season. However, they can happen during the early spring too if the conditions are right. Hot temperatures from below the equator move to the northern half of the United States where they are met by cold weather sent from the arctic regions above. The hot air covers the cold air quickly since heat always rises. And this makes clouds begin to form.

Unlike warm air, there is very little moisture in cold air. So precipitation can’t develop at the same rate if there isn’t enough warm air. Once the clouds are thick with a plentiful amount of moisture, they release it in the form of rain. But if the temperature is below freezing, this rain will quickly form into ice crystals that begin to bind to each other until snowflakes are formed. Each snowflake is composed of about 200 different ice crystals. These snowflakes only make it so far down from the sky until the wind that is also created from the two pressure systems colliding together starts tossing them all about.

Why You Need to Take Precaution Measures

If there is already a significant amount of snow accumulated on the ground before the blizzard occurs, the blizzard will be worse than if there is little snow accumulation. As soon as the high winds start up, they will carry the ground snow with any snow that falls from the sky. This will increase the amount of snow in the air at one time.

During these severe blizzards, the visibility can be reduced to just a few feet in front of a person. Some people have frozen to death because they were stuck outdoors during the blizzard, just a short distance from where their house was. Since they couldn’t see, they couldn’t get inside in time.

Because of this, it is crucial that everyone stays inside during a blizzard and knows how blizzards form. Most people who live in areas where blizzards regularly hit usually keep extra food, water, and oil lamps to help them have light in case the power goes out. A small portable kerosene heater is needed for heat too.

Where Do Blizzards Occur the Most?

Because of the way that air moves throughout the United States, how do blizzards form in some places and not others? Certain areas that are far away from where the cold air from the North blows usually escape this type of winter snow storm. Such areas are the bottom half of Texas close to the Gulf of Mexico and California. But the states that are further up have no such luck. The Midwest and the Great Plains regions get hit the hardest since they are perfectly positioned to receive a combination of the hot and cold fronts.

Alaska and Washington get the most blizzards out of all of the states in North America. But the states that border the Great Lakes region get hit with them too. In fact, the blizzard that happened in January of 1975 was considered to be the worst blizzard that Ohio and other nearby states had in many years.

Blizzards don’t just happen in the United States, though. They can occur anywhere in the world. Even some places in the tropics have blizzards in their mountainous regions. Antarctica, Canada, and Russia get the most violent blizzards of all.

To Sum It All Up

In summary, there are three important factors that determine whether a snow storm is considered to be a blizzard and how do blizzards form. There must be high winds that reach over 35 miles per hour, less than a quarter of a mile of visibility because of the snow, and the high winds and limited visibility must continue for at least three hours straight. A blizzard can happen with any amount of snow. There doesn’t have to be any snow falling for one to occur. Blizzards can be started from the snow that is already on the ground. And lastly, the best thing to do if a blizzard develops is to stay inside until it is over.

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