WYOMING – What if a rarely erupting geyser went off in Yellowstone and no one was there to see it? Does it count?
Employees in Yellowstone reported an eruption of Steamboat Geyser last night but no one is sure just yet if it actually happened. The park is currently collecting eyewitness reports and comparing them with data collected by remote USGS thermal sensors in an attempt to confirm the eruption.
If so, it would be the first time Steamboat went off since September 3, 2014 when park ranger Rosa Prasser just happened to catch it blasting at 11pm that night.
Steamboat is in the Norris Geyser Basin and is the tallest active geyser in the world shooting hot water well over 300 feet into the air. The thing is, no one can predict when it will go off or for how long. Steamboat is truly erratic.
The unpredictable geyser has erupted as often as a record 29 times in a year (1964) and as infrequent as a 50-year dormancy (1911-1961). The events can last from a few minutes, up to 40 minutes.
The last 10 major eruptions were observed on:
- October 2, 1991
- May 2, 2000
- April 26, 2002
- September 13, 2002
- March 26, 2003
- April 27, 2003
- October 22, 2003
- May 23, 2005
- July 31, 2013
- September 3, 2014
At this point, park geologists believe Steamboat could have experienced a series of minor eruptions—a more common occurrence than major eruptions.
A complication in determining just what happened last night is that
USGS sensors are currently offline. Staff is troubleshooting equipment today and may deploy new ones.
Another issue is the public will have little chance to see activity at the geyser this time of year. Roads to the Norris Geyser Basin are currently closed for spring plowing.
