A new vent found in Yellowstone

We know that a supervolcano, Yellowstone, is located practically in our backyard. The region is constantly going through geological changes, as there was a recent discovery of a new volcanic vent in August 2024.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a park scientist noticed last summer “a blowing steam column through the trees and across a marshy expanse” at the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone. After a close examination, it was discovered that the temperature near this opening was over 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Back in 2003, there was a similar vent that was discovered on the other side of this lava flow.

The Yellowstone Caldera is notorious for major hydrothermal activity. In fact, the USGS has mapped more than 100 of these within the park. There are also more than 10,000 hydrothermal features within the boundary of the supervolcano.

The Yellowstone Caldera, also known as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is located primarily in northwestern Wyoming and measures a rather big 34 by 45 miles. The park lies over a hotspot of light, hot and molten rock deep from within the Earth. Over millions of years, thanks to tectonic activity, the North American Plate we live on has been slowly moving to the west-southwest. Therefore, there have been many older calderas from previous eruptions discovered relating to this hotspot stretching across southern Idaho and as far west as Nevada and the Oregon border.

Scientists believe that there could have been as many as 50 large eruptions over millions of years. Some of these explosions have likely helped to create the eastern portions of the Snake River Plain across southern Idaho. One caldera in the southern portion of our state, the Bruneau-Jarbidge caldera, was believed to be formed from an eruption around 10 to 12 million years ago and dropped volcanic ash up to a foot deep as far away as northeastern Nebraska.

When discussing the topic of supervolcanoes, most of us think of Yellowstone. But there are other supervolcanoes across the globe that have erupted in the past. For example, there is the Long Valley caldera located in east-central California, just south of Mono Lake near the Nevada state line. The last time there was an explosion in this region was about 760,000 years ago, with ash reaching as far east as Nebraska. This area is still active as there was a swarm of large earthquakes and a 10-inch rise of 100 square miles of this caldera in 1980.

About 74,000 years ago, another supervolcano exploded in North Sumatra in Indonesia. Evidence suggests a big cold period followed this eruption and may have dwindled the human population in Africa from hundreds of thousands to just a few thousand. Another supervolcano is in New Mexico, which erupted around 1.5 million years ago. New Zealand had a big eruption about 26,000 years ago and a smaller one in 181 A.D. Southern Japan, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia are other parts of the world with supervolcanoes that have likely seen big eruptions in the distant past.

Volcanoes across the globe will go through cycles of eruptions, and Yellowstone likely has cycles of its own. For example, an article in Newsweek stated that the Yellowstone supervolcano started to rise at a high rate of nearly 6 inches per year from 2013 to 2015. The unusual activity, according to scientists, was a period of ground deformation resulting from a deep intrusion of magma, which essentially shoves the rocks up above the magma. Some say that the volcano is “breathing,” so there is no concern of an impending eruption.

In terms of our local weather, the expected rain Monday may put Coeur d’Alene close to the March normal of 1.94 inches. The storm door is expected to be open through at least the middle of April.

With sea-surface temperatures showing signs of warming over the next several months, we believe that April and May will have moisture totals near to above normal across the Inland Northwest. The summer of 2025 is not expected to be as hot and dry as 2024, but moisture totals are forecast to once again be below normal levels. Stay tuned.

As I mentioned last week, not much snow is expected in the lower elevations as these storm systems may be too warm. As of the weekend, slightly over 3 feet of snow (36.1 inches) has fallen at Cliff’s station in Coeur d’Alene. Our seasonal average is 69.8 inches, so this will be a season well below normal in Coeur d’Alene and surrounding regions. At the Spokane International Airport, close to 30 inches of snow has fallen for the 2024-25 season.

However, the mountains have received some good snowfall amounts. Lookout Pass, for example, has picked up 422 inches of snow for the season as of the weekend. Close to 270 inches have fallen at Silver Mountain, with nearly 300 inches of snow at Schweitzer for the season.

• • •

Contact Randy Mann at randy@longrangeweather.com.