Episode 41 of lava fountaining to more than 1,600 feet high as part of the ongoing episodic summit eruption of Kīlauea volcano — within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater inside the summit caldera at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park — began at 11:10 a.m. today (Jan. 24), bringing with it the threat of significant ashfall for much of the island.
National Weather Service forecasters in Honolulu first issued an ashfall advisory but then later upgraded it to an ashfall warning — in effect until 6 a.m. Sunday (Jan. 25) — for most eastern, southeastern, southern and interior portions of the island.
Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense reports that Hawaiʻi Police Department says Highway 11 is closed in both directions near the 24.5-mile marker at the solid waste transfer station and at the 32-mile marker in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park in Puna and Kaʻū because of ashfall.
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is also closed at this time…