Date of sighting: May 20, 2014
Location of sighting: (City?), Oregon
Eyewitness states:
After months of little activity an interesting object returns over Oregon skies. An impression or premonition came over my senses even to the point of starting the camcorder early on.
from: http://www.ufosightingsdaily.com/2014/05/ufo-returns-over-oregon-may-20th-2014.html
Last update: April 13, 2013 at 3:02 am by By Richard Wilson and Armand Vervaeck
Update Newberry volcano
Interesting press release from CVO this evening. While they’re playing this down, it is interesting that there are (and have been) many more earthquakes than they mention in the report (for days now!)! The events plot beneath the most recent vent area,…not where geothermal exploration this past year had triggered earlier activity on the western flank of the volcano. I had been watching these events, but obviously not closely enough!!! I’m sure the deep low-frequency event within the shallower activity got their attention. This is a rhyolitic volcano (so there are few analogs to precursory activity) and the seismicity at Chaiten and more recently at Cordon Caulle began at around 8 km depth!!
Maybe nothing,…maybe something!!! Definitely the most interesting seismicity in the Cascades for a long while!!!
Earthquakes at Newberry, April 08-12 –
April 12, 2013
Between 04/08 – 04/12, five earthquakes were located within or along the margins of the Newberry caldera by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN, http://www.pnsn.org). The first two occurred at 04:19 & 04:20 PDT on 04/08 and were followed over the next 20 minutes by eight smaller (and therefore unlocatable) earthquakes. Three days later at 5:01 PDT a “low-frequency event”, so-called because it lacks higher-frequency waves that are commonly observed in regular earthquakes, occurred at a depth of ~8 km. Finally on 04/12 two additional earthquakes occurred at 02:28 and 04:06 PDT. The largest of these five events was a M 1.2. These five events appear as orange or red (two most recent) circles in the below map-view plot.
Newberry earthquakes, 2011 – 2013
Map showing earthquakes located within the Newberry caldera from 2011 – 2013. Earthquakes from April 08-12, 2013, are colored orange or red (for April 12 events).
Although these five events are nothing to get excited about, they are noteworthy because only six other earthquakes have been located within or along the margins of the Newberry caldera since the Newberry seismic network was expanded from one to nine seismic stations in the summer of 2011 (none of these events would have been detected prior to 2011). In addition, the 04/11 event is the first low-frequency event ever recorded in the Newberry area. Low-frequency events are not unusual at volcanoes, and when observed are commonly thought to reflect movement of fluid (water, gas, or other) through cracks. Given that there are active hot springs within the caldera, the occasional occurrence of such events should not be surprising. An unusual feature of this low-frequency event is its depth (8 km). Since the 1980s, such “deep low-frequency events” have been seen intermittently at Mount Baker (31), Glacier Peak (9), Mount Rainier (9), and Mount St. Helens (9). At these other volcanoes the deep low-frequency events occur as part of background seismicity and have not been associated with eruptions or unrest at the surface (for more information about these type of events in the Cascades, see Nichols et al. (2011)**). Although intriguing from a volcanological perspective, these events are again nothing to get excited about.
** Nichols, M. L., S. D. Malone, S. C. Moran, W. A. Thelen, and J. E. Vidale (2011), Deep long-period earthquakes beneath Washington and Oregon volcanoes, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 200(3-4), 116-128.
from: http://earthquake-report.com/2013/04/12/volcano-activity-of-april-12-2013/
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| The Three Sisters area — which contains five volcanoes — is only about 170 miles (274 km) from Mount St. Helens, which erupted in 1980. Both are part of the Cascades Range, a line of 27 volcanoes stretching from British Columbia in Canada to northern California. This perspective view was created by draping a simulated natural color ASTER image over digital topography from the U.S. Geological Survey National Elevation Dataset. CREDIT: NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team |
Volcanic activity is causing the earth to rise in Oregon, scientists have found.
Though whether such uplift is a sign of an imminent eruption remains uncertain.
As early as the summer of 1996, a 230-square-mile (600-square-kilometer) patch of ground in Oregon began to rise. The area lies just west of the South Sister Volcano, which with the North and Middle Sisters form the Three Sisters volcanoes, the most prominent peaks in the central Oregon stretch of the Cascade Mountains.
Although this region has not seen an eruption in at least 1,200 years, the scattered hints of volcanic activity here have been a cause of concern, leading to continuous satellite-based monitoring. Now 14 years of data is revealing just how the Earth is changing there and the likely cause of the uplift — a reservoir of magma invading the crust 3-to-4 miles (5-to-7 km) underground.
Uplifting ground
The European Space Agency’s European Remote Sensing and Envisat radar satellites revealed that the terrain deformed in three distinct phases since this uplift began. From 1996 to 1998, the ground rose by 0.4 inches (1 cm) per year. Then, from 1998 to 2004, uplift grew to 1.2-to-1.6 inches (3-to-4 cm) annually. However, for the rest of the decade, uplift declined to only a few millimeters per year, for a total of 9.8 inches (25 cm) of uplift so far.
“The most important implication of our research is that the ground appears to still be uplifting,” said researcher Susan Riddick, a geodesist at the University of Oregon. “Previous researchers believed that the ground uplift, a result of the input of magma deep in the Earth’s crust, had stopped at around 2006. We found that the ground is still uplifting as of late 2010 and may still be uplifting, but at a slow rate.”
By analyzing precisely how the landscape was changing, the researchers suggest the magma pocket behind this uplift has a volume of 1.76-billion-to-2.47-billion cubic feet (50-million-to-70-million cubic meters), enough to fill 20,000-to-28,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.
Eruption monitoring
Since the ground is still rising, “magma may still be accumulating, and as a result, this area needs to be continually monitored to determine whether or not there will be an eruption,” Riddick told OurAmazingPlanet.
“If there were to be an eruption, it would probably not be from a pre-existing volcano that we can see because the uplifting ground area is several kilometers from historically active volcanoes,” Riddick added. “A new volcanic vent would likely form. Lava would be ejected from a vent and fall to the ground to create a cinder cone, which is a steep conical volcano made of lava fragments. We believe it would be a small eruption, because we calculated that only a relatively small amount of magma has accumulated in the earth’s crust so far.”
If the researchers are correct, ” if an eruption were to take place, it would produce a small cinder cone, then the eruption would be localized within the Three Sisters wilderness area and would not pose a great hazard to the public in neighboring towns,” Riddick said. “However, this can change if more magma accumulates at depth, which is why continual monitoring of this area is crucial.”
Riddick and her colleague David Schmidt detailed their findings online Dec. 17 in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.
from: http://www.livescience.com/17727-magma-causing-oregon-uplift.html
Bulk of the snow chances hits the Pacific Northwest overnight into Saturday
| Published on November 18, 2011 9:30 am PT – By TWS Senior Meteorologist – Edited by Staff Editor |
The Western U.S. is a tough spot to forecast for. Many news outlets five days ago (maybe even a week ago) called for a snow event in both Portland and Seattle, one of those being Accuweather. The thing about Accuweather is they never wait, they believe they can call an event and just ‘hope’ the model run was correct. They key here is to wait.(TheWeatherSpace.com) – A cold storm system is moving through the Pacific Northwest today, with the bulk of the cold air and moisture combined being tonight into Saturday across Tacoma.
Freezing levels seem to be hovering over 1,000 feet today across both Washington and Oregon with isolated flakes to 300 feet. During the overnight hours, a northeast wind will come into play for areas surrounding the county zones of Thurston and Pierce County.
What this will be doing is creating a convergence zone over both those counties. This will run with drier air in the lower levels to bring the snow level down below 300 feet by later tonight, into Saturday. This convergence zone will be an east to west orientating snow event, meaning it will not move up to Seattle, but stick over the two counties areas all night and into Saturday.
As for Portland, Oregon — the snow level will be around 1,000 feet overnight tonight into Saturday morning. There will be an offshore wind in this area as well but it is hard to say if snow will fall here. I’m going to say wet snow is possible, but nothing accumulating with the band that will move through overnight tonight and into Saturday morning.
Out of all the areas between Seattle and Portland, Tacoma, Washington will see the best chances of snowfall and Seattle coming in last for any chances. The main focus here is the convergence zone over KTCM.
from: http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS-111811_tacoma-snow-portland-close.html
My daughter, Cate, is in Oregon learning about viniculture and the wonders of the wine making process at Witness Tree Vineyards. SHe finds it amazing, the recognition of the grapes, the percentage of sugar versus water, and all the rest still to come. Check out their website to learn more about their wines:
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Witness Tree Vineyard is a small producer of premium quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay made entirely from grapes grown on our 100-acre estate. As winegrowers, we believe that only by tending our own vines can we produce the finest wines. Low yields in the vineyard and minimal handling in the winery allow us to create wines of depth, elegance, concentration, and character. They are the ultimate expression of the earth from which they were born. Witness Tree Vineyard is owned by Dennis & Carolyn Devine. The Devines are originally from the Midwest, but have lived throughout the country during Dennis’ career as a clinical researcher in the pharmaceutical industry. Carolyn serves as President and Business Manager. Witness Tree is located in the Eola Hills, northwest of Salem, an area recognizedas one of Oregon’s premier growing regions. |
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| for more, go to: http://www.witnesstreevineyard.com (and don’t forget to mention Cate)med for an ancient oak which towers over the vineyard – it was designated a surveyor’s landmark in 1854 – Witness Tree is dedicated to the production of exemplary estate – bottled Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Dennis and Carolyn Devine welcome you to our tasting room. | ||||
An undersea volcano has erupted off the coast of Oregon, spewing forth a layer of lava more than 12 feet thick in some places, and opening up deep vents that belch forth a cloudy stew of hot water and microbes from deep inside the Earth.
Scientists uncovered evidence of the early April eruption on a routine expedition in late July to the Axial Seamount, an underwater volcano that stands 250 miles off the coast of Oregon.
The discovery came as a surprise, as researchers attempted to recover instruments they’d left behind to monitor the peak a year earlier. When the researchers hefted a seafaring robotic vehicle overboard to fetch the instruments, the feed from the onboard camera sent back images of an alien seafloor landscape.
to read more, go to: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44080264/ns/technology_and_science-science/