Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Update: Mount Merapi Volcano Finally Erupts

UPDATE 
Finally Mount Merapi erupted at 5.02pm (local time) Tuesday sending clouds of ash as high as 1,500 and spewed clouds of hot ash, causing burn injuries to at least 13 people. Three explosions around 1800 (1100 GMT) spewing volcanic material as high as 1.5km (one mile) and sending heat clouds down the slopes.


Television visuals showed fallen ash from the volcano as far away as 15km at evacuation centres. The peak of Mount Merapi was clouded with smoke making it impossible to see if lava was spewing out, but that ash had started raining down on frightened residents.


"This is an initial phase of an eruption," Subandrio, head of the Volcanic Technology Development and Research Centre in Yogyakarta was quoted by the media. There are fears that the current activity could foreshadow a much more destructive explosion in the coming weeks or months, though it is possible, too, that the volcano will settle back down after a slow, long period of letting off steam.


Government vulcanologist Surono commented: "Today's eruption released heat clouds of gas and ash down the slopes for about two hours. We cannot tell you how far the searing clouds went down on the slopes because it's dark. 7.5 million cubic meters of volcanic material was the remnants from the 1911 eruption and prone to collapse under magma pressure.If the 1911 dome is pushed by magma, the domes created during the 1997 and 2006 eruptions will also collapse.”


 A three-month-old baby died after experiencing respiratory problems after Indonesia's most volatile volcano Mount Merapi. Private MetroTV reported that another baby died when a mother ran in panic after the eruption started. Its report cited a local doctor and showed the mother weeping as the baby was covered with white blanket at a hospital. These two babies are among 19 officially admitted dead.One rescuer, Christian Awuy, told the BBC that he feared up to 50 could have been killed.

6pm, Heavy showers S. Karnataka, S. Kerala and W. Tamilnadu .. http://ow.ly/i/4UoB
RT @alertnet: Terrified villagers flee after volcano erupts in Indonesia http://ow.ly/2ZwlZ
Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano erupts ... http://ow.ly/2ZuET
RT @vatsala: A Terrible lightning just struck in pallikaranai chennai @weatherofindia raining since 2.30 PM
Chennai - now 5:08pm, getting ready for another round of sharp showers from N-W
Chennai - A 15 minute thunder shower just lashed Saidapet... and moved towards South. Drizzling now 2:15pm
IMD :: North east monsoon ONSET CONDITIONS ... http://ow.ly/2ZnVQ
Mount Merapi - Threatening to Erupt .. http://ow.ly/2ZnPS

IMD sets up watch for North-East monsoon

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has officially got up a watch for the North-East monsoon that could likely make an onset during the course of the week.
In an update on Monday and valid until Saturday, it seemed to suggest that conditions would become favourable for the monsoon on retreat as the week progresses.
It has predicted fairly widespread rainfall over South Peninsular India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

WEATHER WARNING
A weather warning valid for Monday said that isolated heavy rainfall would occur over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and South Coastal Orissa.
The causative upper air cyclonic circulation over West-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining Coastal Andhra Pradesh has been persisting over the past couple of days.
This system could be the fulcrum around which the seasonal transition of weather would come about over Peninsular India with westerlies getting increasingly replaced by northeasterlies to monsoon easterlies.
Additionally, the IMD has picked the crucial “shear zone” formation along the 15 deg latitude, which defines the playground for northeast monsoon weather systems.
The shear line is a line or narrow zone across which there is an abrupt change in the horizontal wind component; a line of maximum horizontal wind shear.

ONSET CONDITIONS
According to IMD specifications, commencement of north-east monsoon assumes withdrawal of southwest monsoon up to 15º latitude, onset of persistent surface easterlies over Tamil Nadu coast to required depth, fairly widespread rainfall over coastal Tamil Nadu, South Coastal Andhra Pradesh and adjoining areas.
These conditions are likely to be met as the week progresses, with surface easterlies notching up cruising speed by Friday. Rainfall would also have become more widespread over the peninsula by then.
An IMD forecast until Thursday spoke about the build-up with fairly widespread rain or thundershowers being forecast for Coastal Andhra Pradesh, South Coastal Orissa and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

CONVECTIVE CLOUDS
Scattered rain or thundershowers have been forecast for Rayalaseema, remaining parts of Orissa, Konkan and Goa.
Satellite cloud imagery on Monday revealed the presence of convective clouds over parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh and West-central Bay of Bengal.
International Research Institute (IRI) for Climate and Society at Columbia University has indicated wetter than average weather for Rayalaseema, parts of Telangana, North and South Interior Karnataka and parts of North and Interior Tamil Nadu during the six days ending Friday.
Other international models signalled to the setting up of a strong “pulse” entering the Bay of Bengal from upstream South China Sea later in the week.
They also indicated that, onset of northeast monsoon during the week may not have the back-up of a wet phase of the periodic Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) wave as forecast earlier.
The onset, if at all, would happen on the monsoon's own inherent strength and dynamics. The MJO wave is now forecast to settle over Equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining peninsular seas around November 7.
Transiting the upper levels of the atmosphere, the wave has been known to set up monsoon onsets, low-pressure areas, depressions and even cyclones.
Given this, the northeast monsoon could likely see a pick up after November 7, according toas per various MJO models surveyed.
The wave, which has implications for ground weather, is seen particularly strong during November 12 and 16.
RT @ebizzbird: Rains affect rubber output: Kerala, which accounts for 90% of India’s output, ... http://bit.ly/bvROXu
11am, Heavy cloud activity all along Andhra coast & N. Tamilnadu coast due to the low circulation.. http://ow.ly/i/4TX1
N-E monsoon onset date along Tamilnadu & S. Andhra coast is Evening of 28-Oct or Morning of 29-Oct.
A weak circulation along Andhra coast will persist till noon of 27-Oct.. more showers expected along Andhra & N. Tamilnadu coast till 27-Oct
Chennai - Entire horizon from West to North are having Early thunder cells... signs of heavy thunder showers in afternoon.

Mount Merapi - Threatening to Erupt.



Seismic activity has escalated dramatically in recent days at Mount Merapi with increasing lava spurts and about 500 volcanic earthquakes recorded over the weekend. 

The mountain last erupted in 2006, when it sent an avalanche of blistering gases and rock fragments racing down the mountain that killed two people. In a 1994 eruption, 70 people were killed in an eruption when the volcano's lava dome collapsed. The volcano killed 1,300 people in 1930