Steamboat Geyser breaks historical yearly eruption record
The Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park broke decades-old records when it erupted for the 30th time in 2018 Saturday.
Yellowstone National Park reports Saturday’s eruption surpasses the all-time record for the number of documented eruptions in a calendar year which was 29 in 1964.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the geyser erupted at 1:07 a.m.
It has been 9 days, 4 hours and 30 minutes since it last erupted. This was the longest interval between eruptions since August. Since then, the geyser had been following a semi-regular pattern of erupting about every five to seven days.
“The heightened activity at Steamboat this year is uncommon but not unprecedented. We have seen similar activity twice previously; once in the early 1960s, and again in the early 1980s. Conversely, the world’s tallest active geyser has also exhibited years of quiescence or no major eruptions, with the longest being the 50-year period between 1911 and 1961,” said Jeff Hungerford, Yellowstone’s park geologist. “We’ll continue to monitor this extraordinary geyser.”
The National Park Service has listed all recorded major eruptions below. Others may have occurred, but were not necessarily seen if there were no observers in Norris Geyser Basin. The intervals range from 4 days to 50 years.
Year # of Eruptions Interval 1878 At least 2 1890 At least 1 12 years 1891 At least 1 <1 year 1892 At least 1 <1 year 1894 At least 1 2 years 1902 At least 1 8 years 1911 At least 1 9 years 1961 At least 1 50 years 1962 At least 7 8-360 days 1963 26 6-32 days 1964 29 5-45 days 1965 22 7-50 days 1966 At least 10 11-77 days 1967 At least 3 15-310 days 1968 At least 3 42-150 days 1969 1 206 days 1978 2 9 years, 216 days; 147 days 1979 1 299 days 1982 23 4-43 days 1983 12 4-107 days 1984 5 19-93 days 1989 3 4.3 years-107 days 1990 1 237 days 1991 1 (October 2) 1 year, 120 days 2000 1 (May 2) 8 years, 214 days 2002 2 (April 26, September 13) 1 year, 359 days; 140 days 2003 3 (March 26, April 27, October 22) 193 days; 32 days; 178 days 2005 1 (May 23) 1 year, 213 days 2007 1 (Feb. 21) 1 years, 274 days 2013 1 (July 31) 6 years, 162 days 2014 1 (September 3) 1 year, 34 days 2018
26 (March 15,
April 19 & 27,
May 4, 13, 19, & 27,
June 4, 11, & 15,
July 6 & 20;
August 4, 22, & 27;
September 1, 7, 12, 17, 24, & 29;
October 8, 15, 23, and 31;
November 7, 15, 21, and 28
December 8
3 years, 193 days;
35 & 7 days;
7, 8, 6, & 7 days;
7, 6, & 4 days;
20 & 14 days;
14, 18, & 5 days;
5, 6, 5, 5, 7, & 5 days;
9, 7, 8, and 7 days;
7, 7, 6, and 7 days.
9 days.
