Early Wednesday morning, some Seattle area residents noticed what appeared to be volcanic venting occurring on Mount Rainier.
Images of the mountain stirred interest online, with some concerned the activity was a precursor to an eruption.
In a news release posted to the official Mount Rainier National Park Facebook page, officials stated that no new vent had opened up and no unusual seismic activity on the volcano had been detected.
“We have coordinated with our colleagues at the National Park Service and their boots on the ground experts are suggesting it is a lenticular cloud, a very interesting cloud formation at Mount Rainier,” the Facebook post stated. “The webcam views from Paradise and Camp Schurman show the flow of the cloud over the top from a different view. In this case, it is likely related to a passing weather front.”
Seismic monitoring on the volcano is conducted by both the U.S. Geological Service (USGS) Cascades Volcano Observatory and Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, and neither reported any signs of unrest.
The post went on to state that the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory field teams have been at Mount Rainier this week to install a new volcano monitoring station which has also confirmed no new volcanic activity.
Being that September is the USGS’ official Preparedness Month, the agency still urges people to prepare for the next seismic event, volcanic or otherwise. More information on how to prepare for volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and other natural disasters can be found at usgs.gov.
Live webcam views of Mount Rainier can be seen at https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm and seismic activity in the area can be viewed at https://pnsn.org/volcanoes/mount-rainier.
