Yellowstone's Steamboat Geyser Erupts for a Record 30th Time This Year By Drew MacFarlane 6 days ago weather.com
Yellowstone Thermal Spring Erupts for Fourth Time in 60 Years
The Ear Spring on Yellowstone's Geyser Hill erupted on Saturday.
At a Glance
Yellowstone's Steamboat Geyser erupted for a 30th time this year.
The geyser's 30th eruption in 2018 set the record for the most active year on record.
Steamboat's 2018 surpassed the 29 eruptions documented in 1964.
On March 15, 2018, Yellowstone National Park's Steamboat Geyser erupted for the first time since 2014. The geyser has erupted over and over since then and now some nine months later, just set the record for its most active year on record.
The Steamboat Geyser erupted around 1 a.m. Saturday morning, marking the 30th eruption of the year, Yellowstone announced. The recent eruption put 2018 above the bar set by 1964 when 29 eruptions were documented.
The geyser's major eruptions can reach more than 300 feet in height, but the timing of its activity is unpredictable, according to the National Park Service. (MORE: Yellowstone Geyser Eruption Coughed Up Decades of Trash)
Steamboat was inactive for 50 years between 1911 and 1961 but then reawakened with a trio of extremely active years, including the previous record set in 1964. Then the geyser fell asleep again from 1965 to 1982.
The heightened activity at Steamboat this year is uncommon but not unprecedented," Jeff Hungerford, a Yellowstone geologist, said in a press release. Hungerford added that similar activity had been seen in previous years — 1964 with 29 eruptions and 1982 with 23 eruptions — and that the geyser's activity would continue to be monitored.
Fear not, Steamboat's eruptions have no implications on future volcanic activity at Yellowstone, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The park houses over 10,000 hot springs and geysers, some of which erupt 300 times a year, according to Yellowstone.
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Don't feed the bears.