Mt Redoubt is erupting

Yesterday afternoon, on a whim, I checked the AVO website. The monitoring stations placed around the mountain did show elevated activity, and I thought to check it last night. By the time I turned in for the night, it sure looked like it was erupting-

And yes it did-five times at least. The NWS is performing a huge service by plotting out ashfall projections based upon winds at different elevations. Isn't that rather amazing, that they know all these things? While winds near the volcano are mostly north and northwest, surface winds at home were out of just about due north. The only way I figure we'd get serious ashfall here in the Valley is that it would be carried aloft well north, then drop down and be swept southwards. This morning, the local NBC affiliate was reporting ashfall in Willow and Talkeetna. Willow area is not too far north of us, maybe 25 road miles.

Flights into and out of Anchorage are being cancelled. Since Ted Stevens International Airport is the second busiest cargo hub in the nation, I expect this is going to have some ripple effects on air freight for a while.

Whether we get any here or not, that's the question. At home, I was letting the stock tank get down anyway, so I could scrub it out tomorrow. What I can do is simply get out a large bucket and fill that instead, inside the stall for Reba. Where Sully is, all water and feeding areas are under cover so I won't worry about him either. Chickens are under roof too, so the only risk to us is being outside for normal chores-no big deal, I am well stocked on firewood and have been through this before :)