A plume seen over Mount Baker this weekend caused a flurry of excitement. But don't worry, the mountain is not about to erupt!
Like many other Cascade volcanoes, Mount Baker has steam vents - or fumaroles - that extend deep into the mountain. These continuously release water vapor, sulfur gases, and carbon dioxide. In addition, rain and meltwater percolate down these cracks and encounter the hot rocks deep within the mountain and rise again as additional steam. About 99% of the plume you see is the steam being released.
Usually, you can't see this plume as strong winds quickly mix the steam so that it evaporates. However, when the conditions are just right: with light winds and high humidity, the steam plume can stay intact and rise high enough to be seen from the lowlands.
The Facebook page Northwest Adventuring captured several photos of the plume over the weekend. You can see from the pictures below that the plume is rising mostly straight up, so we know the winds were light and the atmosphere had relatively high humidity at that high altitude.
Photographer Nadja contacted the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network with her images. They replied with this explanation: "The Cascades Volcano Observatory says that earthquake activity is at background levels and atmospheric conditions combined with new snow are favoring increased water condensation."
So no need to panic. It's only a pretty sight, not a warning sign!
