Yellowstone

Mid-Cycle Beehive Indicator discussion

Excerpts from the Old Faithful CamChatroom log of June 28, 2010

19:28 Graham interesting report from Kitt coming out...

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19:31 Chris yeah, mid-cycle indicators

19:32 Rich And what is a mid-cycle indicator?

19:34 Chris report is: multiple mid-cycle Behive Indicators between 1905 and 1944

19:34 Graham when it erupts when you dont expect Beehive and Beehive doesn't erupt

19:34 Graham so its a false indicator but not as bad as one when you are expecting BH

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19:35 Graham it erupts weakly

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19:36 Todd_Lori Lori here- does that mid-cycle bh change bh itself- like a longer interval?

19:36 Graham not sure

19:37 Chris it says between - not necessarily at 1905 and 1944

19:37 Graham I dont think it does anything to BH but the intervals are so short now, who knows

19:37 Todd_Lori maybe just showing off on a pretty day :)

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20:26 Rich Hi Michael

20:27 Gazer-by-Proxy Hi Michael.

20:28 Michael Hi everyone. I've only heard of mid-cycle Indicators during times when Beehive had short intervals like it's doing now.

20:29 Rich Any specific we can be looking for?

20:30 Michael Never seen one for myself. I'm told it's just weak splashing in the vent.

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20:31 Michael The big danger is that they've been known to herald a period of False Indicators, as happened in both 1992 and 1994.

20:32 Rich Any correlation to non indicator eruptions?

20:32 Michael I will get scared if there is a short Beehive interval with a long (30 minutes) indicator lead time. That's the point where it starts to look like Indicator is taking over.

20:33 Michael For reference, what happened in 1992 is that Indicator completely took over the system for a month, erupting every 3-4 hours for 40ish minutes.

20:34 Michael In 1994 it was a bit less extreme. Beehive managed to sneak in an eruption every few days...during an eruption of Indicator of course but you had no idea which time would be the charm.

Excerpts from the Old Faithful CamChatroom log of June 29, 2010

[09:08] Rich: Hi Dave M

[09:08] Dave M: Hi

[09:08] Dave M: Tara mentined a little BH news I thought I'd pass along

[09:08] Rich: Always appreciated.

[09:09] Meebo Message: Could not IM buddy

[09:09] Dave M: BH had too short mid-cycle indicators yesterday.

[09:09] Dave M: Each lasted about 1 minute

[09:10] Rich: What is a mid-cycle indicator?

[09:10] Dave M: The first was 5 and a half hours after the morning BH and the second was a half hour later (approximate times)

[09:11] Dave M: A mid-cycle indicator is an indicator that usually starts 4-6 hours after beehive -- about mid way through a short interval.

[09:12] Rich: Significance?

[09:13] Dave M: A short mid-cycle duration is not bad in and of itself. The problem gets long (sorry I'm a slow typist)

[09:13] Rich: np

[09:13] Rich: Beehive isn't due for another 9 1/2 hours. g

[09:14] Dave M: The problem is if the mid-cycle indicators start having long durations. They can then become false indicators -- i.e. no BH eruptions.

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[09:15] Dave M: Mid-cycle and False indicators have sometimes started when BH is having lots of short intervals. Note this is sometimes, not always.

[09:15] kcmule: thx Dave between u and Michael i've learned more about BHI than ever before in the last couple days

[09:17] Dave M: Lets hope we don't see anymore. Since you guys are the eyes for a lot of us, I wanted you to know what had happened.

[09:17] Rich: Anything specific to look for?

[09:17] Dave M: Have a good day -- off to work.

[09:18] Rich: Thank you Dave M.

[09:18] Dave M: Rich, -- just watch for an indication of the indicator even when you wouldn't be expecting it. And trust your observations.

[09:19] kcmule: uh oh we're professional second and third guessers : )

[09:19] Rich: Thanks Dave