Hawaiʻi, right now
Straight from the official instruments.
No active lava at the summit right now
Episode 54 has ended. The next episode has not been forecast yet, so there is no active lava to see at the summit.
- Alert level
- ADVISORY
- Aviation
- YELLOW
The National Park Service currently lists 3 closures in the park. Check the closure list before you set out, as closures can affect which overlooks and trails are reachable.
See the current closure listThe mountain, right now
Kīlauea doesn’t erupt on a schedule. It runs in episodes: fountains for a day or two, then quiet for a week or more. This reads the USGS instruments and the park’s own alerts and answers the one thing you came for. Can you see lava, or not.
Is tonight worth the drive?
Mauna Kea is one of the darkest skies you can drive to, and you do not need the summit to use it: the summit closes to visitors half an hour after sunset, so the stargazing happens at the Visitor Station at 9,200 feet, which any car can reach. Before you commit two hours each way, see what the sky, the moon, the cold and the road are doing tonight.
Where’s the water calm?
Surf here swings hard by shore, by island and by season. The same afternoon can be glass on one coast and a brown-water advisory on another, and a swell that closes Waikīkī can leave the north shore flat. This pulls the surf forecast, the tides and the health department’s advisories into one line per shore, for four islands.
Which side has clean air?
Vog is the haze Kīlauea breathes out, sulfur and fine particles that ride the trade winds down the island. Some days Kona is socked in while Hilo is clear, or the other way around. The map shows the EPA’s own reading for each town, so you can pick your day, or your side.