Since Saturday, scientists at AVO report that Augustine is in a state of continuous eruption. Where before the eruptions that started Jan. 11 consisted of a short series of eruptions followed by relative quiet, Augustine has entered a second phase.

Before, Augustine had ejected ash clouds that spread throughout lower Cook Inlet.

Now, the volcano is constantly producing plumes of steam, gas and ash, although clouds were not seen on Wednesday. AVO dropped the level of concern to Code Orange Wednesday morning.

“Where they (the ash plumes) immediately detached, this didn’t detach,” said Kristi Wallace, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Anchorage. “Ever since Saturday it’s stayed connected. It’s traveling in whatever wind direction is prevailing at the time.”

The National Weather Service over the past week has issued ash alerts for almost every area of Southcentral Alaska from Kodiak to Skwentna, with reports of trace amounts. One large seismic pulse produced an ash cloud 25,000 feet, although airline pilots reported seeing ash at 50,000 feet, well above their cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, Wallace said.

Because of the danger to aircraft, Alaska Airlines canceled all flights to and from Anchorage Monday night and Tuesday morning. It resumed flights later Tuesday, but the airline advised passengers to check for current updates.

Other than the danger to aircraft, Wallace said ashfall has been in very small amounts, with Kodiak and Afognak Island reporting the most ashfall, about the same as Homer got Jan. 13. Wallace said in other areas there have been reports of haze, but no reports of ash on the ground.

“We’re getting a lot of calls from people that ‘it’s just a feeling,’” Wallace said.

She said the plumes reported are not dark plumes but white, with fine and relatively small amounts of ash. Some of the reports of ash are of ash falling in snow. In discussions with meteorologists, Wallace said one theory is that moisture is bonding with fine ash particles and falling as micro droplets of snow.

“That’s why we’re getting these strange calls that it’s falling in these isolated places,” Wallace said.

With low-altitude ash continuously being ejected, the concern now is how ash may be affecting air quality. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is now issuing air quality alerts based on ash in the air.

Air quality advisories can be found on the Web at www.dec.state.ak.us/air/ am/aq_sr.htm. The Division of Public Health issued an advisory last week on health effects associated with volcanic eruptions. That advisory is at www.epi.hss.state. ak.us/bulletins.

Augustine is also producing more pyroclastic flows, rock falls and mud flows. The pyroclastic flows — a mixture of extremely hot gas, steam, ash and debris — have been falling down the flanks of the volcano and into Cook Inlet. The latest eruption took out four seismic stations and one GPS station. An occasional discrete eruption and the pyroclastic flows are what has caused AVO’s Webicorder graph to look like a Jackson Pollock painting — line by line of jiggly blobs indicating seismic activity.

The new phase of continuous eruptions suggests the throat of the volcano has opened up, said Stephanie Prejean, a USGS seismologist. For Augustine to eventually settle down, whatever amount of magma in the volcano has to come out. Scientists don’t know yet if that magma has fully emerged.

“We don’t know what (the magma’s) pool is that it’s getting it from,” Prejean said.

AVO made overflights of Augustine over the weekend, but scientists have not been able to get a clear view of the summit to see how much new magma has emerged. Except for a trip last week to repair the on-island Web camera, scientists have not risked landing on the island.

Prejean said the latest eruptive phase could be good in that it’s more effectively clearing ash out of the volcano.

“It might be good in that it’s progressing in what it wants to do,” she added. “The change may mean the eruption is progressing through whatever its life cycle is going to be.”

Don’t think the eruption is over, though.

“This could go on for months,” Prejean cautioned.

For more information on Augustine and ash alerts, visit the AVO Web page at www.avo.alaska.edu. A recording of the latest update can be heard by calling (907) 786-7478.