Update, early morning of May 15, 2026: Episode 47 ended abruptly at 12:27 a.m. HST after 9 hours of continuous lava fountaining from the north vent inside Halemaʻumaʻu. The eruption is currently paused. Per the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, most tephra fell within the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, but sparse reticulite up to 3 inches (5 centimeters) in size fell at both the Uēkahuna and Keanakākoʻi overlooks. Fine ash and Pele’s Hair fell outside the park in communities to the northeast, including Mauna Loa Estates, ʻŌhiʻa Estates, Volcano village, and Royal Hawaiian Estates.

Update, afternoon of May 14, 2026: Episode 47 lava fountaining began at 3:27 p.m. HST, with activity focused at the north vent while the south vent continued to cyclically overflow. HVO had raised the Volcano Alert Level from ADVISORY to WATCH and the Aviation Color Code from YELLOW to ORANGE earlier in the day after precursory south-vent overflows began around 3 a.m. HST.

Episode 47 followed the rhythm the summit has settled into over the last several episodes. Precursory low-level activity began with small lava overflows from the south vent around 3 a.m. HST on May 14 — the typical opening sequence HVO describes before a main fountaining event. Between the end of Episode 46 on May 5 and the start of Episode 47 precursors, the Uēkahuna tiltmeter tracked inflationary tilt as magma re-pressurized the shallow summit reservoir.

Sustained fountaining from the north vent began at 3:27 p.m. HST on May 14 and ran continuously inside Halemaʻumaʻu until ending abruptly at 12:27 a.m. on May 15 — exactly 9 hours, matching the duration of Episode 46 and consistent with the 8 to 9 hour pattern of Episodes 44 and 45. Activity stayed confined to the crater throughout. Volcanic gas emissions drop sharply once fountaining stops, and the summit reservoir now begins re-pressurizing for whatever comes next.

Episode 47 dropped material in two distinct zones. Inside the park, most tephra stayed within the closed area around Halemaʻumaʻu, but HVO reported sparse reticulite up to 3 inches (5 centimeters) in size falling at both the Uēkahuna and Keanakākoʻi overlooks — the two closest visitor sightlines on Crater Rim Drive. Reticulite is a frothy, lightweight basaltic glass that forms when fountaining lava cools rapidly in flight, and 3-inch fragments are large enough that any overlook surface they landed on will need cleanup before reopening.

Outside the park, fine ash and Pele’s Hair fell on communities northeast of the summit: Mauna Loa Estates, ʻŌhiʻa Estates, Volcano village, and Royal Hawaiian Estates. Pele’s Hair forms when fountaining lava droplets stretch into thin glass fibers during flight, then settle out kilometers downwind. It is sharp, lightweight, and brittle, so it tangles in vegetation, screens, and outdoor furniture rather than washing away cleanly with rain. Residents and visitors in those subdivisions should brush off rather than rub material from clothing and skin, avoid using shop vacuums without proper filters, and keep small children and pets from playing in affected yards until the fibers have been raked up and bagged.

USGS livestream. The USGS Kīlauea webcams page lists every active camera at the summit. KWcam gives a wide panorama from the west rim. V1cam is a pan-tilt-zoom camera the observatory re-aims based on where the action is — during active fountaining it usually frames whichever vent is going hardest.

In person at the park. Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is open 24 hours and does not close during summit eruptions. The best sightlines into Halemaʻumaʻu are from Keanakākoʻi Overlook and Uēkahuna, both on or near Crater Rim Drive — though both received reticulite during Episode 47 and may cycle closed for tephra cleanup over the next few days. Check the NPS conditions page the day of your visit. After sunset, the crater glow is visible from multiple overlooks along the rim during any active fountaining.

Park entrance fee: $30 per vehicle, valid for 7 days, per the NPS fees page. Annual pass holders enter free.

Episode 47 has ended, but the eruption itself has not. Halemaʻumaʻu remains the focus of background unrest, and based on this cycle’s rhythm, the next precursory overflows could begin anywhere from a few days to a few weeks from now. Episodes 41 through 47 have averaged roughly 10 to 14 days between starts. If you are on the island this week, the park is still worth the trip — fresh cooled lava covers most of the crater floor, the steaming vents are visible from the rim, and the post-episode landscape is its own kind of geology lesson.

Volcano Village sits a few minutes’ drive from the park entrance and is the obvious base camp for eruption-watching whenever the next episode arrives. Residents there are dealing with the fine ash and Pele’s Hair fall from Episode 47 right now, so expect some cleanup activity around the village. From Hilo it is about 45 minutes to the park; from Kona, roughly 2.5 hours (per Google Maps driving estimates). A rental car is essential — eruption windows do not coordinate with shuttle schedules, and the next episode could start at any hour.

For aerial viewing, several Big Island helicopter operators fly volcano-focused routes out of Hilo and adjust in real time to eruption status. You can compare Big Island helicopter tours on Viator.

Activity stayed confined to Halemaʻumaʻu inside the park boundary throughout Episode 47. Per the HVO assessment, lava did not flow into communities and did not threaten homes. The 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption that destroyed Leilani Estates was a fundamentally different event. Conditions can change; HVO will update the alert level if rift-zone activity develops in any future episode.

Tephra is the main hazard during and just after fountaining. Episode 47 sent fine ash and Pele’s Hair into communities northeast of the summit — Mauna Loa Estates, ʻŌhiʻa Estates, Volcano village, Royal Hawaiian Estates — for the first time in several episodes. If you are visiting one of those subdivisions in the next few days, the same precautions apply: keep car windows closed, wear long sleeves around recently-fallen material, and rinse off rather than rubbing skin that has been exposed to Pele’s Hair fibers. The fibers are sharp enough to cut on contact and easily irritate eyes.

Vog and SO₂ spike during fountaining and drop sharply between episodes. With no active eruption right now, summit air quality should clear over the next several hours. People with respiratory conditions should still monitor current air quality on AirNow before visiting. Our Big Island vog guide covers which parts of the island get hit hardest and when.

Stay on marked trails and behind barriers. The NPS safety guidance warns that ground near the crater edge can be undercut by lava tubes and unstable. Ignoring closures at an active volcano is how people die.

Flights at Hilo (ITO) and Kona (KOA) operated normally throughout Episode 47. Per USGS guidance on volcanic ash, summit eruptions of this type rarely produce ash clouds dense enough to disrupt commercial flights. Check directly with your airline if a future episode coincides with your travel.

Episode 47 is over, but the eruption is not. The summit reservoir is now in deflation-recovery mode — the Uēkahuna tiltmeter (UWD) will track inflationary tilt as magma re-pressurizes the shallow reservoir, and when that tilt approaches the threshold that preceded recent episodes, USGS HVO will start watching for the next round of precursory overflows. Episodes 41 through 47 have averaged roughly 10 to 14 days between starts, with a range from about 9 to 18 days. The next episode could come anywhere inside that window, or push past it.

The right tools to keep an eye on Kīlauea between episodes: the USGS Kīlauea webcams for any signs of returning activity, the HVO daily updates for tilt and deformation summaries, and AirNow for summit air quality if you plan to visit the park in the coming days. Our Kīlauea eruption updates page tracks the current USGS alert level and the latest episode summary.

Kīlauea is putting on one of the more spectacular eruption cycles in its modern record, with HVO logging dozens of episodes since the cycle began in December 2024. Episode 47 added another short, intense fountaining event to that record — and the eruption keeps going.