Update, June 27, 2026 (5:10 p.m. HST) — Episode 50 has ended. Episode 50 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption ended abruptly at 5:10 p.m. HST on Saturday, June 27, after about 7 hours of continuous lava fountaining, per the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. HVO noted that tephra carried high into the air during the fountaining may keep falling on communities and roads in Kaʻū through the evening, so take care driving downwind of the summit. As after previous episodes, HVO is expected to lower Kīlauea from WATCH back to ADVISORY and the Aviation Color Code from ORANGE to YELLOW; the next official report will confirm.

Earlier that day — fountaining begins: Sustained lava fountaining began at about 10:10 a.m. HST on June 27, after a precursory overflow from the north vent at 9:46 a.m. that followed roughly five minutes of vigorous drainback. Dome fountains grew from about 10 feet to over 50 feet by 10:10 a.m. as summit tremor increased and tilt dropped; as of HVO’s 10:36 a.m. update, fountains were about 100 feet high and growing, with USGS forecasting growth to over 600 feet within one to two hours. Activity stayed confined to Halemaʻumaʻu crater inside Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, where volcanic gas, tephra, fine ash, and Pele’s Hair drifted downwind across the summit area and nearby communities.

Earlier — precursory phase, June 26, 2026: Low-level precursory activity for Episode 50 increased around 8:50 a.m. HST on Friday, June 26, with a small lava overflow from the north vent along with rising levels of spattering and gas jetting. HVO raised the Volcano Alert Level for Kīlauea from ADVISORY to WATCH and the Aviation Color Code from YELLOW to ORANGE the same morning — the typical opening sequence before a main fountaining event, which arrived the next day.

The summit had been pointing toward this for over a week. After Episode 49 ended abruptly at 5:05 p.m. HST on June 14, the shallow summit reservoir flipped into recovery mode and began re-pressurizing. In its Episode 50 forecast, HVO flagged a fountaining window of June 23 through 27 based on summit re-inflation, intermittent vent glow, and continued degassing. The June 26 precursory overflow lands squarely inside that window.

The lead-up followed the rhythm the summit has settled into since the eruption resumed in December 2024: inflation, short precursory overflows, then a single multi-hour fountain, then collapse and recovery. The overflow and spattering reported this morning are small and intermittent — a long way from the sustained fountains that have defined each episode — which is exactly what “precursory” means. The system is testing the vent before it commits to a main fountain.

USGS livestream. The USGS Kīlauea webcams page lists every active summit camera. The V1cam is a pan-tilt-zoom camera the observatory re-aims toward whichever vent is most active, and HVO also runs live summit streams on YouTube during fountaining episodes. During a precursory phase like this, the webcams are the best way to catch the moment a main fountain starts.

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 either can cycle closed for tephra cleanup or poor air quality once an episode is active. Check the NPS conditions page the day of your visit. After dark, 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 and America the Beautiful pass holders enter free.

Catching a fountaining episode in person comes down to timing. These episodes have run roughly 6 to 13 hours from start to abrupt finish, and there is no guaranteed lead time between the precursory overflows you read about and the main fountain. If you are near the park while the alert sits at WATCH, the smart move is to keep the webcams open and be ready to drive up quickly. Even between episodes, the trip is worth it — 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 geology lesson.

Volcano Village sits a few minutes from the park entrance and is the obvious base camp for eruption-watching. From Hilo it is about 45 minutes to the park; from Kona, roughly 2 to 2.5 hours (per NPS directions). A rental car is essential — eruption windows do not coordinate with shuttle schedules, and the next fountain 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 is confined to Halemaʻumaʻu inside the park boundary. Per the HVO assessment, the precursory overflow stayed within the crater and is not threatening communities or homes. The 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption that destroyed Leilani Estates was a fundamentally different event. Conditions can change, and HVO will update the alert level if rift-zone activity develops.

Tephra is the main hazard once fountaining starts. Precursory overflows produce little to no tephra, but that changes if a main fountain begins: past episodes have sent reticulite, Pele’s Hair, and pumice drifting downwind across the summit area and into communities northeast of the caldera. If you are at the rim when an episode kicks off, keep car windows closed and limit time outside if you have respiratory conditions.

Vog and SO₂ spike during fountaining and drop sharply between episodes. People with respiratory conditions should check current air quality on AirNow before visiting, and 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 get hurt.

With Episode 50 over, the next milestone is the buildup to Episode 51. Episodes through this stretch have each been a single multi-hour fountain that ends abruptly — Episode 50 ran about 7 hours, Episode 49 about 7.5, Episode 48 about 9 — after which Kīlauea drops back to ADVISORY and the Aviation Color Code returns to YELLOW. The eruption itself is not winding down: the summit has been running this inflation-and-fountain loop on a roughly two-week clock since it resumed in December 2024, so HVO will watch for the next round of summit re-inflation, vent glow, and precursory overflows that signals another episode is near — likely within days to a few weeks.

The right tools to keep an eye on Kīlauea: the USGS Kīlauea webcams, the HVO daily updates for tilt and deformation summaries, and AirNow for summit air quality if you plan to visit. Our Kīlauea eruption updates page tracks the current USGS alert level and the latest episode summary, and we will post a fresh update when the next episode’s precursory activity begins.