Strong northwest winds blew ash and dust from the 1912 eruption of Novarupta over parts of Kodiak Island on Thursday, limiting visibility and prompting some airlines to cancel flights.
The ash and dust mainly traveled over the southern and western parts of Kodiak Island after being carried roughly 100 miles from the Alaska Peninsula and across Shelikof Strait, said Mitch Sego, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Alaska Aviation Weather Unit.
"It actually is light enough and fine enough where it can travel very long distances," Sego said of the material.
Wind gusts measured between 30 and 40 mph Thursday afternoon and were expected to persist into the evening. Ash and dust were not expected to accumulate on Kodiak Island, Sego said.
The eruption in June 1912 is considered the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. For three days, Novarupta spewed lava and ash. During the eruption, Mount Katmai, 6 miles away, partially collapsed. Wind has whipped up remnants of the eruption for more than a century.
"You can imagine just how many times the wind has blown from that direction at that speed and it just keeps lifting this ash and spewing it out," Sego said. "It's a lot of ash. It's a tremendous amount of ash."
Alaska Airlines canceled one flight into and one flight out of Kodiak on Thursday due to high winds and ash, said Bobbie Egan, the company's media relations manager. Ravn Alaska also canceled two flights, said Charlotte Sieggreen, the airline's marketing manager.