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Observations for 2022 July 18


Did a quick check of north Upper Basin Features in the morning. Artemisia was full and overflowing, and that was the extent of what I knew about it. East Sentinel seemed to be wetter around the main area of activity along the north rim. Fan & Mortar was unchanged, although it seemed like the area just below Bottom Vent was wet.

From that, it was on to Grand. The morning had been breezy, but by now, as noon approached, it was getting windy. Over the next five hours, it got windier. Also during that time Turban was regularly erupting about every 17 to 19 minutes, with duration lengths dropping from just under four minutes to just under three. Then there was a Turban Delay interval, followed by the second West Triplet eruption of the wait. No Rift eruption, and now the Turban intervals were shorter, less than 17 minutes and durations about 2-1/2 minutes.

Finally, after a 14-1/2 minute Turban interval Grand did erupt. The first burst was surprisingly tall considering the strong, gusty wind. At a couple of times during the eruption, Grand slowed down such that it appeared to be stopping, only to come back strong. It was as if we almost had another three burst eruption. The interval was the longest of the season so far, 11h37m.

During the first few hours of that wait, Sawmill was erupting. Toward the end of Sawmill's eruption, Tardy was also having a tall and steamy eruption, and from the benches at Grand, it almost looked like Uncertain. After Sawmill finally quit, there was a short eruption (perhaps five minutes long) about fifteen minutes later.

Well after dark I went out to Grand on the possibility of there being a short interval. Instead, I saw Rift well into an eruption (West Triplet was dry). Decided it would probably be well after midnight before Grand finally erupted, so I left.