Beautiful photo of the volcanic sky above La Palma, but what do we really see?

Because you don’t often see such a plaque from space, explains meteorologist Marc de Jong from Buienradar. A nice photo, but to see what is going on, the images below are more useful:

De Jong explains, “Hot air and ash come out of the volcano. It condenses and creates clouds. This air rises extremely quickly because it is very hot, but it ends up meeting a layer of air. even hotter. “

Collision in the air

And then there is a collision. “This warmer layer is very hot Saharan air, located at an altitude of about 5 kilometers and the air from the volcano cannot pass through it,” says De Jong. But because the air rises so quickly, it passes through this warmer layer for a while.

“Air can pass through it for a short time and then it is pushed back,” says De Jong. “You can compare it to a ball that you push underwater and when you release it it pops up on the surface and dances back and forth for a while.”

1000 buildings destroyed

However, other conditions are necessary before such a special photo can be taken. “It must be calm, otherwise it will fly away again.” And it was October 1 when this photo was taken.

The mood in La Palma will not improve. More than 1000 buildings have already been destroyed and the lava flowing into the sea creates toxic fumes. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pledged aid worth 200 million euros today.

Lava is still flowing on the island, here are pictures from yesterday: