
Impact of Hunga Tonga Volcano in Star Valley
Around 11pm MST Friday night a tremendous eruption of the Hunga Tonga Volcano occurred some 250 miles southwest of Samoa in the South Pacific.
Even though Star Valley is far away from the volcano, there were effects quickly felt around the globe. Within hours, a pressure wave radiated out from the volcano at about the speed of sound and was detected across much of the United States, including Star Valley.
There are several weather stations in Star Valley. A distinct pressure jump was recorded on all of them shortly after 6am Saturday morning.
The pressure trace from the Star Valley Ranch station located on top of the Public Works building
which sends an observation every 5 minutes clearly sensed the passage of the pressure wave
The Star Valley Ranch station has been recording observations since 2011 and can be seen at any time with this link
Star Valley Ranch Weather Station
The Weather Station on the roof of the Thayne Elementary School which also has been active since 2011 sensed the pressure wave. Observations at the school are only collected every 15 minutes so the wave passage is not quite as pronounced as at the Star Valley site.
The station is located on the roof of the school
and the observation from Thayne Elementary are available using this link
Thayne Elementary School Weather Station