Popo Is Restless

(most images taken from the web)

Forty three miles to the southeast of Mexico City is the volcano Popocatépetl… commonly referred to as "Popo".  On the eastern side of the volcano is the city of Puebla, with a population of 1.5 million.  "Popo" is the second highest mountain peak in Mexico with an elevation of 17,802 feet.  

"Popo" is the most active volcano in the country.  After an eruption in 1947, the mountain had remained quiet until 1994.when renewed activity prompted the evacuation of towns on the volcano's slopes.  Since then the exhalation of gasses and ash has been a normal sight.

Here's a rather dramatic photo that I took last November when Alejandro and I were driving from Puebla to Mexico City.

At around 9:00 P.M. on March 18th the volcano erupted again, but this time glowing lava and fire were visible and incandescent projectiles were hurled into the air.

Here is a link to a You Tube video taken from the government security webcam near "Popo"...

Eruption of "Popo", March 18, 2019

The government then raised the alert level to "yellow phase three", one step short of ordering a mandatory evacuation of the towns closest to the volcano.

Since then the volcano has been spewing gas and ash.  Here is a photo that I found on the internet taken a few days ago from the city of Puebla.

I will be heading back to Mexico City in less than a week.  I am not really worried about a cataclysmic eruption.  What does concern me a bit is that ash in the atmosphere might disrupt flights to the city.  On July 4, 2013, forty flights to and from Mexico City International Airport were cancelled due to an eruption of the volcano.

For the time being, the prevailing winds have blown the ash plume away from Mexico City.  Here is an image from a webcam on the western side (Mexico City side) of the peak from early this morning.  You can see the silhouettes of the mountains "Izta" and "Popo", and the plume is still blowing away from the city.