“Volnado” Dances Around Spectacular Lava Fountain In Kīlauea Volcano Crater

An epic dance unfolded recently in Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano, as a whirlwind that’s been dubbed a “volnado” whipped up next to a spewing fountain of lava.

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The twister appeared during the afternoon on September 2 in the Halemaʻumaʻu crater, at the volcano’s summit, and in a video captured during a livestream by the US Geological Survey (USGS), can be seen swirling in front of the erupting lava fountain as it kicks up loose ash on the surface.

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While an impressive sight to witness, according to the USGS, it’s far from an unusual one. “These whirlwinds, which can also occur on the crater rim downwind of the eruption (within the closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park), have been documented during several eruptive episodes,” the agency said in a post to X.

In fact, an even larger – if less defined – whirlwind had also been caught on the livestream earlier that day, throwing pumice up to around 305 meters (1,000 feet) up into the air in a scene that looked more like something you’d see in a movie than a regular, real-life occurrence.

But there’s no movie magic here – the USGS says that the whirlwinds are the result of “the chaotic and turbulent mixing of hot and cold air” in the area surrounding a lava fountain, similar to how dust devils are whipped up in deserts. 

There’ll likely be more “volnadoes” to come at Kīlauea, too. Found on the southeastern coast of Hawai’I – the largest of the Hawaiian Islands – it’s one of the most active volcanoes on the planet, having erupted near-continuously between 1983 to 2018.

The current eruption at Kīlauea began back in December 2024, and since then, lava fountains have been spurting up from the ground roughly once a week. Despite the volcano’s previous long period of activity, this is the first time episodic lava fountaining has been seen in an eruption since 1986, which marked the end of three years of regular molten jets during the Puʻuʻōʻō eruption.

This more recent bout has brought some seriously spectacular fountains, with some from the beginning of the eruption back in December 2024 shooting up to 90 meters (300 feet) into the air. But greater heights were yet to come; on May 25, 2025, the USGS reported that one spray reached nearly 305 meters (1,000 feet).

The fountains seen yesterday might not have reached quite such epic heights, but the eruptive episode they were part of spewed out an impressive 9.56 million cubic meters (338 million cubic feet) of lava – which, according to the USGS, is enough to fill a 1.6-kilometer (1 mile) deep, football field-sized hole.