Could a volcanic eruption 8,000 miles away affect us here in the Capital Region?

Ross Lazear, a scientist with the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences at the University of Albany, has been tracking the underwater volcanic eruption off the coast of New Zealand and has come to some rather interesting conclusions.

“This is one of the massive explosions the volcano is capable of producing approximately every thousand years.” – Washington Post

He, along with the other really, really smart people who calculate the effects of this stuff, say their data shows that even halfway around the world, we can feel its effects in the Capital Region.

The powerful undersea eruption is a force to be reckoned with and Pacific Islanders are bracing for more power outages, massive storm swells and volcanic dust.

According to the Washington Post, University of Auckland volcanologist Shane Cronin, who has studied the Tongan volcano for years, said “this is one of the massive explosions the volcano is capable of producing about every a thousand years”.

So what does the data say about how this has affected us in the capital region?

Here in the Capital Region, News 10 meteorologist Jill Szwed thinks we may be feeling more than just seismic waves. Szwed said some of the ash may make it to New York, “but it will be at a much lower concentration.”