Update, evening of April 20, 2026: USGS HVO has raised the Kīlauea alert level from ADVISORY/YELLOW to WATCH/ORANGE. Sustained fountaining is likely within hours to days.

Kīlauea is waking up again. Precursory low-level activity for Episode 45 of the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption began around 7:46 p.m. HST on April 20, 2026, with several lava overflows from the north vent — the classic opening move before sustained fountaining. The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory had a forecast window of April 21 to 26 for the next fountaining event, and the summit has been telegraphing the signal all week: since Episode 44 ended on April 9, the Uēkahuna tiltmeter has tracked roughly 14.9 microradians of inflationary tilt, with steady glow from the south vent overnight and intermittent glow at the north vent.

If you are on the Big Island right now or arriving in the next few days, this is the window. The pattern from Episodes 43 and 44 has been remarkably consistent: precursory overflows, then within hours to a couple of days, full lava fountaining from one or both vents inside Halemaʻumaʻu.

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (2026): Eruption Updates & Guide

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The north vent is spilling lava onto the crater floor in short overflows — a behavior USGS describes as “lava spattering and overflows from one or both of the eruptive vents” that typically precede the main fountaining event. The south vent has been showing strong and continuous glow overnight, with frequent flames visible on the webcam. Low-level seismic tremor has continued through the pause, and three small-magnitude earthquakes hit the summit region in the past 24 hours.

What comes next: if this cycle follows the pattern of the previous 44 episodes, sustained fountaining from one or both vents should begin within hours to a couple of days. Episode 44 ran 8.5 hours with a north-vent peak around 800 feet. Episode 43 set the cycle record at 1,770 feet from the south vent. Episode 45 could look like either — or neither.

USGS livestream. The USGS Kīlauea webcams page lists every active camera at the summit. KWcam gives a wide panorama of Halemaʻumaʻu from the west rim. V1cam is a pan-tilt-zoom camera from the northwest rim that the observatory re-aims based on where the action is — during active episodes it usually frames whichever vent is fountaining hardest.

In person at the park. Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is open 24 hours and does not close during summit eruptions. The best sightlines into Halemaʻumaʻu are from Keanakākoʻi Overlook and Uēkahuna, both on or near Crater Rim Drive. Both have cycled between open and closed for tephra cleanup after recent fountaining events, so check the NPS conditions page the day of your visit. After sunset, the crater glow is visible from multiple overlooks along the rim and the sky above Halemaʻumaʻu turns orange on clear nights during active fountaining.

Park entrance fee: $30 per vehicle, valid for 7 days. Annual pass holders enter free.

The honest read: nobody can guarantee when Episode 45 will kick off, how long it will last, or how high the fountains will reach. USGS forecast windows have been landing inside the predicted range, but the exact start time still surprises forecasters by a few hours in either direction. If you are on the Big Island between April 21 and 26, build at least one flexible evening into your itinerary so you can get to the summit if an episode starts.

Volcano Village sits a 5-minute drive from the park entrance and is the obvious base camp for eruption-watching. Several B&Bs and vacation rentals there put you close enough to reach the crater rim inside 15 minutes after an episode begins. From Hilo it is about 45 minutes, from Kona roughly 2.5 hours — a rental car is essential for any of these options.

If you would rather see the eruption from the air, helicopter operators like Paradise Helicopters and Blue Hawaiian fly volcano-focused routes out of Hilo and adjust in real time to eruption status. You can also compare Big Island helicopter tours on Viator.

The eruption is contained to the summit crater. Lava is not flowing into communities, not crossing roads, and not threatening homes. The 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption that destroyed Leilani Estates was a fundamentally different event. Episode 45 — like every episode in this cycle — will be confined to Halemaʻumaʻu inside the park boundary.

Tephra is the main hazard once fountaining starts. During Episode 43, winds pushed 4 to 12 inches of tephra across Uēkahuna and Kīlauea Military Camp, and football-sized fragments landed at some summit overlooks. Episode 44 sent reticulite up to 12 inches to the Volcano Golf Course area and fine ash and Pele’s Hair as far as Hilo. If you are near the park during active fountaining, keep car windows closed and avoid breathing volcanic dust. You can report tephra fall at hawaiiash.science.

Vog and SO₂ will spike during fountaining. People with respiratory conditions should monitor current air quality on AirNow before visiting. Our Big Island vog guide covers which parts of the island get hit hardest and when.

Stay on marked trails and behind barriers. The NPS marks closures clearly near the crater edge — ground there can be undercut by lava tubes and unstable. Ignoring closures at an active volcano is not adventurous. It is how people die.

Flights in and out of Hilo and Kona are operating normally. Summit eruptions do not disrupt commercial flights. Vog can reduce visibility on some days, but airports stay open.

Three signals tell you Episode 45 has started in earnest: (1) sustained lava fountaining from the north or south vent rising tens to hundreds of feet above the crater floor, (2) a visible plume column rising from Halemaʻumaʻu — Episode 44’s reached 16,000 feet above sea level, and (3) a rapid drop in the Uēkahuna tiltmeter reading as magma drains from the summit reservoir during the eruption. USGS posts updates multiple times a day, and the forecast windows have been tightening as the cycle matures.

Check our live volcano status page for the current USGS alert level across both Kīlauea and Mauna Loa. HVO raised Kīlauea from ADVISORY/YELLOW to WATCH/ORANGE on the evening of April 20 as precursory overflows progressed — the site-wide banner is active, and we will step it back down once fountaining ends and the summit returns to a pause.

Kīlauea is putting on one of the more spectacular eruption cycles in its modern record. If you happen to be on the Big Island this week, you may be lucky enough to watch Episode 45 unfold from the crater rim. Plan around it.