Here's how a 'volcanic supereruption' at Yellowstone might impact life in Colorado

Viral video of a seemingly massive hydrothermal explosion at Yellowstone National Park has once again stoked fears that a larger eruption may be imminent, with the impact of any sort of larger eruption at Yellowstone assumed to have the potential to be devastating and widespread. Officials have already worked to qualm those fears, noting that the eruption that took place in recent days is fairly typical and not indicative of any sort of greater change in the volcanic system – eruptions of this nature merely tend to happen in remote backcountry areas where there aren't as many witnesses.

While the risk of a major explosion is believed to be no higher than it was a few weeks ago, the public continues to ask "what if?"

For starters, the USGS notes that trying to predict when Yellowstone may erupt again is "statistically meaningless." Three eruptions are known to have occurred in the past – 2.1 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago, and 64 million years ago – but officials note that this information isn't enough to predict the next event. Officials also note that "for those who insist," the average interval between the three events is 0.73 million years, meaning we would still be about 90,000 years from another supereruption in the unlikely event that the interval between the last event and a future event ends up sticking to that average. Will another eruption happen at some point? It's possible. But when? That's unknown.

Officials also noted that if another eruption were to take place in the near term, it would likely be hydrothermal, not volcanic. If a major volcanic eruption were to take place, on the other hand, it may bring lava flows along with ash and pumice, and if that eruption were to be on par with major eruptions of the past, "it would likely alter global weather patterns and have enormous effects on human activity, especially agricultural production, for many years." But again, the chances of that happening in the near-term are low.

But if a supereruption does take place, what does that mean for Colorado?

In the immediate term after a supereruption, it would likely mean a lot of ash and major impacts to human life.

All three of the last major eruptions at Yellowstone coated the entire state of Colorado (and beyond) with ash. And given Colorado's proximity to Yellowstone, it's likely this ash would be quite thick.

The two maps below were featured in a USGS report titled 'Modeling the Ash Distribution of a Yellowstone Supereruption,' published by Yellowstone Volcano Observatory – one showing distribution of ash in each major eruption and another showing estimated depth of ash:

But how would a Yellowstone eruption impact Colorado specifically?

An article from Canadian Broadcasting Company breaks down impacts across the continent into six different 'zones,' with 'zone one' being the immediate area around an eruption and 'zone six' including much of the United States and a large part of Canada.

Colorado is split between zones four and five. As far as zone four goes, which includes western and northern Colorado, residents might get buried in as much as 60 centimeters of ashfall, with any area getting at least 30 centimeters said to be at extreme risk. Roofs would likely collapse due to heavy ash loads and breathing would be extremely difficult. Water would be contaminated with sulphuric acid and air filtration systems would likely fail. It's also believed there would be no power and that transportation opportunities would be non-existent or extremely limited.

In zone five areas, which includes Denver, about 15 centimeters of ashfall would be predicted to fall. While impacts would be less, they would still be detrimental to normal life. Vehicles would still likely stop working as ash clogged air filters and wet ash could cause electrical grids to experience major issues. Additionally roofs may still collapse and tree limbs would likely fall.

Granted, that's all hypothetical. Until an explosion of that nature occurs, it would be difficult to truly pin down the full impact. But nearly every source agrees – there would be major impacts in the Centennial State. And again, it's a big 'if' – experts don't believe there's any sort of imminent risk of an eruption of this nature.

There's another very important question to ask – should Coloradans be preparing for a potential supereruption at Yellowstone? It's recommended to always be prepared for a natural disaster to take place, but the supereruption probably belongs low on the list of worries. Either way, prepping with survival gear isn't a bad idea, especially considering that power outages during frigid winter storms and wildfires both tend to be relevant risks in the Centennial State.

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