Hello Brian - My guess is that Coats found those reports, too! Cool that now we know where those notations of his came from! Wes Hildreth and Judy Fierstein, who have done extensive study of Katmai/Novarupta, firmly believe that these reports of activity are referencing resuspended 1912 ash. Given that more than 100 years later these ash resuspension events can deposit quite noticeable ash on Kodiak Island, I would guess that "heavy" and other adjectives don't seem far-fetched for time periods more proximal to 1912. Certainly the times of year - March and November - are compatible with ash resuspension. Thanks for the heads-up on where Coats got his information. I'd like to add the original publications to our database - can you send me a more complete citation? Thank you again! -cheryl -------- Brian Brettschneider wrote: While looking through some climate publications from the 1920s, I came across two notations of ashfall from Mt. Katmai in 1920 and 1921. Specifically, they were from the Cooperative weather observer at Naknek. On March 9, 1920, the note indicated "thick ashes were falling from Mt. Katmai." On November 27, 1921, the note indicated "heavy ashes were falling from Mt. Katmai." These are the same dates listed on Table 2 of Coats' "Volcanic Activity in the Aleutian Arc" (1950). My guess is that Coats saw these reports. Unfortunately the monthly observation forms from Naknek are missing. The notations I quoted were from statewide monthly climate summaries at the time. However, the Dillingham monthly forms are available and show light winds from the north for both events. However, Kodiak shows winds from the southeast on March 9, 1920, and no wind direction was noted in November 1921. Given the geographical closeness to Novarupta and the temporal closeness to the 1912 eruption, the obvious question to ask is if it is a resuspension of tephra from 1912. Of course that is a question for you guys to ponder. Still, the adjectives "thick" and "heavy" are intriguing. -- Cheryl Cameron Geologist, Alaska Volcano Observatory Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys voice: 907-451-5012 fax: 907-451-5050