POTD: The Faithful #2

POTD: The Faithful #2The Faithful #2
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
2016

This, of course, is what all the fuss is about at Old Faithful. Although still impressive it seems to me that the eruptions were bigger and the crowds smaller 33 years when I first saw it as an adult. (My faulty memory may be responsible for thinking the eruptions were bigger back then, but I know for sure the crowds were smaller.)

2 thoughts on “POTD: The Faithful #2”

  1. It’s possible the eruption is smaller since the earthquake which affected it “faithfulness”. Still, as your photo shows, the geyser dwarfs the people, no matter how many.

    1. There were two earthquakes that affected it’s “faithfulness.” the 1959 Hebgen Lake quake and the ’83 Borah quake. (My chair was bouncing a bit in the classroom I was sitting in at MSU during the ’83 quake.) As far as affecting the size of the eruption, I’ve read nothing. However, they say the duration of the eruptions varies, so maybe the size does as well. Excuse the nerdy math, but as a statistician I found it interesting to read they can predict the eruption time to within +/- 10 minutes with 90% confidence. Interestingly, we waited over 20 minutes past the predicted time to see the eruption in the POTD. I guess I’m attracted to outliers.

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