DENVER (CBS4) – The powerful eruption of the Hunga Tonga volcano over the weekend produced a massive shockwave in the atmosphere. It was measured by weather stations around the world, including at least one in Colorado. That station near Boulder recorded a sharp rise and fall in the barometric pressure just before sunrise on Saturday.
The #HungaTonga volcanic eruption in the southern Pacific Ocean caused a shockwave that passed through Colorado this morning! This 1 minute data from @NREL Flatirons Campus shows the wave moving through just after 6:00 AM. #cowx pic.twitter.com/l0Cx2Eo21W
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) January 15, 2022
The shockwave was likely measured by other weather stations in Colorado but you’d need to have the ability to look at data down to the minute to see the shockwave. If you have that capability then you’d want to look and see if your station recorded a rapid rise and fall in the barometric pressure between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Not the best visualization but here's a rough look at the Oklahoma Mesonet's detection of the pressure waves that passed through from the Tonga eruption this morning. #okwx #okmesonet pic.twitter.com/sI5fUAzCeG
— Oklahoma Mesonet (@okmesonet) January 15, 2022
The state of Oklahoma has a very well developed network of weather stations called a mesonet. They tweeted a really cool visualization of the data they recorded. A tweet from the World Meteorological Organization said the shockwave was traveling at a speed of nearly 700 mph as it crossed Europe.
The pressure wave generated by the volcanic eruption in 🇹🇴Tonga just went over Europe.
A barometer in 🇨🇭Switzerland measured a 2.5 hPa amplitude. These facts are reminders that we all share the same atmosphere, all around the 🌎🌍🌏globe. https://t.co/49CdeiNZ5x— World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) January 15, 2022
Chris Spears
