# Uh-oh... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 8, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701 "2007-11-08T20:20:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/1 "2007-11-08T20:20:51Z")
I post this because I know some of us like to worry… [Yellowstone is going to blow!](http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/11/08/yellowstone.rising.ap/index.html) Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/2 "2007-11-08T20:47:21Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] I post this because I know some of us like to worry… [Yellowstone is going to blow!](http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/11/08/yellowstone.rising.ap/index.html) Maybe. [/QUOTE] Uh oh is right! 2 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago, 642,000 years ago… that means it’s due to blow and second now… give or take a few tens of thousands of years. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/3 "2007-11-08T20:51:44Z")
The first time I heard that Yellowstone was going to blow, I was a bit surprised to find that there was any volcanic activity in the middle of Wisconsin. Then, of course, I realized they were talking about Yellowstone National Park - not [Yellowstone State Park](http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=42.770455,-89.970474&spn=0.045995,0.079823&z=14&om=1) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/4 "2007-11-08T20:57:12Z")
Dammit Blaster Master, I was going to post the same observation. But I live in Colorado so I still get to worry more than you! I have it on [very good authority](http://armageddononline.tripod.com/volcano.htm) that should this thing blow, it would most definitely suck. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/5 "2007-11-08T20:59:08Z")
It’s that global warming thing, I tell you… ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/6 "2007-11-08T21:02:29Z")
I hope Boobo will be OK. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/7 "2007-11-08T21:09:58Z")
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya] Dammit Blaster Master, I was going to post the same observation. But I live in Colorado so I still get to worry more than you! I have it on [very good authority](http://armageddononline.tripod.com/volcano.htm) that should this thing blow, it would most definitely suck. [/QUOTE] Hey, I never even knew Armageddon was online! Thank heaven for small mercies! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/8 "2007-11-08T21:13:55Z")
Yellowstone will have to get in line behind [Mt. Ranier](http://www.wsu.edu/~timroe/Mountain/pastmtrainier.htm), which will blow up unannounced and kill everyone in Tacoma, much to the delight of everyone in Seattle. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/9 "2007-11-08T21:39:09Z")
Not to worry, my friends! We have an early warning system in place. My father lives in Wapiti, Wyoming. Yes, that’s really the name. Wapiti (pronounced “whop-ity”). Anyways, Wapiti is about 18 miles outside of Yellowstone, and Father is under strict instructions to call me before dying horribly in the case of any huge eruptions. I promise I’ll post here upon getting the call. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/10 "2007-11-08T22:02:01Z")
Could they drill down and check the magma level in the chamber? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Woodhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Miss\_Woodhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Woodhouse)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/11 "2007-11-08T22:07:01Z")
But if it does blow, it will go off at 2:40pm and 2:40am. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/12 "2007-11-08T22:31:57Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] I hope Boobo will be OK. [/QUOTE] Yea, Yogi’s an asshole, let him burn, but Booboo is a sweetheart. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/13 "2007-11-08T22:48:24Z")
[QUOTE=Astroboy14] …My father lives in Wapiti, Wyoming. Yes, that’s really the name. Wapiti (pronounced “whop-ity”). Anyways, Wapiti is about 18 miles outside of Yellowstone, and Father is under strict instructions to call me before dying horribly in the case of any huge eruptions… [/QUOTE] Cool! I’ve been to Wapiti. My family stayed at the Crossed Sabers Ranch outside of town during the big fires in 1988. Best vacation ever. - The title on **Inigo Montoya** ’s link: “Armageddon Online - Yellowstone Park is a Super Volcano - an eruption would destroy America” Why does Yellowstone hate America? ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/14 "2007-11-08T23:03:56Z")
[QUOTE=Astroboy14] Not to worry, my friends! We have an early warning system in place. My father lives in Wapiti, Wyoming. Yes, that’s really the name. Wapiti (pronounced “whop-ity”). Anyways, Wapiti is about 18 miles outside of Yellowstone, and Father is under strict instructions to call me before dying horribly in the case of any huge eruptions. I promise I’ll post here upon getting the call. [/QUOTE] Hey **Astroboy** , I lived in Wapiti, too – across from the Wapiti Lodge. Don’t you worry, though, Dad’s much more likely to meet up with a grizzly bear, or a bison in the middle of the road at dusk, or a pick-up flying around the Buffalo Bill Reservoir, in the wrong lane. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/15 "2007-11-08T23:44:56Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] …a pick-up flying around the Buffalo Bill Reservoir, in the wrong lane. 😉 [/QUOTE] The driver of that pickup is likely to be my dad! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/16 "2007-11-09T00:25:11Z")
From the OP’s link: > [@](#): > > The volcano at Yellowstone produced massive eruptions 2 million, 1.3 million and 642,000 years ago, all larger than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. No kidding. From [this site](http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/supervolcano/under/under_03.html) > [@](#): > > At the other extreme is the Yellowstone eruption of 2.1 million years ago, which is described on the VEI [Volcano Explosivity Index] as an eight [out of eight]: mega-colossal, with a towering ash cloud 10 miles high that pours out at least a thousand cubic miles of ash. That Yellowstone eruption had 10 times the ejected material as a VEI 7 volcano, which modern humans have never seen either. On the VEI scale, Mt. St. Helens was a 5 - the Yellowstone eruption was 1000 times as powerful. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/17 "2007-11-09T00:30:29Z")
[QUOTE=Astroboy14] My father lives in Wapiti, Wyoming. [/QUOTE] “Hippity, hoppity, there goes the Wapiti” (poem by Ogden Nash) ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/18 "2007-11-09T01:15:45Z")
America, please. [At least _you_ haven’t built a nuclear reactor on a fault line](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlington_Nuclear_Generating_Station). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/19 "2007-11-09T01:19:29Z")
[QUOTE=Xema] From the OP’s link: No kidding. From [this site](http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/supervolcano/under/under_03.html) On the VEI scale, Mt. St. Helens was a 5 - the Yellowstone eruption was 1000 times as powerful. [/QUOTE] Novarupta, in 1912, was a VEI 6 and was the strongest recorded in this century. It buried Kodiak Island under 3 feet of ash. I’ve hiked into Valley of 10,000 Smokes where the ash is up to 700 feet deep. I can’t imagine what an 8 would be. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701/20 "2007-11-09T04:51:18Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] Could they drill down and check the magma level in the chamber? [/QUOTE] They would need a really long dipstick. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uh-oh/425701.md?page=2)