On Monday, July 28, 2008, at approximately 11:45 pm, the Soufriere Hills Volcano in the West Indies on the island of Montserrat erupted, resulting in a large ash plume. In this event, the Soufriere Hills Volcano emitted ash several thousand feet into the atmosphere overnight.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS SJU wrote it up.
On Monday, July 28, 2008, at approximately 11:45 pm, the Soufriere Hills Volcano in the West Indies on the island of Montserrat erupted, resulting in a large ash plume. In this event, the Soufriere Hills Volcano emitted ash several thousand feet into the atmosphere overnight. The ash column was reported to reach a maximum height of about 12 kilometres (40,000 feet) above sea level. Satellite imagery shows that the ash was blown mainly to the north-west. There were reports of ashfall from Saint Croix and Puerto Rico.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS San Juan, PR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 29, 4:47 AM AST, 1 hour 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR 447 AM AST TUE JUL 29 2008 .DISCUSSION...A WEAK TROPICAL WAVE STRETCHES FROM THE LOCAL SOUTHWESTERN LOCAL WATERS EAST NORTHEAST TO THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS THIS MORNING. MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS WAVE SEEN TO BE LIMITED ACCORDING TO LATEST SATELLITE IMAGES AND CIMSS MIMIC- TPW. THIS FEATURE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE WESTWARD THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND EXIT THE LOCAL FORECAST AREA TONIGHT. THEN...ANOTHER ROUND OF FAIR WEATHER CONDITIONS IS ANTICIPATED FOR LATE THIS EVENING INTO THE FIRST PART OF WEDNESDAY. FOR THE SECOND HALF OF WEDNESDAY...THE LEADING EDGE OF ANOTHER TROPICAL WAVE WILL ARRIVE TO THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN AND THEN OVER THE LOCAL ISLANDS BETWEEN LATE WEDNESDAY AND EARLY THURSDAY. BUT THE BEST MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS WAVE WILL AFFECT THE FORECAST AREA MAINLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON...FOR AN INCREASE OF CLOUDINESS...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE LOCAL AREA. THIS FEATURE SHOULD BE OUT FROM THE FA BY LATE FRIDAY. FOR THE UPCOMING WEEKEND THINGS ARE LOOKING FAVORABLE FOR GOOD WEATHER CONDITIONS ACROSS THE LOCAL ISLANDS. NO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER MAKER ANTICIPATED AT LEAST AT THIS TIME. && .AVIATION...GENERALLY EXPECT PREVAILING VFR CONDITIONS ACROSS THE LOCAL ISLANDS AND AT ALL LOCAL TAF SITES TODAY AND TONIGHT. HOWEVER...MVFR OR EVEN BRIEF IFR CONDITIONS AND LOCAL MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS ARE POSSIBLE IN SCATTERED PASSING SHRA AND ISOLATED TSRA...AS MOISTURE FROM A PASSING TROPICAL WAVE INTERACTS WITH LOCAL EFFECTS. IN ADDITION...A LARGE ERUPTION OF THE MONTSERRAT SOUFRIERE HILLS VOLCANO OCCURRED AROUND 29/0340Z AND HAS SPREAD A LARGE ASH CLOUD NORTHWESTWARD FROM THE SUMMIT AND TOWARD THE LOCAL AREA. BASED ON THE LATEST VOLCANIC ASH ADVISORY FROM WASHINGTON AND THE LATEST SIGMET FROM THE AVIATION WEATHER CENTER IN KANSAS CITY...WOULD EXPECT THIS TREND TO CONTINUE AND EXPECT THAT ASH WILL EVENTUALLY EFFECT AT LEAST TISX AND TIST AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SJU 88 78 90 77 / 40 40 50 50 STT 87 78 88 77 / 40 40 50 50 && .SJU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PR...NONE. VI...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR 612 AM AST MON JUL 28 2008 AMZ710>750-PRZ001>013-291015- SAN JUAN AND VICINITY-NORTHEAST-SOUTHEAST-EASTERN INTERIOR- NORTH CENTRAL-CENTRAL INTERIOR-PONCE AND VICINITY-NORTHWEST- WESTERN INTERIOR-MAYAGUEZ AND VICINITY-SOUTHWEST-CULEBRA-VIEQUES- THE NEARSHORE AND OFF SHORE ATLANTIC AND CARIBBEAN COASTAL WATERS- 612 AM AST MON JUL 28 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PUERTO RICO AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. AMZ720-730-VIZ001-002-291015- ST. THOMAS ST. JOHN ADJACENT ISLANDS-ST CROIX- NEARSHORE ATLANTIC AND ADJACENT CARIBBEAN COASTAL WATERS- 612 AM AST MON JUL 28 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
1 volcanic ashfall. Local standard time, as filed.
Car windshields were reported spotted with light depositions of volcanic ash. A few airline flights were canceled.
The record’s own kinds of event.
Every storm in Puerto Rico in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Puerto Rico, July 2008
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 111287.