U.S. Virgin Islands, 2008

Volcanic Ashfall in U.S. Virgin Islands, July 29, 2008

July 29, 2008 · NWS SJU · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

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 toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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.

What happened

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 St Croix and Puerto Rico.

What forecasters said that day

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 28, 3:35 PM AST, 14 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 28, 3:35 PM AST, 14 hours 25 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 28, 6:12 AM AST, 23 hours 48 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Event by event

2 volcanic ashfall. Local standard time, as filed.

Volcanic Ashfall, St. Croix

When
July 29, 6:00 AM AST to 11:59 PM AST
Where
St. Croix forecast zone
Reported by
Newspaper

Windows,patios, cars, and buildings were reported spotted with light depositions of volcanic ash.

Volcanic Ashfall, St. Thomas / St. John and Adjacent Islands

When
July 29, 6:00 AM AST to 11:59 PM AST
Where
St. Thomas / St. John and Adjacent Islands forecast zone
Reported by
Newspaper

Windows,patios, cars, and buildings were reported spotted with light depositions of volcanic ash.

What these are

The record’s own kinds of event.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in U.S. Virgin Islands in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in U.S. Virgin Islands, July 2008

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 111284, 111285.