One of Yellowstone National Park’s dormant geysers erupted for the first time in 25 years in early January.
Economic Geyser sprung back to life at 7:56 a.m., January 7, 2024, according to observer Graham Meech and Cowboy State Daily. No, we’re not talking about a British bloke who works in finance; “Economic Geyser” is the name of one of Yellowstone’s most fascinating phenomena, located in the Upper Geyser Basin of the park near Old Faithful.
Meech shared a video of the eruptions on Facebook, and it looks majestic.
The geyser was once highly active but hasn’t gone off since 1999. The last time the geyser went silent was during The Great Depression of the 1920s, which may be how it got its name. “The last real spate of eruptions was in 1975,” Yellowstone Volcano Observatory lead Mike Poland told the outlet. “There were isolated eruptions observed in 1997 and 1999, then nothing until last week.”
Meech was present for the last blast in 1999 and watched the Economic Geyser go off 48 times in January. Each eruption was about 5 to 20 minutes apart, and most were pretty small. But there were a few big ones that blew water 20 feet into the air and onto a nearby boardwalk. (RELATED: Scans Reveal Serious Hidden Threats Under Yellowstone National Park)
“It’s fun (but) not particularly unusual,” Poland said of the way some geysers seemingly have a mind of their own when it comes to dormancy and activity. “Yellowstone geysers do this all the time. Giantess (Geyser) erupted a few times a year for decades, then over the past 23 years only erupted four times.”
But future visitors shouldn’t get their hopes up. Economic Geyser is probably heading back to sleep for a little while, but we’re sure she’ll be active again one day (probably not soon).