Mysterious white ash falls on US northwest

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

An unusual ash-like substance that has been described as white, dusty and/or milky rain has been falling on parts of Idaho, Washington and Oregon, and its origin has yet to be scientifically confirmed, various media outlets are reporting.

More than 15 cities in the area has reported receiving the dirty precipitation, those reports said, and the light-gray colored dirt contained in that rainfall coated homes, windows and automobiles in the area as a storm system of Pacific origin moved into the region.

According to CNN.com, emergency officials in Washington’s Walla Walla Country said that the ash was “more than likely from the Volcano Shiveluch” on the Kamchatka peninsula in northeast Russia. That volcano, they explained, “spewed an ash plume… in late January.”

However, they later posted an update that admitted that the substance may be the result of one of a number of different factors, and that experts have yet to confirm its origins. Derek Van Dam, a CNN meteorologist, said that it could be volcanic ash, but it was not necessarily from Russia.

“The strong southerly flow from the jet stream could have brought it from an active volcano in southwest Colima, Mexico,” Van Dam said. That volcano, which erupted Wednesday, is located near Guadalajara. The US National Weather Service also said that it could have come from dust picked up from strong winds, or ash left over from wildfires in the region last year.

“We still don’t have a definitive answer,” the agency said, with Van Dam adding that the only way to determine for certain would be to analyze the chemical makeup of the substance. The NWS office in Spokane, Washington has collected water samples, according to USA Today, and those samples will be sent to a laboratory for testing.

Third volcano possible

Local media reports confirmed that experts were investigating several possible explanations, including the volcanic eruptions, but meteorologists warned that it could take some time to find answers because nothing was appearing on their satellite equipment – a phenomenon that is not all that unusual for systems which these types of thick clouds and moisture.

A third volcano could also be the source of the ash, which has not even been confirmed to be volcanic in nature at this point, according to the Daily Mail. Experts told the UK newspaper that ash from Sakurajima, Japan, which is currently experiencing a period of activity that includes up to four eruptions per day, could have blown over an infected the weather system.

“The truth is that we really don’t know where it came from!” NWS Spokane officials said in a statement, according to the Daily Mail. “We are continuing to investigate and have reached out to other offices for assistance in recreating atmospheric flows from the past several days. We’ve also reached out to other agencies that may have collected samples appropriate for testing.”

“Keen on knowing what the substance is, residents in affected areas have also been filling up glasses of the strange substance,” added Tech Times. “The NWS said that reports of the milky rain have been received from over 15 cities and that it has already collected water samples that will be sent for laboratory testing.”

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