mount etna Archives

Red ash and the airport closed: but this is not eruption

Posted on 28/09/2026 (28/09/2026) by Grazia Musumeci

It spews ash every day—ceaselessly, without a moment’s pause. It is a strange, reddish ash—so light that it barely settles on the ground, instead drifting on the wind to great altitudes, forcing aircraft to steer clear and causing the Catania airport to close again and again. And yet, Etna is not actually erupting. Italian media […]

Once upon a time… the glacier Grotta Tremila

Posted on 14/09/2026 by Grazia Musumeci

At a time when climate change is causing glaciers to collapse across the globe—triggering catastrophes and terrifying floods—Mount Etna, too, is losing one of its “secret” glaciers. Yet, this loss is not due to rising global temperatures; rather, it is the result of recent intense eruptive activity that also triggered an earthquake. The quake caused […]

Riuturi storms: how to face them on Mt Etna

Posted on 30/08/2026 by Grazia Musumeci

<< The word “riuturi” comes from “rivolture, overturning” and indicates the moment when the climate suddenly changes, going from hot to cold, from sun to downpours, from summer to winter. Specifically, the Riuturi can be identified more with the sound of distant thunder than with that of the wind >> . This text explains one […]

Eruption is over: Etna is already planning the next stage

Posted on 24/08/2026 (24/08/2026) by Grazia Musumeci

The good news (for tourism) is that calm has returned to the skies above Etna. Catania airport has reopened and has been operating normally for at least a week. No more roars, clouds of ash, or spectacular lava flows in Valle del Bove. The eruption that began on August 6th seems finally over. If […]

Eruption update: a brand new unexpected show

Posted on 17/08/2026 (17/08/2026) by Grazia Musumeci

No, it wasn’t over. As we said in the previous article, you can never truly say “the end” with Etna. Yesterday, all instrumental parameters indicated the eruption at the Voragine crater was “over,” but this morning, not only did this crater awaken for the fifth time in a month… but it also dragged the nearby […]