Witnessing an eruption of Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park is a once-in-a-lifetime event but it can also be a one-of-a-kind nightmare for anyone parked near the world's tallest active geyser.
Cindy Lawson Dittmer learned that while visiting Yellowstone this past week. After Steamboat Geyser erupted at 3:02 p.m. Monday, she returned to her car parked in the Norris Geyser Basin parking lot to discover it had been drenched in geyser water that left a residue that required much more than a wet towel to remove.
"(We) drove to West Yellowstone and tried to wash it (with) Dawn dish soap," she posted in a Yellowstone National Park Facebook group. "Got a good layer off, but still a layer on it. (We) will be taking it to a detailer. But did appreciate seeing the eruption."
A similar experience was chronicled on Tripadvisor in 2022. An online contributor was visiting the Norris Basin shortly after a Steamboat eruption while a cloud of steam continued to emanate from the geyser's vent.
"Our car and all the cars in the lot got wet with the geyser water," they wrote in their review “Car got Geysered (not in a good way).” "It left a film on the rental car that would not wash off. Vinegar made the windows a little better (& drivable) but needed 2+ hours of compounding at an auto detailer in Bozeman to get the film off."
Silica Storm
It's not uncommon for anyone in the vicinity of Steamboat Geyser eruptions to find residue covering everything in a wide range around it. It's just another natural hazard in Yellowstone National Park.
"What erupts out of Steamboat is no different than what erupts out of any other geyser," said Mike Poland, the scientist in charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. "It's boiling water that contains a fair amount of dissolved silica. When the water lands on a surface and evaporates, it leaves the silica behind."
Dissolved silica is everywhere in Yellowstone, and it can be quite destructive when it covers the surface of man-made objects. Poland said park employees know the silica struggle all too well.
"I've heard stories from park employees about how hard it is to keep the windows at the Old Faithful Visitor Center clean, and that's just from light spray floating around, not an eruption from any particular geyser," he said.
Fallout Zone
Steamboat Geyser can send water up to 400 feet into the air when it erupts. That makes it the tallest active geyser in the world and a potential hazard for anyone nearby.
"Because Steamboat's eruption plumes are so high, the spray can go quite far," Poland said. "The silica-rich water has killed off most of the trees between the geyser and the parking lot in the past few years, and the parking lot is about 800 feet from the geyser. That gives you a sense of the area of impact."
The National Park Service has signs placed around the Norris parking lot warning drivers that their vehicles might be covered with dissolved silica after a Steamboat eruption. Poland knows many Yellowstone visitors take precautionary measures whenever they visit.
"Some of the experienced geyser observers will put covers on their cars when they park in that lot and when Steamboat is getting close to eruption," he said.
Apparent Decline
Unlike Old Faithful, Steamboat Geyser has never had a regular eruption timetable. The July 15 eruption happened 46 days after its last eruption May 30, which occurred 56 days after the previous eruption April 3.
According to the NPS, intervals between Steamboat eruptions can range between five days and 50 years. While it's been relatively active for the last six years, Poland said the current frequency of eruptions suggests the geyser is slowing down.
"This eruption is part of Steamboat's apparent decline," he said. "It's only the fourth eruption of 2024. The years 2018-2021 all had over 20 eruptions per year, but it's been less in the years since – 11 in 2022 and nine in 2023."
Before 2018, the average period between Steamboat eruptions was two years. Then, the geyser erupted 32 times in 2018 and another 48 times in 2019 and 2020.
Poland says Steamboat has scattered periods of frequent eruptions, like the one between 2018 and now. Despite intense research and observation of Yellowstone National Park and its geysers, the reason for these high-activity periods is a mystery.
Repair Or Repaint
When Dittmer posted about her dilemma with dissolved silica, there were multiple opinions about what to do about it. Vinegar might have cleared the windows, but the damage can be extensive and expensive to repair.
"I know a ranger or two whose personal vehicles got completely destroyed by Steamboat Geyser," said Yellowstone National Park Administrator Linda Kinzy. "They were never able to get it clean. It's not an easy thing to take care of, (and) most people end up getting their vehicles repainted."
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
