Video shows ‘ash tornado’ spinning around erupting Kilauea volcano in Hawaii

A funnel cloud of spinning ash was caught on camera over the weekend, whirling around an eruption from the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii.

Kilauea, located in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, experienced a five-hour eruptive episode on Sunday, Nov. 9, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with lava fountains spewing up to 1,000-1,100 feet into the air.

Video captured by a bystander shows a cloud of ash twisting into a tornado-like funnel, nicknamed a “volnado,” emerging from Kilauea’s 36th episode of an eruption that began in December 2024.

Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, NPS says

Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and the most active on Hawaiʻi Island, according to the National Park Service. It first formed roughly 280,000 years ago and grew above sea level about 100,000 years ago, erupting dozens of times since 1952.

“Volnados” are wind vortexes or whirlwinds created by the “chaotic and turbulent mixing of hot and cold air” during eruption, according to USGS.

Hot rising air lifts ash and dust into the atmosphere to spin at high speed, often picking up potentially hazardous materials along the way, including hot lava, pieces of crust and Pele’s hair, or strands of volcanic glass.