News Release

Steamboat Geyser erupts and breaks all-time record

Date: December 11, 2018

• Steamboat Geyser erupted at about 1:07 a.m. on Saturday, December 8, 2018, and set a new record.
• This eruption, the 30th since March 15, 2018, surpasses the previous all-time record of 29 documented eruptions set in 1964.
• “The heightened activity at Steamboat this year is uncommon but not unprecedented. We have seen similar activity twice previously; once in the early 1960s, and again in the early 1980s. Conversely, the world’s tallest active geyser has also exhibited years of quiescence or no major eruptions, with the longest being the 50-year period between 1911 and 1961,” said Jeff Hungerford, Yellowstone’s park geologist. “We’ll continue to monitor this extraordinary geyser.”
• More information about the geyser can be found at Steamboat Geyser.
• No photos or video of the December 8th eruption are available. Visit the park's Flickr page for photos and a video of the eruption on September 17, 2018.
• Most park roads have closed for the season to wheeled vehicles. Conditions permitting, roads will open to oversnow travel by snowmobile and snowcoach December 15.