Yellowstone Eruptions So Massive They Blanketed Missouri with Ash

There have been many movies that have depicted what it might be like if the super volcano under Yellowstone were to erupt. There is history to prove it has happened many times in the distant past including blasts that were so massive they blanketed Missouri with ash.

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The USGS just shared an interesting new video about ash they found in Kansas. Yes, in Kansas.

Guess what? Missouri was included in those mammoth Yellowstone eruptions, too. This map shared by the USGS shows that the Show Me State has been blanketed at least twice by eruptions from the Yellowstone super volcano geological region.

One of these ash beds is known as the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff which reached northwestern Missouri. The Lava Creek Tuff is the biggest area of ashfall which covered about 75% of Missouri millennia ago.

I reached out to Mike Poland, the Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, for confirmation of these eruptions reaching Missouri. He said that what was found in Kansas does infer that Missouri was impacted. He said that "there are no sites in Missouri - it is inferred based on thicknesses in Kansas". He also pointed me to this map from the USGS which shows the ashfall in Missouri in even more detail.

Is Missouri in imminent peril of another huge Yellowstone super volcano event?

Let's not get carried away with disaster movie scenarios just yet...

I do find it reassuring that the USGS says "the probability of any such event occurring at Yellowstone within the next few thousand years is exceedingly low.".

While it's entertaining (in an apocalyptic way) to imagine how Missouri might be affected by a Yellowstone super volcano eruption, you'll likely only get to experience it in movies starring John Cusack and Woody Harrelson.