AVO reported that on 24 December the Volcano Alert Level for Cleveland was raised to Advisory, and the Aviation Color Code was raised to Yellow, due to a persistent thermal anomaly near the summit visible on satellite imagery acquired the day before. The previous Alert Levels were listed as Unassigned. Cloud cover prevented observations during 25-27 December. The thermal anomaly was again detected on 28 December, but was absent the next two days. No current seismic information was available because Cleveland does not have a real-time seismic network.

Geological Summary. The beautifully symmetrical Mount Cleveland stratovolcano is situated at the western end of the uninhabited Chuginadak Island. It lies SE across Carlisle Pass strait from Carlisle volcano and NE across Chuginadak Pass strait from Herbert volcano. Joined to the rest of Chuginadak Island by a low isthmus, Cleveland is the highest of the Islands of the Four Mountains group and is one of the most active of the Aleutian Islands. The native name, Chuginadak, refers to the Aleut goddess of fire, who was thought to reside on the volcano. Numerous large lava flows descend the steep-sided flanks. It is possible that some 18th-to-19th century eruptions attributed to Carlisle should be ascribed to Cleveland (Miller et al., 1998). In 1944 it produced the only known fatality from an Aleutian eruption. Recent eruptions have been characterized by short-lived explosive ash emissions, at times accompanied by lava fountaining and lava flows down the flanks.

Source: US Geological Survey Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)