Soufriere Hills causing flight cancellations on Puerto Rico

Soufriere Hills on Montserrat in an undated image from the Royal Navy.

Just wanted to pass along this bit of news: the current eruptions at Soufriere Hills on Montserrat are prompting cancellations of over 40 flights today from Puerto Rico. This is due to the ash plumes from the current dome eruptions – the NASA Earth Observatory posted images of the recent activity showing the large, grey plume drifting to the west. What is impressive is that Puerto Rico is over 250 miles / 400 km to the west of Montserrat, so this ash must be significant enough to prompt these flight cancellations. The ash appears to be causing poor visibility at 10,000 feet / 3 km – along with being a threat to cause engine failure. Officials from Puerto Rico say regular flights will likely return tomorrow.