Steamboat Geyser, in Yellowstone National Park's Norris Geyser Basin, is the world's tallest currently-active geyser. Steamboat Geyser has two vents, a northern and a southern, approximately apart. The north vent is responsible for the tallest water columns; the south vent's water columns are shorter. Prior to 1904, Waimangu Geyser, in New Zealand, had some taller eruptions capable of reaching, but in 1904, a landslide changed the localwater table, and since then, Waimangu has not erupted. Excelsior Geyser in Yellowstone's Midway Geyser Basin, and Semi-Centennial Geyser just north of Roaring Mountain on the Grand Loop Road were reported to be as tall as Steamboat, both with eruptions reaching. However, Excelsior has not erupted since 1985, and now functions as a hot spring, and Semi-Centennial's one eruption of this height was reported in 1922 and has been dormant since. Steamboat's major eruptions generally last from 3 to 40 minutes, and are followed by powerful jets of steam. During these eruptions, water may be thrown more than into the air. Steamboat does not erupt on a predictable schedule, with recorded intervals between major eruptions ranging from three days to fifty years. The geyser was dormant from 1911 to 1961. In 2018-2019, the geyser entered a prolonged period of frequent activity with more than 40 eruptions reported in a one-year period. Minor eruptions of are much more frequent. After an eruption, the geyser often vents large amounts of steam for up to 48 hours. Sometimes during this part of an eruption, water may return to Steamboat, causing it to jet water once again, though to lesser heights. Cistern Spring, located nearby, will drain completely following a major eruption of the geyser; the spring refills within a few days.
Recent eruptions and active phase of 2018-2020
The most recent eruption of Steamboat Geyser occurred on July 30, 2020 at approximately 1:08am. In 2019 the 48th eruption for the year occurred on December 26th and this set a new annual number for eruptions. This was the 109th eruption since it re-activated in early-2018. Many years may pass between eruptions, but in some years multiple eruptions have occurred. In 1964, twenty-nine eruptions were reported. Eruptions from 1990 to 2018:
In 2018, Steamboat Geyser entered a much more active period with 109 eruptions recorded between March 15, 2018 and July 30, 2020. Thirty-two eruptions occurred in 2018 and 48 occurred 2019. This broke 1964's record of 29 eruptions within a calendar year. The 2018 record was broken on August 27, 2019 with the 33rd major eruption of the year.
