Tell me, the map posted in #2, I thought was an ash fallout map...(The map that depicts the ash moving west and south, even tough the prevailing winds move west to east)...lol..
Upper atmosphere winds account for some of the spread to the west and south. Since the ash is found in those areas - obviously winds at some level carried them there.
But the map expert here suggested that this map was a *blast* map....Which covers *half* the country, all the way down to southern Texas....
The map expert is not expert in this subject. For comparison - the Mt St. Helens main ash plume is also shown (though extremely too small) - that zone was not effected by the 'blast', but the ash.
#1. Will the experts see the problem in plenty of time to evacuate tens of millions from the entire region?
This has been answered already - yes and there are not 10 million people in the region that would be affected by the blast.
#2. The last time this volcano went off, tens of thousands of years ago, was there activity leading up to the event? If so, how much activity, and what was the duration?
My, that was a little before my time. the USGS Yellowstone Volcano observatory has a lot of info on volcanic history, pre eruption activity, etc.
#3. At what specific point to you start evacuating people?
If I were involved in the decision - it would depend upon the development of preactivity levels. If precursors indicated potential supervolcanic eruption - probably sooner than a smaller eruption. No cookie cutter answer available - just best professional judgement at the time.
#4. And could you post a link to the evacuation plans and to the trigger point where evacuation plans are implemented?
USGS levels are posted with info for all volcanic observatories. Local elected officials would be the ones to ultimately order evacuation based upon USGS recommendations.
Thanks for not answering any of the questions...lol
Is the map in an #2 ash fallout map, or a blast map...The other guy would not answer....lol
that was a little before my time.
Then how would they know if they were going to have any lead time in the next massive eruption?
Maybe 70,000 years ago....Today, with prevailing winds, the jet stream etc, the ash would be blown mostly eastbound, before it ever reached the "upper atmosphere" as you say.
Check out weather satellite video...and tell me which direction the ash would move from that region. (Hint, with normal prevailing winds, it's not going to head west)