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Yellowstone geyser sets record with recent activity

Last weekend, the Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park erupted for the 30th time this year.
The steam phase of Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, September 4, 2014. Image courtesy Jim Peaco/Yellowstone National Park. (Photo via Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — The world's tallest active geyser has set a record.

Last weekend, Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park erupted for the 30th time this year. That's the most eruptions since 1964 when the geyser erupted 29 times.

Steamboat can blast hot water and steam as high as 400 feet (122 meters). That's more than three times the average height of Yellowstone's most famous geyser, Old Faithful.

RELATED: WATCH: Rare thermal spring erupts at Yellowstone, prompting boardwalk closure

Park officials say Steamboat also went through active periods in the early 1960s and early 1980s, but was quiet for a 50-year spell, from 1911 to 1961.

The most recent eruption happened at 1 a.m. Saturday. Most roads in Yellowstone have closed for the winter and the park hasn't opened to snowmobiles yet.

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