Erupting Kilauea volcano creates stunning backdrop for marriage proposal
A storm chaser who has seen it all captured the photograph of a lifetime in mid-January as he got down on one knee in front of one of the most active volcanoes on the planet.
Marcus Hustedde proposes to his girlfriend Ashley in front of the erupting Kilauea volcano in Hawaii on Jan. 18, 2025. (Marcus Hustedde)
Storm Chaser and Meteorologist Marcus Hustedde has photographed intense thunderstorms, bright lightning, big tornadoes, and erupting volcanoes. However, in January he captured something even more intense in front of Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano, which has been erupting periodically since December.
"While taking photos of us with the volcano using timed shutter release, I turned to Ashley, got down on one knee, and asked her to be my wife! She said yes!" Hustedde wrote on Facebook.
Hustedde grew up near St. Louis, Missouri, and has a masters degree in atmospheric science. He's a tour guide for Silver Lining Tours, the longest-running storm chase tour company.
It's not the first time that a wedding proposal has taken place in front of a natural wonder. In 2021, a pair of AccuWeather meteorologists got engaged in front of a tornado, and in 2024, an aurora chaser proposed to his future wife under the aurora borealis.
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