[cogitator]

Pinatubo pushed sulfur 20 miles high, that's what blocks the sun. The Chilean volcano was 6 or 7, don't know about the other.

Plus, Pinatubo was in the tropics, aiding the global coverage of the sulfur aerosol.

Where did you see a VEI 6 or 7 estimate for Chaiten? While certainly not scientifically definitive, the site below puts it at 5.

Volcanic Explosivity Index

Note that he ranks Chaiten with Hudson 1991 (not everyone remembers this one because Pinatubo was the same year). They were very similar. Here's the SO2 cloud from Hudson:

Background: 1991 Eruptions of Cerro Hudson, Chile

Hudson had a VEI 6-7 in the past; any of the Andean cordillera volcanoes all the way up to Mexico are capable of producing one, at any time.

[palmer]

Sorry about the confusion, I was only talking about how high the plume was. Pinatubo was 20 miles, the volcano in Chile was 6 or 7. Your measurement is more precise, but I didn’t look that up.

[palmer]

BTW, the two protospots have disappeared from the sun and the flux is still high. Looks like we’re still waiting for the cycle low.