Mt St. Helens Erupts Again....

Woodmonkey · 03-08-2005, 23:12

Looks like she is at it again. The dome has been steadily growing, but the eruptions had almost stopped til now.

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Mount St. Helens erupts

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VANCOUVER, Wash. - A large plume of steam rising up to 36,000 feet was being emitted Tuesday afternoon from the crater of Mount St. Helens.

It could be seen from miles around, including Portland, Oregon, and was moving northeast.

The eruption occurred at about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday.

The plume was accompanied by an earthquake of about 2.0 magnitude, according to Bill Steele, coordinator of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network at the University of Washington.

Steele said he did not believe the explosion had increased the risk of a significant eruption and noted that recent flights over the volcano's crater did not reveal high levels of gases.

Steele said the ash burst may have been triggered by partial collapse of a lava dome in the crater, which has been growing steadily over the last several months.

"Until we get a better view in the crater we won't know," Steele said.

Mike Fergus, FAA, said he believes the cloud was mostly steam and did not present a danger to airplanes in the area.

The USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory lost radio signals from three monitoring stations in the crater soon after the event started. The cause of the outage won't be known until scientists can visit the crater Wednesday to assess the situation, weather permitting.

An ashfall advisory is in effect until 9 p.m. for the south Washington Cascade foothills and the south Washington Cascades.

The winds are expected to take the ash plume to the east and north of Mount St. Helens, with the heaviest amounts to fall in Skamania County, and lighter amounts in Cowlitz County.

Breathing volcanic ash can be dangerous to many people, especially those with respiratory problems.

The 9,677-foot volcano in southwest Washington rumbled to life again last fall, pumping out lava as the mountain nears the 25th anniversary of the devastating eruption of May 18, 1980, that killed 57 people.

This latest volcanic burp from the mountain comes just after the state Board on Geographic Names unanimously chose Tulutson, the Cowlitz Indian word for ice, as the name for the glacier that has grown inside the mountain's crater.

Click here for the source of this story

Snowden · 03-09-2005, 02:45

Sounds exciting, Katie. Just so long as you're not too close!

Please keep us informed.

AT3Weins · 03-09-2005, 05:36

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Originally Posted by Snowden

Sounds exciting, Katie. Just so long as you're not too close!

Please keep us informed.

I agree...no roasting marshmellows on the rim!

Betty Boop · 03-09-2005, 13:57

Didn't see this until I searched - No weinie or marshmellow roasts. Have all our Northwesterners (Washington/Oregon) checked in? The air quality must be horrible. Nature at its most furious is sometimes so beautiful - don't you wonder why, sometimes?

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Photo in the News: Mount St. Helens Erupts

Photograph courtesy United States Geological Survey More Photos in the News</FONT>

March 9, 2005—Washington State's Mount St. Helens volcano stirred again yesterday, throwing a cloud of steam and ash 36,000 feet (11,000 meters) into the air. Observers in Portland, Oregon, 60 miles (100 kilometers) away, could see the plume, which followed an eruption at 5:25 p.m. PT. The explosion lasted about 30 minutes.

"The eruption could intensify suddenly or with little warning and produce explosions that cause hazardous conditions within several miles of the crater and farther downwind," the United States Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory warned on its Web site yesterday. Mount St. Helens rumbled back to life in September 2004. Over a period of several weeks, the 8,364-foot (2,549-meter) mountain shook with a flurry of earthquakes and spewed large clouds of steam and ash. The volcano's recent activity has caused no human casualties and is far weaker than the cataclysmic explosion that occurred on May 18, 1980 and claimed 57 lives. —Sean Markey

RetPara · 03-09-2005, 14:07

Would not the release of pressure from smaller incidents release pressure over time preventing an eruption from creating Hill St Helen?

Woodmonkey · 03-09-2005, 14:46

You're no fun, Mike.

The air quality depends on which way the wind is blowing.

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Originally Posted by RetPara

Would not the release of pressure from smaller incidents release pressure over time preventing an eruption from creating Hill St Helen?

I'm not a volcanologist, but this is the way I understand it. It's not like an earthquake where pressure is released by small quakes. There are earthquakes up there on the mountain, hundreds of them, but they are from the magma which is moving up. Along with the magma comes gases and pressure from them builds. When the pressure gets high enough, there is an eruption like there was yesterday.

There has been constant dome building for months now. The magma is moving to the surface rather quickly considering.

Betty Boop · 03-09-2005, 21:23

Even with earthquakes, little ones don't always guarantee that the big one won't happen - We just know too little about our Earth and the hows and whys. I know that when we have wildfires here in Southern California the ash travels and travels and the air quality is horrendous - I can only imagine that an eruption that goes 7 miles high spewing ash and other debris - has got to have a very large field of impact no matter which way the wind is blowing. I'm glad you are close enough to observe Katie, far enough away to be safe! Are there are any other northwesterners on the board here and how have they been impacted? Does anyone know?