NationStates Jolt Archive

NEW YORK — Mt. St. Helens awoke Tuesday afternoon with a moderate eruption, sending a plume of steam and ash into the Washington State sky.

Seismic changes also were recorded, and experts said the eruption could intensify, causing hazardous conditions.

Developing Story — More to Come...

Hopefully this does not intensify into a bigger eruption. After all the storms that have pummeled the region, this is the last thing the Pacific Northwest needs.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,237578,00.html

Uh oh (http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/) ...

That bitch!

Hopefully this does not intensify into a bigger eruption. After all the storms that have pummeled the region, this is the last thing the Pacific Northwest needs.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,237578,00.html

I hadnt heard this yet.

If you've ever been to Mt.Saint Helens, you'll have an idea of how dangerous this could be...miles and miles of trees blown straight down like toothpicks.

Meh it's nature,there's not much we can do to stop it.Except get well clear of it.

Meh it's nature,there's not much we can do to stop it.Except get well clear of it.

And watch it on the Mount St. Helens Volcanocam (http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/) ...

I hadnt heard this yet.

If you've ever been to Mt.Saint Helens, you'll have an idea of how dangerous this could be...miles and miles of trees blown straight down like toothpicks.

Yes I know. I remember seeing scenes from its last major eruption in 1980.

Under the island middle of a mountain
There is a big bad boomin' system
Blowin' speakers woofers and tweeters
Amplifiers melted wires
The parties exploded the core is corroded
Under ground the puget sound
Cause a shiftin' and a driftin'
Big black boom box stuck in the hot rock
It's in there flowin' it's in there growin'
You don't believe me that this scenery
Could be a cold blooded killer
It's gonna blow volcano
It's gonna blow volcano
It's gonna blow volcano

Now the island is shiftin' the plates are liftin'
The core is creamy docile and dreamy
Stopped up and steamy
Happy campers are poopin' their pampers
When the mountain becomes a fountain
Of white hot lava molten magna
Super sonic plate techtonics
Stero phonic lava and tonic
The boom is bionic
Sony shut down magnavox meltdown
Ballistic breakdown
Hi-fi heatwave lo fi lava cave
That sulfur is smellin' Mt. St. Helens
Pompeii was yellin'

it's gonna blow volcano
it's gonna blow volcano
it's gonna blow volcano
it's gonna blow volcano

Presidents of the United States of America.

I remember hearing stories of when it blew in 1980. My grandparents were visiting from Rhode Island and they were taking the Seattle ferry. My mother said the sky just went all grey and ashy. You can still see the ashes scattered all over the state.

This is indeed worrisome for my family. :(

Yes I know. I remember seeing scenes from its last major eruption in 1980.

you could drive around it for hours and see nothing but blown down huge trees

you could drive around it for hours and see nothing but blown down huge trees

If this does blow up, look for spectacular sunsets for awhile :D

Oh shizzle. This is just what they need. :(

If anyones worried, here's the current USGS report.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Cascades/CurrentActivity/current_updates.html
Its unlikely an eruption of 1980 scale would happen without some obvious warning, so I wouldn't stress too much.

Random fact: they knew the 1980 eruption was coming, what caught the volcanologists off guard was the fact that it went sideways, instead of upwards.

If anyones worried, here's the current USGS report.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Cascades/CurrentActivity/current_updates.html
Its unlikely an eruption of 1980 scale would happen without some obvious warning, so I wouldn't stress too much.

Random fact: they knew the 1980 eruption was coming, what caught the volcanologists off guard was the fact that it went sideways, instead of upwards.

What they are more worried about right now are lahars. Also, they are not discounting the fact that there could be sudden intensification with little or no warning according to the article.

What they are more worried about right now are lahars. Also, they are not discounting the fact that there could be sudden intensification with little or no warning according to the article.
Well there's sudden intensification and sudden intensification, if you know what I mean. The Fox article (which is quoting the USGS daily report for the cascades which goes on to say 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. Small lahars could suddenly descend the Toutle River if triggered by heavy rain or by interaction of hot rocks with snow and ice. These lahars pose a negligible hazard below the Sediment Retention Structure (SRS) but could pose a hazard along the river channel upstream.
Basicaly, if you're messing around near Mount St Helens, be very careful, and stay out of the valleys if an eruption is in progress. This is Mount St Helens turning over in it's sleep, really. Cool, good for flogging stuff to tourists, but nothing major. Yet, anyway.

I just hope that people will be fine should the volcano erupt.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/GermanNightmare/volcano.gif

I was watching a baseball game on TV in Lake Stevens, WA (some 35+ miles NNE of Seattle, which is itself some 100+ miles NNW of Mt. St. Helens) on May 18th, 1980. The sliding glass doors and all the larger windows in my house began to shake violently as if being shook...and being shook they were. The TV screen split and they showed the live shots of St. Helens doing it's pyroclastic thing.

We had ashfall drills at school (I was just finishing 5th grade) for weeks after that -- we all had to bring some kind of cloth or mask to breath through in case it blew again.

See, the ash and particulate fallout was so intense to the east of MSH that places like Yakima (roughly 140 miles SE of Seattle on the east slopes of the Cascades) saw midnight-at-noon style darkness, and the ash ranged from dustings to many inches deep over a city of some 75k people.

Since then, the USGS has kept the region apprised of just about anything the volcano does. In short, we're not going to worry up here until we get those quake swarms and more evidence of dome-building events. Not to say that Northwesterners are complacent about a possible eruption, but we've heard it all before, and refuse to get up in arms about it until we need to (i.e., when the USGS is running like hell, so will we).

Besides, there's still some 150k people without power in the greater Puget Sound region...they might welcome a little extra heat....

Oh, and all you living in the Southeastern US? You're welcome for diverting the Atlantic Hurricane season to our doorstep. We figured you guys could use a break after 2005. Next year, though, y'all're on yer own. ;)

Cool. Natural disasters are great fun for those of us far enough away to enjoy them.

I was watching a baseball game on TV in Lake Stevens, WA (some 35+ miles NNE of Seattle, which is itself some 100+ miles NNW of Mt. St. Helens) on May 18th, 1980. The sliding glass doors and all the larger windows in my house began to shake violently as if being shook...and being shook they were. The TV screen split and they showed the live shots of St. Helens doing it's pyroclastic thing.

We had ashfall drills at school (I was just finishing 5th grade) for weeks after that -- we all had to bring some kind of cloth or mask to breath through in case it blew again.

See, the ash and particulate fallout was so intense to the east of MSH that places like Yakima (roughly 140 miles SE of Seattle on the east slopes of the Cascades) saw midnight-at-noon style darkness, and the ash ranged from dustings to many inches deep over a city of some 75k people.

Since then, the USGS has kept the region apprised of just about anything the volcano does. In short, we're not going to worry up here until we get those quake swarms and more evidence of dome-building events. Not to say that Northwesterners are complacent about a possible eruption, but we've heard it all before, and refuse to get up in arms about it until we need to (i.e., when the USGS is running like hell, so will we).

Besides, there's still some 150k people without power in the greater Puget Sound region...they might welcome a little extra heat....

Oh, and all you living in the Southeastern US? You're welcome for diverting the Atlantic Hurricane season to our doorstep. We figured you guys could use a break after 2005. Next year, though, y'all're on yer own. ;)


Heh heh.

I remember learning about the eruption in elementary school, then looking out the window at Mt. Rainier and being absolutely terrified...EVERYONE's screwed if that mother decides to blow.

Then there was the story of Harry Truman (the man who stayed behind). *shudders*

In related news, Bush has asked Congress for funds in his new War Against the Fire Gods.

Mount St. Helens is erupting now. It has been in a constant state of eruption since October 2004.

That wasn't news. That was filler. In March 2005, when it sent an ash cloud past 30,000 feet, THAT was news.

I hadnt heard this yet.

If you've ever been to Mt.Saint Helens, you'll have an idea of how dangerous this could be...miles and miles of trees blown straight down like toothpicks.

I climbed St Helens last August at night. I took my son and 4 other friends for a all nighter. We reached the summit at 5:45am. We got up there as a small eruption was in progress. If I could figure out how to download video onto my computer I will and you will get a nice view of how an eruption looks from the crater rim.


http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1705.jpg

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1702.jpg

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1703.jpg

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1704.jpg

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1700.jpg

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1604.jpg
There are several pics in here of the mountain. Plus I threw a pic of my wife with some big ass guns.

I was watching a baseball game on TV in Lake Stevens, WA (some 35+ miles NNE of Seattle, which is itself some 100+ miles NNW of Mt. St. Helens) on May 18th, 1980. The sliding glass doors and all the larger windows in my house began to shake violently as if being shook...and being shook they were. The TV screen split and they showed the live shots of St. Helens doing it's pyroclastic thing.

We had ashfall drills at school (I was just finishing 5th grade) for weeks after that -- we all had to bring some kind of cloth or mask to breath through in case it blew again.

See, the ash and particulate fallout was so intense to the east of MSH that places like Yakima (roughly 140 miles SE of Seattle on the east slopes of the Cascades) saw midnight-at-noon style darkness, and the ash ranged from dustings to many inches deep over a city of some 75k people.

Since then, the USGS has kept the region apprised of just about anything the volcano does. In short, we're not going to worry up here until we get those quake swarms and more evidence of dome-building events. Not to say that Northwesterners are complacent about a possible eruption, but we've heard it all before, and refuse to get up in arms about it until we need to (i.e., when the USGS is running like hell, so will we).

Besides, there's still some 150k people without power in the greater Puget Sound region...they might welcome a little extra heat....

Oh, and all you living in the Southeastern US? You're welcome for diverting the Atlantic Hurricane season to our doorstep. We figured you guys could use a break after 2005. Next year, though, y'all're on yer own. ;)

IIRC, ash fell halfway across the country because of the MSH explosion (I was almost 7 when it happened, so details are a bit fuzzy).

I climbed St Helens last August at night. I took my son and 4 other friends for a all nighter. We reached the summit at 5:45am. We got up there as a small eruption was in progress. If I could figure out how to download video onto my computer I will and you will get a nice view of how an eruption looks from the crater rim.


http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1705.jpg

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1702.jpg

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1703.jpg

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1704.jpg

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1700.jpg

http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c179/KilliansPub/?action=view&current=100_1604.jpg
There are several pics in here of the mountain. Plus I threw a pic of my wife with some big ass guns.

Those pics are awesome.

Anyway, I hope everyone in the region stays safe from another eruption.