The Mount St. Helens Eruption Was the Volcanic Warning We Needed

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The Mount St. Helens Eruption Was the Volcanic Warning We Needed.

The Mount St. Helens Eruption Was the Volcanic Warning We Needed

It’s been 40 years since the sideways explosion that changed volcanology forever.

www-nytimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org

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Richard

 

[geist1223]

Pattti was a Salem Oregon Police Officer at the time. It was a beautiful morning and she was sitting in her Patrol Car writing up some Reports. Suddenly she noticed it was snowing. It does not snow in the Willamette Valley in May. It it was not snow it was Ash. Then all Patrol Cars were recalled to the Garage.

My Brother was a farmer in the Moses Lake area of Eastern Wahington. Lots of crops and equipment ruined.

Spirit Lake is still a concern. If the Plug goes lots of people and towns down river would be in serious trouble all the way to the Columbia River.

 

[LannyPC]

I distinctly remember that Sunday morning. We heard the boom all the way up here and wondered what it was. Then later in the day we watched the news and I remember seeing images of all the ash circulating and how dark it was in the middle of the day.

And then I remember six days later watching Bob Nystrom score that iconic overtime goal to help the NY Islanders win their first of four consecutive Stanley Cups.

 

[chellej]

I had just started working at the INEL when this happened & DH was driving from Maryland to Idaho at the time...He said the dark clouds of ash in the northern plains are what amazed him the most....how far it traveled.

I worked with Dorothy Stoffel , the geologist in the article... she and her husband were flying over just minutes before the eruption and were lucky to get out with their lives. She has some amazing pictures of the eruption.

 

[Brett]

we have been warned about the Yellowstone Super Volcano

https://www.express.co.uk/news/scie...-ash-cloud-eruption-wyoming-idaho-montana-spt
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericma...ack-heres-what-the-science-says/#5a0892f7783c

 

[DrQ]

There is still danger:

The threat below Mount St. Helens

Forty years after the mountain’s eruption, officials struggle to balance research and risk.

www.hcn.org

A good map of the area described in the article.

 

[plpgma]

The Mt St Helens story fascinated me then...and it still fascinates me today. On the subject of volcanology -- yes, we are sure to be surprised again at some point in the (possibly near) future.

 

[Beachclubmum]

In summer of 1988 I was married and expecting our first baby. DH and I decided to drive up from San Diego to Seattle and Vancouver Island for vacation. At the last minute before leaving, an article in Sunset Magazine caught my eye. It talked about how the road up Mt. St. Helens had finally just been re-opened. We detoured on the way home to check it out. Imagine a windy, narrow one lane mountain road with occasional pull outs so cars coming the other direction could pass (thankfully there were few cars at all). When we got to the top and stepped out it felt like a nuclear war ruins. White ash everywhere and the silence....with no trees for the wind to blow through there was nothing to hear. No birds or wildlife. Just...beauty in nothingness. Definitely an experience I’ll never forget.

 

[easyrider]

We had finished a job in Sunnyside WA on Saturday but had to pick up our equipment on Sunday morning. It was going to be an easy day is what we thought. As soon as everything was loaded we heard and saw what we thought was a big storm heading our way. The storm was moving pretty fast and when it arrived it was ash and grey sand instead of rain. The lightening in the dark cloud was mesmerizing.

As we drove home to Yakima the ash came down faster and harder. It was to the point you could barely see even using the wipers. Listening to the radio we knew what had happened. By the time we made it to Yakima it looked like night out. People were freaking out.

I made it home and my wife who was pregnant with our first child met me at the door. We went in and listened to music. Some of our friends joined us. It turned into a very mild party. Some of our friends stayed the night because they lived in Seattle. The next morning we had about three inches of ash on everything. We started to shovel the ash out into the middle of the road. It was a really messy thing to deal with. There was so much ash in the Yakima area that I went to work in the Seattle area for a few months.

We still have a mayo jar of the ash that is at the depth of the ash fall.

Bill

 

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Photos show Mount St. Helens historic eruption:
Cars sunk in volcanic ash, people wearing masks.

Photos show Mount St. Helens historic eruption: Cars sunk in volcanic ash, people wearing masks

amp-usatoday-com.cdn.ampproject.org

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Richard

 

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See the eerie glacier caves carved by Mount St. Helens's fiery breath.

See the eerie ice caves carved by Mount St. Helens’ fiery breath

After the 1980 eruption, a glacier formed in the shadows inside the crater. Scientists—and our photographer—have explored its icy depths.

www.nationalgeographic.com

Richard

 

[PigsDad]

I had just started working at the INEL when this happened & DH was driving from Maryland to Idaho at the time...He said the dark clouds of ash in the northern plains are what amazed him the most....how far it traveled.

How very true. I was in high school in northern Minnesota at the time, and there was a noticeable amount of ash on car hoods, etc. and we were over 1,200 miles away!

Kurt