I’ve finally officially laid eyes on #GlacierPeak/#Dakobed, the 5th of Washington State’s 5 stratovolcanoes. It’s just hiding in plain sight, among the #CascadeRange peaks NE of #Seattle and actually visible from the city on good days. A magnificent, slumbering monster, capable of the same sort of violence as #MountStHelens/#WyEast, but so remote that it’s only been possible to install one monitoring station so far.

Every #volcano deserves our respect, awe, and reverence.

Cascade Range volcanoes at normal, background levels of activity: https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcano-updates#cvo. Scientists C. Gabrielson & B. Mannisto-Meyers build a new repeater at Flat Top near #MountStHelens. Site used to relay data from monitoring stations to #CVO. Jun 22, 2023 photo by A. Iezzi. #volcano #usgs

Cascade Range volcanoes at normal, background levels of activity: usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcan…. Scientists C. Gabrielson & B. Mannisto-Meyers build a new repeater at Flat Top near #MountStHelens. Site used to relay data from monitoring stations to #CVO. Jun 22, 2023 photo by A. Iezzi.

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 30, 1980
Lilies emerge from the ash. Restorative part of cycle, repeated many times at Mount St. Helens & other Cascade volcanoes, has begun. Travel in NW nearly normal. Scientists focus on hazard evaluation & how to live with active volcanoes. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 29, 1980
Activity has declined. The eruptive plume rising from the volcano's crater is a light gray mixture of ash and steam. Tiltmeters record no anomalous ground tilt. Seismicity is at its lowest since activity began in mid-March, 59 days ago. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 28, 1980
WA Governor accuses people killed in eruption of violating restricted zones. This is untrue for nearly all. People caught up in sideways blast skirted no roadblocks. They did nothing wrong. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 27, 1980
On I-5, ash from May 25 eruption makes driving tough. State Patrol sets emergency speed limit of 25 mph but drivers impatient. Truckers communicate by CB, maneuver rigs to form moving roadblocks. Drive speed limit to prevent accidents. #volcano #usgs

Cascade volcanoes at normal, background levels of activity this week: https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcano-updates#cvo. #CVO field team at #MountStHelens on May 18, 2023, for station maintenance. Video taken from helicopter shows steaming 2004-08 lava dome, crater rim. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 26, 1980
Helicopter settles gingerly on deposit in valley & scientists get out to probe temperature. Nearly a week later, ash is still 300° F, 2 ft down. Chunks of glaciers entombed in lahar. Air full of strange smells; wood cooking in ash. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 25, 1980
Early AM eruption sends ash to Portland/Vancouver (as much as 1/4 in). While ash falls, rain starts, roads slick, airports closed, phone/power out. "Everybody started freakin..." stampede to store to stockpile food, supplies. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 24, 1980
Seismologists scour EQ records trying to find the pattern that would have foretold the eruption. There is none. Huge seismic buildup in March seemed to be wad of magma intruding into volcano. That event, in time, caused all others. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 23, 1980
In eastern WA, powdery ash blows everywhere. People stranded, motels full. Sheriffs start slow passage of motorists on I-90 West, releasing 1 car every 4 min. Drivers told to drive 20 mph. Stirring up ash reduces visibility. Accidents. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 22, 1980
President Carter flies over shattered houses, flood-swept lower valley, downed forest, debris avalanche; an explosion equating to 10 million tons of TNT. Carter remarks: “...moon looks like a golf course compared to what’s up there.” #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 21, 1980
For scientists, days are a blur. Priority is to re-establish monitoring networks, map deposits, measure temperatures & collect samples. Each piece of the puzzle helps explain what happened on May 18 & what to expect in the future. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 20, 1980
Search and rescue continues. Ash closes schools, roads. Debris avalanche blocks Spirit Lake outlet and concerns grow about flood hazard downstream. A new chapter opens—the aftermath. #volcano #usgs

Good morning, friends ☕ ☕ 💞 🐕 🐕 💞

news scan reminded me of yesterday's anniversary of the eruption of Mt Saint Helens in 1980.

Our family had just moved to Wenatchee WA from Yakima. I remember seeing this dark mass of ash coming from the south, and eventually snowing down - just a light dusting for the following week.

But Yakima was right under the plume and got clobbered (📸 & more https://blogs.sos.wa.gov/fromourcorner/index.php/2020/06/unity-through-disaster-yakimas-cleanup-after-the-eruption-of-mount-st-helens/)

Nature is big and strong, friends.

#volcano #nature #MountStHelens

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 19, 1980
Activity decreases overnight. Low seismicity & low level of tremor. Plume heights diminish (5,000-11,000 ft). Pyroclastic flows at times. Mudflows reported in North Fork Toutle River, South Fork Toutle and Pine Creek drainages. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 18, 1980
Bulge fails as clossal landslides. Magma & hot fluids explode, surge outward like hot hurricane. Column rises, ash falling. Hummocky debris flow buries valley. Snowpack melts, mudflows converge. 9-hr eruption. Everything is changed. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 18, 1980 6:30 PM
USGS' Glicken & Swanson duck out to escape radio, telephones. Don tells Harry about what he’d seen from the air, of David Johnston’s almost certain death. Exhausted, pilot Stickney joins them, confirms Coldwater II wiped clean. #volcano #usgs

#43YearsAgo at #MountStHelens: May 18, 1980 4:30 PM
A strong vertical blast rises into the stratosphere. Another at 4:45. At 5:12, the plume rises 4000 to 5000 ft/min. Eruption wanes after 8 PM & clouds pull back. Scientists glimpse a deep crater. A breach on north flank. #volcano #usgs