Mt. St. Helens finally went...

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Hwy99

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...to sleep.

Three-year eruption over at Mount St. Helens
Thursday, July 10, 2008
By STEPHANIE RICE, Columbian Staff Writer

After more than three years of erupting, Mount St. Helens has gone back to sleep, scientists said Thursday.

How can they tell?

Five months have passed with no earthquakes, gas emissions or other signs of eruptive activity, scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver said.

The volcano, which erupted May 18, 1980, killing 57 people, reawakened in October 2004. Explosions sent steam and ash up to 10,000 feet above the crater.

In February, scientists speculated that the volcano had drifted back to sleep, a suspicion confirmed by five months of no eruptive activity.

"We know that Mount St. Helens will erupt again in the future in some mix of renewed dome building and more explosive behavior," Cynthia Gardner, scientist-in-charge at the observatory, said in a news release. "However, at this point, we can't forecast when the next eruption will begin. USGS and the University of Washington's Pacific Northwest Seismic Network will continue to monitor Mount St. Helens closely for signs of renewed activity. Scientists expect that days to weeks of warning will herald the next time Mount St. Helens wakes up for another eruption."

Read more about the volcano in Friday's newspaper.

Three-year eruption over at Mount St. Helens- Columbian.com, Clark County, Washington, Vancouver, Breaking News, U.S., World, Entertainment, Video, Weather, Sports
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You can see the picture of Mt. St. Helens by clicking the link.
 
Yeah, I haven't heard anything about eruptions so I assumed that ol girl has gone back to sleep.

Byrdie, St. Helens erupts on average of every 20-50 years or so based on the records in the past.
 
Thats good news for now. I love Mt St Helens park, I used to be obcessed about the volcano and geology of area as a child.
 
Yeah she definitely went back to sleep after being awake for 3 yrs.. thats long time! wow.... all i can say is for her to have sweet dreams! lol :)
 
Byrdie714 said:
I wonder how long it will go to sleep for before waking up again?
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Read this from the same article.

"We know that Mount St. Helens will erupt again in the future in some mix of renewed dome building and more explosive behavior," Cynthia Gardner, scientist-in-charge at the observatory, said in a news release. "However, at this point, we can't forecast when the next eruption will begin. USGS and the University of Washington's Pacific Northwest Seismic Network will continue to monitor Mount St. Helens closely for signs of renewed activity. Scientists expect that days to weeks of warning will herald the next time Mount St. Helens wakes up for another eruption."
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At least during the most recent period of activity, there was no major obstruction or bulging up of lava dome in crater. Wasn't that huge problem in 1980 eruption blowing the whole north face off. I read that the upcoming days to eruption on May 18th the dome was bulging 5-6ft increase each day and build tremendous pressure up until the gasses blowed it up! BOOM BOOM!
 
hohDougRN said:
At least during the most recent period of activity, there was no major obstruction or bulging up of lava dome in crater. Wasn't that huge problem in 1980 eruption blowing the whole north face off. I read that the upcoming days to eruption on May 18th the dome was bulging 5-6ft increase each day and build tremendous pressure up until the gasses blowed it up! BOOM BOOM!
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Yeah, and it destroyed over 250 sq miles of the surrounding forests, mostly at the north face of the volcano.
 
hohDougRN said:
At least during the most recent period of activity, there was no major obstruction or bulging up of lava dome in crater. Wasn't that huge problem in 1980 eruption blowing the whole north face off. I read that the upcoming days to eruption on May 18th the dome was bulging 5-6ft increase each day and build tremendous pressure up until the gasses blowed it up! BOOM BOOM!
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yes and they had photos to prove that there was a bulge.. its cool to read all that infos.. i love volcano as it is part natural phenomena so im obessed over it.. hehe.. always look up webcam to see what mt st helens is doing.. its fun.. :)
 
sequoias said:
Yeah, and it destroyed over 250 sq miles of the surrounding forests, mostly at the north face of the volcano.
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Yea I remember when I went to Mt. St. Helens and saw the movie what it was like before 1980, it was very beautiful than what it is today.

Before May 18, 1980

mt_st_helens2.gif


http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/pciesiel/gly3150/mt_st_helens2.gif

Today

mt-st-helens.jpg


http://geology.com/news/images/mt-st-helens.jpg

Also the wikipedia have very good article about Mt. St. Helens including those pictures of Mt. St. Helens before May 18, 1980.

Mount St. Helens - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Yes, when I got to go to Washington for first time when I was 8, All the trees, debris, and ecology were still show fresh scars of eruption. I cannot remmy the lake up there, but my aunt says to me that lake used to be in another place and the eruption moved lake :dunno2: River toutle still having large tree debris. I love my memories going up to there.
 
hohDougRN said:
Yes, when I got to go to Washington for first time when I was 8, All the trees, debris, and ecology were still show fresh scars of eruption. I cannot remmy the lake up there, but my aunt says to me that lake used to be in another place and the eruption moved lake :dunno2: River toutle still having large tree debris. I love my memories going up to there.
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Isn't that the Silver Lake? Yeah the Silver Lake became smaller than it was before 1980.
 
That's interesting, I was thinking if Mt St Helens erupted again before opening this thread.
 
Yes, I visited there in few times. I had been driving thought this park last 30 years after eruption. Millions trees were awful and damaged. I will show some pictures later. My sister lived at Portland Oregon. She said that a mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over Portand and beyond. Wet, cement-like slurries of rock and mud scoured all sides of the volcano. Her husband and her were lot of work for cleaning out ashes over her house and driving way.
 
Although it is now quiet, I am sure the geologists have closely monitored its volcanic and geographical activities for any changes or eruptions.
 
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