Today marks the 46th anniversary of Mt. St. Helens eruption.
On Sunday, May 18, 1980, at 8:32 a.m. Pacific Time, the north flank of Mt. St. Helens collapses and a violent blast of hot ash from the mountain scorches and levels the old-growth forest. The hot ash also melts the snow and glaciers, creating a torrential lahar down the Toutle River, destroying homes and bridges in its path. Fifty-seven people were killed in the eruption.
I was 5 years old when the Mountain erupted on May 18, 1980. I recall watching the eruption from Vancouver, Washington, and seeing the dark gray ash plume tower into the sky.
The first Mt. St. Helens eruption I captured was in 2004 from Windy Ridge. On October 1, 2024, Mt. St. Helens started erupting around noon time. A swarm of earthquakes were rumbling inside the mountain late September 2004. This would be the start of the 2004-2008 eruption, where a second lava dome started building inside the crater south of the original lava dome.