Volcano Day

Tom S.

Tom S.

#1
#1
Mt. St. Helens erupted in southwest Washington 39 years ago today. At appx 8:30 am on May 18, 1980, the entire northern flank of the mountain blew off, causing the largest landslide in recorded history. The mountain's height of 9,677 feet was reduced by 1,300 feet just like that. 57 people were killed. There was significant property damage in all directions caused by the pyroclastic flow and melting snow. There are still large piles of ash many feet tall stacked up along Interstate 5, near where the Cowlitz and Toutle rivers flooded. Because the ash has no organic content (it's just made of rock), it took a lot of years for grass and weeds to begin to cover the piles. Where I live in Portland, Ore., appx 70 miles to the SW, falling ash made the air looked dark and foggy. The dust soon covered everything around here, but it wasn't very deep. The dust was much more of a problem east of the mountain. I remember seeing great swirls of dust on the roadway behind moving cars.

Did you experience the eruption of Mt. St. Helens?

 
steven Durham

steven Durham

#2
#2
I saw the eruption when I lived in Los Angles and when I moved up to this area. I got of the Freeway and just needed a rest from the traffic towing a 26 foot trailer. I stopped in front of a motorcycle shop called the Sandy Bandit and in the parking lot was a VW bug and it was covered in this gray powder. I realized that it was ash from the mountain and I didn't realize how close the volcano was.
 
pomfish

pomfish

Well-Known Member
#3
#3
Your Word of the Day is ;

pyroclastic

No, it is NOT something that happened during a Pink Floyd concert while you were peaking on Mushrooms :)

Thanks for the Flashback!
Keith
 
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