Mt St Helens and a huge steamy ash cloud in the sunset

Hello everyone!

We had some excitement around here yesterday. It was 5:30 and I was with Camille looking at a house (that we won't be renting) when Elaine called me to tell me that Mt St Helens was erupting! It's been steaming regularly since she became active again last October but nothing huge like this. Camille & I both drove the few blocks up to Mt Tabor park. There was a huge plume of steam and ash that rose to 36,000 feet up into the sky. The sun was setting too so the plume was turning pink and purple as it drifted to the east.

Everyone in Portland scrambled to get to good lookout points to see the volcano. The cell phone networks became overloaded and it was difficult to get through to anyone. I left this message for Gina who was home taking a nap at the time: "You should really get up because there's a volcano erupting right now!"

We watched until the light was really fading and the mountain wasn't sending off any more big bursts of ash. It was really incredible to see this. I've seen it steaming many times (including once from an airplane!) but nothing as spectacular as this. I saw Mt St Helens on my way to work this morning and it was looking deceptively calm and scenic. It is steaming again this morning....check out the volcano cam...

http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/index.shtml

WOW! crazy stuff!