Mount St Helens steam cloud (Update: Second eruption imminent; area evacuation reported)

Siegfried

[Siegfried]

Steam cloud just spotted -- Noon PDT from Mount St. Helens

More when I get some news over news feeds

[radiohead]

Gads do I feel old.

I was waiting at the immunization center on campus for my flu shot. The young woman in front of me said her DOB out loud, which was 1983. Ok, it's college, there are gonna be young people, I'm used to it.

I didn't feel old until I realized my son was 6 years older than this kid.

[Crispy]

Thanks for the link.

[spokeshave]

Just clebrating the DOW up 111+ points in your frame clip.

TDIDS

[holyscroller]

I never got on FR until late this afternoon, but was appalled by the disinformation and half-baked ideas put forth on this thread. rd16989, I know you probably mean well, but if you don't know the difference between an active and a dormant volcano, you should cool it until you learn a little more about the subject, and specifically about our Washington state volcanos. Of your many posts, only one, the Boeing post was accurate, and one other was partially accurate.

I suggest you study strategerist's posts. He, and later djf, shine as two who really know what they're talking about. I suspect both are affiliated with either the volcanology or geology communities (possibly NPS employees).

[Strategerist]

Actually it seems seismic activity is now basically up to what it was before the eruption today.

They revised the seismic energy page

http://www.pnsn.org/HELENS/energynum.month.html


energy released today in ergs was about half of the average daily energy of the seismic swarms in early 1980.

[rdl6989]

I heard a scientist on TV today right after the eruption say that a "harmonic tremor" was detected, meaning that magma had started moving up from within the volcano. Have you heard any thing on this?

[Strategerist]

I suggest you study strategerist's posts. He, and later djf, shine as two who really know what they're talking about. I suspect both are affiliated with either the volcanology or geology communities (possibly NPS employees).

Heh, I took Geology 101 and that was about it. I just try to read as many scientific papers on line as I can (people should take the time they waste listening to Art Bell and do that instead, while SOME papers will be dense with incomprehensible equations, many papers are readable once you learn some of the basic vocabulary), and I attempt to research something through Google as best I can before I start commenting on it (which doesn't take that long, and fortunately I can read fast.) Key to that is avoiding kook science sites in favor of government and university sites.

Unlike weather, I don't have any geologist friends; I do know some real meteorologists I plug for information at times.

I'm still a bit at sea relatively in geology. I'm not really confident of being able to tell a harmonic tremor trace from a regular trace, or whether there actually have been any harmonic tremor traces (I keep hearing of interviews where a geologist mentions it but the official CVO updates never mention any.

[Crispy]

Wow. I have a feeling St. Helens isn't finished. I have my weekend planned because of this. I plan on hiking up Silver Star Mountain tomorrow. It is 30 miles south of St. Helens and is at about 4000 ft. elevation with a clear view of St. Helens. I will probably be up at the summit by about noon and plan on staying around for atleast 3-4 hours before coming down.

I know there are some better peaks farther north, but I have been to Silver Star mountain about 4 times before and know the route to the trailhead pretty well. Maybe I will try to get a few miles closer on Sunday, depending on how I feel Sunday morning.

[rdl6989]

see post 466 above yours. I heard about the harmonic tremor but also heard there isn't one and simply steam pressure is recharging.

[spokeshave]

"one of the scientists interviewed on CNN said the snowpack in the upper rim is a glacier now, has been forming for the last decade."

So its not a global warming

with a new glacier forming.

[commish]

Looking at the latest realtime graphs, Quake frequency is ramping up again. Might just be me, but it looks like these are a little bit longer duration quakes --not sure what that would mean movement/magma/eruption wise though.

[spokeshave]

"ASH ALERT!!!!!!!!

THOSE WERE THE DAYS MY FRIENDS, YES, THOSE WERE THE DAYS.

Quidam.....?

[Strategerist]

Yep it's ramped up pretty suddenly.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was another eruption within the next two hours.

[commish]

I see what you mean. Quakes are pretty much constant again. She is definately rumbling. onight or at least sometime this weekend she will probably show her stuff again.

Let's hope this will be just a couple or series of throat clearing, and not a precursor to another "belch"

[commish]

Quidam.....?

Volcano. The rocks know. speaking in small voices.

[Arizona Carolyn]

Don't tell Al Gore that ~ or that the Ozone Hole is getting smaller, too. Might ruin his day.

[Frank_2001]

Why don't they light the place up at night so we can at least SEE something! What is it with these wilderness areas anyway?;)))

[DB]

Or toiletman...

[Strategerist]

Just now (03:50UTC) I think about the largest quake of the whole swarm has taken place; again it's tough to do by eyeball but the raw trace on LON seems larger than the 3.5 mag quakes earlier.

[djf]

djf responds (blushing):

Thanks. Actually, I'm a bit twiddler, math and comp-sci major, but I have been studying the hard sciences for most of my life.