How Well do You Remember the Mount St. Helens Eruption?

[venture]

I always wonder if Yellowstone will blow in 'our time'. It might become known as Redstone or Lavastone

Well... Depends how many of us are left if it blows. Lol

[Bunty]

Oklahoma City can't even get bypassed by some volcanic ash.

[venture]

Let's not forget that Black Mesa is a lava flow from a volcano in Colorado.

[Dennis Heaton]

My first child was born and we were preparing to move from Luke AFB, AZ to Shaw AFB, SC...and we were glued to the TV. Awesome display of "natural" power.

[Dennis Heaton]

This is something I've been trying to reconcile historically for a long time. When I was in 3rd grade living in Barstow, California, we (the students) thought it was snowing outside, but the teacher said it was ash from a volcano, which didn't make sense to me at the time, and I never followed up with it by watching the news because, well, I was in 3rd grade and didn't care about such things. Anyway, the timing lines up as I was in 3rd grade in 1980, which is when the eruption was. BUT, it happened on 18 May, which was a Sunday, so I wouldn't have been in school. Also, none of the ash fall maps I've seen from the eruption includes any part of California... can anyone help me reconcile this issue? Were there any other burps of ash that year? Such a strange event...

I would go back and search for "Fires." As we have just seen this past week...seems pretty common this time of year out in California. (And don't forget about the "Mines" out in the "4 Corners" area)

[shawnw]

Does the apparent [popularity] of this thread topic have something to do with the recent spate of local earthquakes (only three or four of which I have personally felt) on top of memories of fairly recent tornadoes?

Doesn't hurt that the anniversary was a couple days ago so it's probably been in the news...

[PennyQuilts]

I was living at Ft Lewis (Back when it was separate from McChord) and was around 13. The ground shook a little and we heard the explosion. We could also see the cloud in the very distant sky. We got an ash dusting all over everything but wasn't deep as the cloud went more east and we were north.

My dad at the time was either heading up a maintenance battalion or was the Inspector General but I remember he had to go down to the area to make sure the helicopters and other equipment was being maintained correctly as they were worried about all the ash. Somewhere in storage, I have the Tacoma News Tribune with the front page picture and several other issues in the days that followed.

I remember this old man that wouldn't leave his mountain or Spirit Lake. Harry Truman. He died on the mountain. Harry Randall Truman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yeah, the human interest aspect of Mr. Truman really intrigued me. I mean, they knew what was on the way but he refused to leave. To me, the notion of a violent volcano on the lower 48 was mind blowing. I was pregnant at the time and wondered if this was the start of a bad geological cycle that would impact my babies.

[PennyQuilts]

I always wonder if Yellowstone will blow in 'our time'. It might become known as Redstone or Lavastone

It won't be known for anything because we'll be gone!

[Urbanized]

I was - I think - a 6th grader in Wichita, KS, and I remember that you could wipe your hand across the windshield of an automobile in the days following the eruption and come away with gritty ash on your palm.

I visited Mount St. Helens in 1999, and I was alternately struck by how resilient nature was (you could clearly see areas reforesting and wildlife returning), but also by how devastated the surroundings still were nearly 20 years later. I'd like to make it back and see what it's like now, 15 years after THAT visit.

[Dennis Heaton]

[QUOTE=Urbanized;788624 I'd like to make it back and see what it's like now, 15 years after THAT visit.[/QUOTE]

I sure hope it DOESN'T look like this...

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mt...ddb4f4b6cf94c7

[Plutonic Panda]

It won't be known for anything because we'll be gone!

Why do you say that? Last map I saw, we were in the clear. We would have quite a bit of ash to clean up, but I thought we were in the safe zone.

[Dennis Heaton]

Why do you say that?

http://video.pbs.org/video/2318814196/

[venture]

Why do you say that? Last map I saw, we were in the clear. We would have quite a bit of ash to clean up, but I thought we were in the safe zone.

We would likely be buried and this area inhabitable for 10 years or more. It all depends on prevailing winds when it blows though on where the ash falls.

[RadicalModerate]

Sure hope "The Feds" would help to bail us out . . .
Or would shovels be more effective than buckets?

Maybe there could be a helicopter drop of snorkels?
(and some cuff clips or wading boots to avoid the inconvenience of dusty trousers?)

[shawnw]

The recent mudslides in Washington killed dozens and that was a mile of mud. Imagine hundreds if not thousands of square miles of ash? Shiver...

[kelroy55]

I always wonder if Yellowstone will blow in 'our time'. It might become known as Redstone or Lavastone

It won't be known for anything because we'll be gone!

It will be known as the "Oh Sh1t' eruption

[PennyQuilts]

It will be known as the "Oh Sh1t' eruption

And the more gentile would stand outside looking up and scratching their heads saying, 'Well, DANG. That don't look right."

[RadicalModerate]

And the more gentile would stand outside looking up and scratching their heads saying, 'Well, DANG. That don't look right."

Or . . . As they said in Pompeii . . . "Dangus! Quod non videant!!" =)
(modern Italian translation: Danga! . . . This-a no a-looka good!!)

[Urbanized]

Why do you say that? Last map I saw, we were in the clear. We would have quite a bit of ash to clean up, but I thought we were in the safe zone.

The way I understand it, there would be no such thing as a "safe zone." As in, it would cause global starvation and turmoil. As in, let's hope it never happens in our lifetime.

[venture]

The way I understand it, there would be no such thing as a "safe zone." As in, it would cause global starvation and turmoil. As in, let's hope it never happens in our lifetime.

They've tamed their predictions quite a bit over the last couple of years from what I've read. Many are saying now is that from the Midwest and Central US back to the Pac NW would get the bulk of the ash fall...though ash would still fall up to 2,000 miles away and be noticeable. The Yellowstone Volcanic monitoring offer should allow for plenty of advanced notice as well to evacuate those whom are nearest to the volcano. The good thing is most of those states around it are some of the lowest populated ones in the country.

I think the biggest issue we'll see are the obvious global cooling we would see for 6+ months due to the ash cloud blanketing the Earth. Then the fallout of ash causing an impact on farm lands and such. I would hazard to guess more people would die from the panic and civil unrest than from the blast itself.

[RadicalModerate]

There are some old coal mines, near Marshall, Colorado, that have been burning for about a hundred years.
Unlike Mount St. Helens . . . Human intervention probably had something to do with it.
("Nae, Cap'n Kirk . . . I dinna have anything t' do wi' it . . . I'm an Engineer . . . no' a scriptwriter . . . " )