On this day, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Tue May 18, 2021: On this day, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted.

Mon May 18, 2020, 01:12 PM: May 18, 1980 "The mountain has blown!"

Mon May 18, 2020, 01:53 PM: Story in today's Oregonian

https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2020/05/mount-st-helens-eruption-witnesses-recall-terror-awe-when-mountain-exploded-40-years-ago.html

Mon May 18, 2020, 02:02 PM: Full recording of Gerry Martin's last transmission

Gerry was a volunteer ham radio operator. The camper he describes being overwhelmed around 2:07 is that of David Johnston, a scientist whose own last transmission was "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!"

Mon May 18, 2020, 08:03 AM: Iconic photo of Mount St. Helens and Ford Pinto, May 18, 1980:

Forty-one years ago, Mount St. Helens cataclysmically erupted. The May 18, 1980, eruption and its effects were heavily photographed from numerous vantage points, but click here: http://ow.ly/fi1950ENRmL to view rarely seen archival footage of the rising ash column.

Link to tweet

MOUNT SAINT HELENS
Mount St. Helens in eruption, May 18, 1980
7,991 views•May 14, 2021

USGS
95.7K subscribers

Mount St. Helens erupted catastrophically on May 18, 1980 beginning at 8:32 a.m. USGS geologist Don Swanson photographed and filmed the eruption from about 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., documenting the rising ash column and ground-hugging pyroclastic density currents. Swanson filmed the eruption from a fixed-wing surveillance aircraft using a Bell & Howell hand-wound 16mm movie camera. The films were digitized and compiled into this video.

Video: https://www.usgs.gov/media/videos/mount-st-helens-eruption-may-18-1980

Mount St. Helens in eruption, May 18, 1980

Mount St. Helens eruption: Witnesses recall terror, awe when mountain exploded https://trib.al/A35tbE5

Link to tweet

Events tied to 41st anniversary of Mount St. Helens blast muted due to COVID-19

Marissa Heffernan 12 hrs ago

The COVID-19 pandemic is once again making most events commemorating the 41st anniversary of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens virtual, but the mountain itself slowly is becoming open to the public as snow melts and pandemic restrictions ease.

On the morning of May 18 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, blowing away the top of the mountain and triggering landslides, mud flows and floods that killed 57 people, destroyed 200 homes and flattened 230 square miles of forest.

Last year, an abundance of 40th anniversary of events had been planned, but were forced online or canceled when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the county and state.

{snip}

Two-hour timed reservations are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from May 18 through Sept. 30 on recreation.gov.

Tuesday programs

While the Forest Service does not have big plans to mark year 41, Miller said its partners with the United States Geological Survey Cascade Volcano Observatory and the Mount St. Helens Institute will host several virtual events. ... The Cascade Volcano Observatory will hold a question and answer session on Reddit about volcanoes and earthquakes starting at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

{snip}

[samnsara]

1. i was right in the middle of it..on a freeway. The ash came down and it was pitch black..

[clouds]

2. It rained ash in central oregon.

Still have a vile of it swept off my parents Brady mobile. The 77 dodge aspen station wagon.
I heard there was a big landslide on the mountain yesterday.

[Prairie_Seagull]

3. I was driving down 82nd ave in Portland Or. When St. Hellens blew it's top.

I thought someone had rear ended me then looked ahead and it stunned me. For a sec I could not figure out what happened. It was truly awe inspiring. 82nd runs North, South in Portand and to the north it points straight at MSH. I almost never use the expression 'Awe inspiring' these days because of this.

Me and a friend actually hiked St Hellens in August. 1980 (whispering, it was still off limits) we were young and could not resist. It was a little dangerous, only a little, but magnificent. Truly Magnificent. The devastation was complete right up to the top of the ridge we were on. It was like looking out onto an otherworldly landscape. Only told this story about a thousand times but it is still with me and will be forever.

[2naSalit]

4. I lived in...

Madison, WI and 24 hours later there was a layer of fine, glass ash on everything, including my Volvo. Had to go wash that off. There was a strange haze too but I was not in town long enough to see how long that lasted. A friend of mine was in Kelso, WA during the eruption, well they left in a hurry. Problem there was static electricity, he was delivering a load of gasoline, static will ignite fumes and make a large explosion. It takes about two minutes to end a delivery and leave, even in an emergency. He said it was pretty tense.

[Thunderbeast]

5. Looking at it right now over morning coffee.

All quiet today.

I witnessed the 1980 eruption (safely from Portland).

Growing up, the mountain was a perfect ice cream cone...the Mt.Fuji of the Cascades. I used to backpack on the ridge overlooking Spirit Lake.

[Prairie_Seagull]

7. What a fantastic place to have a cuppa or 5. haha,

On my trip we had everclear and tang and freeze dried coffee. Blech, but we loved it then especially after the everclear the night before. I love the part of the our state you are in. Miss it, I do. haha

[utopian]

6. Saw it with my own eyes

It's not every day you see a mountain blow up. Crazy times for old Vancouver, Washington.