"Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!" On this day, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Mount St. Helens eruption: Witnesses recall terror, awe when mountain exploded

Updated: May. 18, 2021, 8:57 a.m. | Published: May. 18, 2020, 6:45 a.m.


{The picture at The Oregonian does not format correctly. I got it from Pinterest.}
A cloudless sky gives a couple a fine view of Mount St. Helens from the grounds of the Pittock Mansion, just two weeks before the mountain's eruption on May 18, 1980. (The Oregonian)Oregonian

By Douglas Perry | The Oregonian/OregonLive
“Mount St. Helens exploded in volcanic fury Sunday, unleashing massive mudflows, floods and other land-changing forces that killed at least nine persons, eliminated Washington’s Spirit Lake, and sent adrift an ash cloud that by Sunday night had moved as far as Wyoming.”

So began The Oregonian, reporting the top news of May 18, 1980.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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Thu May 18, 2023: On this day, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted.

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

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

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

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!"

From sl8:

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

[Dear_Prudence]

1. Still feeling it, every year since

My husband and I were driving on the highway in Oregon when I noticed folks out in a pasture. I said,"They must be looking for psychedelic mushrooms." (They reportedly grow on cow patties.) Then I noticed the people were all looking up and I scanned the horizon. A thrill went thru me as I excitedly told my husband, the driver, that Mt St Helen's had erupted. We pulled over and then it hit me: Harry Truman, who refused to leave his home atop the mountain, and his 16 cats. The wave of grief washed over me. I remember every year. This year there is a fantastic display of Pompeii relics at the local museum, with simulated earthquakes and eruptions I think. I told my husband I know I should want to go, but I don't want to. I asked if he wanted to go. He said no, too much of a reminder of Mt. St. Helens...