The volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest have certainly been active in interesting ways this year.
Slumbering Mt. Adams experienced an unusual round of seismic activity that lasted into the beginning of this year.
Subsequently, two of the area’s Congressional representatives sent a letter to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) requesting additional studies of the region. Additionally, emergency plans for the Pacific Northwest were being reviewed and updated.
An underwater volcano off the coast of Oregon appears poised to erupt.
In July, swarms of hundreds of small earthquakes were recorded around the Cascade Range’s iconic Mt. Rainier.
Fortunately, seismic activity at Mount Rainier has returned to normal background levels following this swarm, which resulted in thousands of small quakes and was the most energetic ever recorded at the volcano. However, all evidence indicates the activity was related to the volcano’s hydrothermal system and not magma movement. So the current volcano alert level remains “Normal” with no signs of imminent eruption.
This week, Oregon residents became concerned when the infamous Mt. St. Helens (which erupted spectacularly in 1980) was obscured by a cloud of ash.
It turns out, it wasn’t an eruption. Rather, strong wind currents kicked up the ash left 45 years ago.
Some Pacific Northwesterners woke Tuesday to an unusual sight: A smoky haze shrouded Mount St. Helens, the large, active stratovolcano in Washington state that erupted catastrophically in 1980. But a new eruption was not to blame for the foggy scene this week, scientists said. Instead, ash from the blast that occurred 45 years ago had suddenly begun to swirl around the mountain.Strong winds in the area caused the decades-old debris to circulate, according to the United States Geological Survey and forecasters in Portland, which is about 50 miles away from the summit of Mount St. Helens across the Oregon border.”Mt. Saint Helens is NOT erupting,” Portland’s National Weather Service office assured in a social media post Tuesday. “Volcanic Ash from the 1980s is being lofted back into the air from the strong east winds.”
Airline pilots report that ash was blown as high as 10,000 feet into the atmosphere. While dramatic, clouds of resuspended ash are not unusual; however, the magnitude of this particular event was remarkable.
Resuspended volcanic ash isn’t unusual at Mount St. Helens. The massive 1980 eruption blasted a column of ash and gas more than 15 miles into the atmosphere and triggered a devastating landslide, killing 57 people in what was the most destructive eruption in modern US history.Pockets of that fine, powdery rock still linger today on the volcano’s flanks and inside the crater. When conditions line up — dry surfaces, no snow cover and strong winds — the deposits can be lofted again.That’s exactly what happened Tuesday when a stubborn ridge of high pressure over the Pacific Northwest not only brought record September temperatures to Washington and Oregon, where large parts are experiencing a severe drought, but also set off dry, gusty east winds barreling across Mount St. Helens.
The ash cloud will dissipate when the winds die down. Hopefully, this will be the only spectacular ash event in the Pacific Northwest for some time to come.
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