Noticed the news today that Mt St Helens is all steamed up today. You can see a real-time picture here http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/ . You’ll see some other interesting images and movies on that site.

When I looked at it a minute ago, a nice clear day with a small wisp of steam visible.

It reminded me of when I flew past the volcano shortly after the big eruption of May 18, 1980, when it leveled 230 square miles (596 square kilometers) of forest and killed 57 people. I recall that it was just a few days after the eruption, and the plane flew past the volcano on the approach to Portland, OR. We were quite low, and we could see the trees that were flattened and covered with grey ash by the blast of the volcano. That view was quite impressive.

When we landed at Portland, there was still quite a bit of ash on the ground and tops of buildings.