6 ms·

The Mount St. Helens Eruption Was the Volcanic Warning We Needed

77 points by jandrewrogers 6y ago

est31 6y ago
> It could have been worse. As the volcano’s activity ramped up in March, scientists had to continually persuade the authorities to restrict access to all but law enforcement, volcano monitoring teams and other essential staff. Some groups protested, in an echo of events now occurring during the coronavirus pandemic, pointing to the impact the no-go zones were having on the local economy. If it wasn’t for the vigilance and insistence of scientists such as Dr. Johnston, the death toll could have been in the thousands.
macintux 6y ago
> Dr. Johnston, seeing the north face fall from Coldwater II, jumped on the radio. “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!” he cried. Moments later, the blast engulfed the 30-year-old scientist. On another ridge two miles behind him, Gerry Martin, an amateur radio operator who was observing the volcano for the Washington Department of Emergency Services, saw the annihilation of Coldwater II. His last words were: “It’s going to get me, too.” Haunting stuff.
- mc32 6y ago
  There was a story about a husband and wife team[1] who got permission to fly over the volcano as it was thought it wasn’t going to erupt immediately. On their last flyby as they were taking pictures it erupted and they barely escaped having put the plane in a nosedive to gain speed. They took some pretty amazing photos from the air of the event. [1] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/05/mount-st-helens-isnt-where-should-be-scientists-may-finally-know-why/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/05/mount-st-...
  - skunkworker 6y ago
    Link for the images shot from the air https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/msh/debris.html https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/msh/debris.html
- trwhite 6y ago
  Here's that recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fBxCrglvts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fBxCrglvts
gxqoz 6y ago
An interesting parallel to today from the Mount St. Helens eruption is what happened in the city of Ritzville, Washington that was directly in the path of much of the ash. Many motorists coming back from Eastern Washington got stranded there because of poor visibility and up to six inches of ash on almost everything. They overwhelmed the city's facilities and were effectively quarantined within a school cafeteria. After two days a group of motorists tried to break the quarantine: "So two days after the eruption, a large group of "rebel motorists" chose to ignore official warnings and try to make an escape from Ritzville. Most turned around within a few miles as they encountered nasty, gritty ground blizzards of ash. Some had to pull over when their clogged cars died. Police said didn't know how many cars made it out, but they said it wasn't more than 100." Source: https://www.historylink.org/File/9398 https://www.historylink.org/File/9398 (From History Link, a great free encyclopedia of Washington State history. Several states have projects like this online which are fun ways to learn about the history of small towns, how a particular region reacted to a large historical event, etc.)
- DagAgren 6y ago
  > a large group of "rebel motorists" chose to ignore official warnings Ah, Americans.
  - casefields 6y ago
    From our founding to today, it's in our DNA. Another fun one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)
    - DagAgren 6y ago
      In your DNA to the point that if you get told "don't do this, for your own safety", you immediately go "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO" and go risk your lives for absolutely no reason.
      - casefields 6y ago
trwhite 6y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20200519153036/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/science/mt-st-helens-eruption.html https://web.archive.org/web/20200519153036/https://www.nytim...
kyleblarson 6y ago
My wife's cousin was a student on this school trip. He has some interesting memories and stories about the experience. https://www.nwnewsnetwork.org/post/age-6-he-and-his-classmates-fled-mount-st-helens-40-years-later-reporter-recalls-day?fbclid=IwAR2Q9dni-YWBVJv3Mx_9hXmyYP7Ig9asIVdspbJea9nesM8Swe_3sHhFsms https://www.nwnewsnetwork.org/post/age-6-he-and-his-classmat...
tectonic 6y ago
Today’s xkcd: https://xkcd.com/2308 https://xkcd.com/2308 See the hover text ;)
- interestica 6y ago
  Any quick way to see hover on mobile?
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    If you're on iOS, you can long press on the image.
    - c22 6y ago
      Works in Chrome on Android too.
  - iso947 6y ago
    https://m.xkcd.com/ https://m.xkcd.com/
jandrewrogers 6y ago
This was one of the most memorable events from my early childhood. We lived a couple hundred kilometers east of the volcano, in the area where much of the ash plume landed. It was a Sunday morning in our tiny farming town and people were unaware the volcano erupted, it was people leaving church that first noticed that a pitch black curtain was being pulled over the sky from the west. It was unreal looking. When it passed over us, it was blacker than the blackest nights outside, you could not see your hand in front of your face. And then it started "snowing"... It interfered with RF transmission where we lived, so the initial news that it was a volcanic eruption was learned via landline telephones to people outside the area. It looked pretty damn apocalyptic when it happened, particularly since radio and television stopped working. A really unique experience. You still see remnants of the ash piles in that part of the Washington, 40 years later.
- josefresco 6y ago
  > When it passed over us, it was blacker than the blackest nights outside, you could not see your hand in front of your face. How long did it last? How did it effect you? Did you shelter or...?
  - jandrewrogers 6y ago
    Just that day, there was light outside the following day. We sheltered inside the house and brought the animals in, there was concern about the ash getting into lungs. I'm not sure there was anywhere else we could have gone. We also didn't know how much would fall. The ash was very fine and got into everything. Rain fixed that problem but turns the ash into a material with the consistency of wet cement, which created other unanticipated problems. ProTip: shovel the ash off your roof before it rains!
- PopeDotNinja 6y ago
  Not nearly as dramatic, but I remember being in SoCal in 2003 during a rather bad fire in October. I was at the drag races in Pomona with my girlfriend. Looking west it was blue skies w/ scattered clouds. Looking east the sky looked like it was full of black & gray clouds on fire. There was a light layer of ash covering everything, too. It was pretty surreal. I've never seen anything else like it.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

77 points by jandrewrogers 6y ago

> It could have been worse. As the volcano’s activity ramped up in March, scientists had to continually persuade the authorities to restrict access to all but law enforcement, volcano monitoring teams and other essential staff. Some groups protested, in an echo of events now occurring during the coronavirus pandemic, pointing to the impact the no-go zones were having on the local economy. If it wasn’t for the vigilance and insistence of scientists such as Dr. Johnston, the death toll could have been in the thousands.

macintux 6y ago

> Dr. Johnston, seeing the north face fall from Coldwater II, jumped on the radio. “Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!” he cried. Moments later, the blast engulfed the 30-year-old scientist. On another ridge two miles behind him, Gerry Martin, an amateur radio operator who was observing the volcano for the Washington Department of Emergency Services, saw the annihilation of Coldwater II. His last words were: “It’s going to get me, too.” Haunting stuff.

mc32 6y ago
There was a story about a husband and wife team[1] who got permission to fly over the volcano as it was thought it wasn’t going to erupt immediately. On their last flyby as they were taking pictures it erupted and they barely escaped having put the plane in a nosedive to gain speed. They took some pretty amazing photos from the air of the event. [1] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/05/mount-st-helens-isnt-where-should-be-scientists-may-finally-know-why/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/05/mount-st-...
- skunkworker 6y ago
  Link for the images shot from the air https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/msh/debris.html https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/msh/debris.html
trwhite 6y ago
Here's that recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fBxCrglvts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fBxCrglvts

gxqoz 6y ago

An interesting parallel to today from the Mount St. Helens eruption is what happened in the city of Ritzville, Washington that was directly in the path of much of the ash. Many motorists coming back from Eastern Washington got stranded there because of poor visibility and up to six inches of ash on almost everything. They overwhelmed the city's facilities and were effectively quarantined within a school cafeteria. After two days a group of motorists tried to break the quarantine: "So two days after the eruption, a large group of "rebel motorists" chose to ignore official warnings and try to make an escape from Ritzville. Most turned around within a few miles as they encountered nasty, gritty ground blizzards of ash. Some had to pull over when their clogged cars died. Police said didn't know how many cars made it out, but they said it wasn't more than 100." Source: https://www.historylink.org/File/9398 https://www.historylink.org/File/9398 (From History Link, a great free encyclopedia of Washington State history. Several states have projects like this online which are fun ways to learn about the history of small towns, how a particular region reacted to a large historical event, etc.)

DagAgren 6y ago
> a large group of "rebel motorists" chose to ignore official warnings Ah, Americans.
- casefields 6y ago
  From our founding to today, it's in our DNA. Another fun one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Athens_(1946)
  - DagAgren 6y ago
    In your DNA to the point that if you get told "don't do this, for your own safety", you immediately go "DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO" and go risk your lives for absolutely no reason.
    - casefields 6y ago

trwhite 6y ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20200519153036/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/science/mt-st-helens-eruption.html https://web.archive.org/web/20200519153036/https://www.nytim...

kyleblarson 6y ago

My wife's cousin was a student on this school trip. He has some interesting memories and stories about the experience. https://www.nwnewsnetwork.org/post/age-6-he-and-his-classmates-fled-mount-st-helens-40-years-later-reporter-recalls-day?fbclid=IwAR2Q9dni-YWBVJv3Mx_9hXmyYP7Ig9asIVdspbJea9nesM8Swe_3sHhFsms https://www.nwnewsnetwork.org/post/age-6-he-and-his-classmat...

tectonic 6y ago

Today’s xkcd: https://xkcd.com/2308 https://xkcd.com/2308 See the hover text ;)

interestica 6y ago
Any quick way to see hover on mobile?
- saagarjha 6y ago
  If you're on iOS, you can long press on the image.
  - c22 6y ago
    Works in Chrome on Android too.
- iso947 6y ago
  https://m.xkcd.com/ https://m.xkcd.com/

jandrewrogers 6y ago

This was one of the most memorable events from my early childhood. We lived a couple hundred kilometers east of the volcano, in the area where much of the ash plume landed. It was a Sunday morning in our tiny farming town and people were unaware the volcano erupted, it was people leaving church that first noticed that a pitch black curtain was being pulled over the sky from the west. It was unreal looking. When it passed over us, it was blacker than the blackest nights outside, you could not see your hand in front of your face. And then it started "snowing"... It interfered with RF transmission where we lived, so the initial news that it was a volcanic eruption was learned via landline telephones to people outside the area. It looked pretty damn apocalyptic when it happened, particularly since radio and television stopped working. A really unique experience. You still see remnants of the ash piles in that part of the Washington, 40 years later.

josefresco 6y ago
> When it passed over us, it was blacker than the blackest nights outside, you could not see your hand in front of your face. How long did it last? How did it effect you? Did you shelter or...?
- jandrewrogers 6y ago
  Just that day, there was light outside the following day. We sheltered inside the house and brought the animals in, there was concern about the ash getting into lungs. I'm not sure there was anywhere else we could have gone. We also didn't know how much would fall. The ash was very fine and got into everything. Rain fixed that problem but turns the ash into a material with the consistency of wet cement, which created other unanticipated problems. ProTip: shovel the ash off your roof before it rains!
PopeDotNinja 6y ago
Not nearly as dramatic, but I remember being in SoCal in 2003 during a rather bad fire in October. I was at the drag races in Pomona with my girlfriend. Looking west it was blue skies w/ scattered clouds. Looking east the sky looked like it was full of black & gray clouds on fire. There was a light layer of ash covering everything, too. It was pretty surreal. I've never seen anything else like it.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]