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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 p

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.
- dificilis 6y ago
  Even less dramatic, being somewhere near the edge of an Australian bush fire in January this year. Orange sun, burnt gum tree leaves raining down from the sky. That was the warning we all needed about the hot future that awaits us. Seems like a distant memory now - so much has happened since then.

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.

dificilis 6y ago
Even less dramatic, being somewhere near the edge of an Australian bush fire in January this year. Orange sun, burnt gum tree leaves raining down from the sky. That was the warning we all needed about the hot future that awaits us. Seems like a distant memory now - so much has happened since then.