THRILLS FROM MT. ST.HELENS

Well the mountain is actually in an ongoing, low key eruption all the time, but usually you can't see anything from our side. Today, however...


A mighty steam plume climbed well above the rim into the cold air above. We have had a string of many cold days, and this fairly common event continues now and then. To see it the day must be mostly cloud-free and it helps to have direct sun on the rising water vapor as was the case this afternoon. Vapor or steam rises all the time, but a minor earthquake, an avalanche, or certain atmospherics remind us the volcano is at work every day. It's quite pretty sometimes.