Mount Saint Helens

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay

Data for Mount Saint Helens is somewhat ambivalent. The topography availableonline from the U.S. Geological Survey dates from 1981 and shows changes due tothe eruption. But all the other data layers - hydrography, roads, and so, datefrom 1978! Thus the data show the pre-eruption glaciers, outline ofSpirit Lake, and the now-buried course of old state highway 504. On the mapsabove, the buried highway is dark purple, new lakes are light blue and thedebris flow is light brown.

Data for Mount Saint Helens is somewhat ambivalent. The topography availableonline from the U.S. Geological Survey dates from 1981 and shows changes due tothe eruption. But all the other data layers - hydrography, roads, and so, datefrom 1978! Thus the data show the pre-eruption glaciers, outline ofSpirit Lake, and the now-buried course of old state highway 504. On the mapsabove, the buried highway is dark purple, new lakes are light blue and thedebris flow is light brown. Post-eruption data from U.S. Forest Service maps.

Mt. St. Helens 1994 October 29, 1994

Bear Meadow

Mt. St. Helens 1994 Bear Meadow was the site of one of the most famous series of Mount St. Helens eruption photographs. The photographer, Keith Ronnholm, wisely fled when the eruption cloud got close, but the blast stopped less than a kilometer away.

However, other people the morning of the eruption were also fleeing for safety and were caught and killed less than a kilometer from the edge of the blast zone.
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Healthy trees in the foreground with standing scorched trees on the skyline.

That's me, below. There are few pictures of me on this site because I'm usually the one behind the camera.
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 In this view, standing scorched trees are visible on the skyline to the right of the pair of nearby trees.

Ash Layers at the Miners' Car

Standing burned timber. The miners were not far from safety.
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Looking down toward Clearwater creek Valley.
Left and below: 1980 ash on top of older pumice deposits.

Windy Ridge

Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 The grooves across the crest of the ridge were scoured by the 1980 pyroclastic flow.

Mount Saint Helens

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Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994

Landslide and Spirit Lake

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Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
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Mt. St. Helens 1994  
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Views East From Windy Ridge

Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mount Adams can be seen above the clouds in some views.
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994

Clearwater Overlook

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Mt. St. Helens 1994  

 

Mt. St. Helens 1994 The forest in the blast area once looked like this.
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Mt. St. Helens 1994  
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
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Lahar

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Mt. St. Helens 1994  
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Distant view of Mount Adams looking east.

Below: pumice layers in the banks of the streem. The apparent folds are not really folds, just the land surface the pumice was deposited on.

Mt. St. Helens 1994

Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Old pumice layers.
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Looking south, summit of Mount Hood in the distance.
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Views of the southeast side of Mount St. Helens.
Mt. St. Helens 1994 Mt. St. Helens 1994
Mt. St. Helens 1994 The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines was still creating colorful sunsets.

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Created 15 April 2003, Last Update 08 June 2020