The content on this page is retained only for recordkeeping, historical reference, or research. These materials are preserved in their original form and may not meet current WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards.

These archived materials are not required to be remediated. However, we remain committed to equitable access. If you need an accessible version of any archived item to participate in our current programs and services, we will provide one when feasible upon request at caesweb@uga.edu.

On May 18, 1980  Mount St. Helens erupted in a cataclysmic event that reshaped parts of the Cascades Mountains to the southwest of Seattle.  Since the eruption went mainly sidewise as the north side of the mountain collapsed, the eruption had limited climatological effects globally, although the ash did cause cooling and surface problems in the vicinity of the mountain.  Today NASA released a spectacular image of the mountain.  You can see it larger with other interesting images of Earth at https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/mount-st-helens-at-35.  EarthSky also has a blog posting describing more about the eruption here.

Source: NASA
Source: NASA

I had the good fortune to visit Mount St. Helens last summer and got to see the devastation “up close and personal”.  If you enjoy geology and make a visit to the Pacific Northwest, you will be very interested to see this work of nature in progress.

Mount St. Helens from the volcano observatory and visitor's center.
Mount St. Helens from the volcano observatory and visitor’s center.

You can see some satellite footage of the eruption at https://airbornesurfer.com/2015/05/watch-mount-st-helens-eruption-space/.  In spite of what this blogger said, however, the video footage was available from the Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (my graduate school) shortly after the eruption and as far as I know they still have it available.