30 years ago today

[sunvalleylaw]

I was 17, and was waterskiing out with my family on a Sunday in and around Gig Harbor, WA. We got back and heard about this:



As the crow flies, not that far away, but with the winds, we did not get the ash that everyone to the east got. It was an amazing day I will always remember from 1980. Harry Truman, 56 others, Spirit Lake and many cabins along the Toutle River, along with a whole bunch of trees and wildlife were gone in a flash. Amazing.

The picture gallery linked on this page has some good shots:

http://heraldnet.com/article/20100518/NEWS01/705189940

 

[Spudman]

Some amazing pictures there. I especially like the series that starts at around one minute. Incredible.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

My geology teacher in high school predicted that eruption prior to the event back when I was a sophomore. I guess he had some friends at the USGS. I thought that was a cool story. I barely passed his class too anyway.

 

[Kazz]

I remember that like it was just yesterday. Yes it affected us as far east as Southern Indiana. Our science teacher brought us all vials of the ash from St Helens.

 

[kiteman]

My brother flew in the restricted area to get this pic.

EDIT: the pic don't have the glass so the brown spots are stains.

 

[FrankenFretter]

I remember that day as well. I was 15, and living in Mount Vernon, Washington. We felt the shockwave all the way up there. It seemed to go on for a long time. I did a backpacking trip in the MSH area about 20 years ago. It was amazing to see how quickly everything was coming back. I'm sure that today it's mostly all recovered.