# Volcano-Cam Mount Saint Helens **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 1, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035 "2004-10-01T15:31:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![VenusProbe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e495f1/32.png) [@VenusProbe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VenusProbe)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/41 "2004-10-06T15:47:14Z")
I’m pretty sure it’s just fog/clouds, happens a lot here in the PNW. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/42 "2004-10-06T15:48:43Z")
Posting Cam link on second page, for ease of access. [http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/VolcanoCam/framework.html](http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/VolcanoCam/framework.html) ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/43 "2004-10-06T15:48:54Z")
That’s also what I’m thinking, after checking [theweathernetwork.com](http://www.theweathernetwork.com/)… is it raining around Mt. St. Helen’s right now? ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/44 "2004-10-06T15:52:56Z")
I suspect it’s just fog and rain. But you never know… **Who\_me?** , I have a picture of the mountain on October 1st (doing nuttin’) and I have one from October 4th (letting off some steam) do you want copies to put up on that site? I could email them to you. ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/45 "2004-10-06T16:25:07Z")
[Bender]“Oh, Your God!”[/Bender] It’s now a purple fog! Someone save Adrienne Barbeau!! ---
**Author:** ![teleute12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@teleute12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teleute12)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/46 "2004-10-06T17:01:28Z")
> [@](#): > > **Weather Note - October 06, 2004 at 9:00 am PDT** - There is nothing wrong with the above image. You are viewing rain and clouds at Mount St. Helens right now as a weather front moves through the Pacific Northwest. From the website. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/47 "2004-10-06T18:02:49Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > Looks like an eruption is happening right now! Hey! Hey! Turn that cam back to the mountain right now mister! You stop looking at those honeymooners. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/48 "2004-10-06T18:12:28Z")
They need an infrared webcam on the mountain. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/49 "2004-10-06T18:49:50Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > They need an infrared webcam on the mountain. That is a fantastic idea! ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/50 "2004-10-06T18:54:25Z")
My Aunt, who lives in eastern Washington state, forwarded an email from her employer regarding preparedness for the impending eruption: \> RESPONSE TO ASHFALL \> \> Current projections indicate that Mt. St Helens may erupt soon, with the \> potential for ashfall in this area. The key to emergency preparedness is \> anticipating dangerous conditions and developing controls to address them. \> The following three categories of response implement the core principles \> of ISMS, providing you with the means to effectively respond to ashfall. \> \> What to do before an eruption \> \> \* Make evacuation plans. If you live in a known volcanic hazard area, \> plan an evacuation route and have a backup route in mind. \> \* Assemble a disaster supply kit (e.g. water, food, medical supplies, \> etc.). \> \* Get a pair of goggles and a throw-away breathing mask for each \> member of the household in case of ashfall. \> \> What to do during an eruption \> \> \* Stay indoors until the ash has settled unless there is danger of the \> roof collapsing. \> \* During an ash fall, close doors, windows, and all ventilation in the \> house (chimney vents, furnaces, air conditioners, fans and other vents). \> \* Avoid driving in heavy dust unless absolutely required. If you do \> drive in dense dust, keep speed down to 35 mph or slower. \> \* Remove heavy ash from flat or low-pitched roofs and rain gutters. \> \* Volcanic ash is actually fine, glassy fragments and particles that \> can cause severe injury to breathing passages, eyes, and open wounds, and \> irritation to skin. Follow these precautions to keep yourself safe from \> ashfall: \> \* Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants. \> \* Use goggles and wear eyeglasses instead of contact lenses. \> \* Use a dust mask or hold a damp cloth over your face to help \> breathing. \> \* Keep car or truck engines off. Driving can stir up volcanic ash that \> can clog engines and stall vehicles. Moving parts can be damaged from \> abrasion, including bearings, brakes, and transmissions. \> \> What to do after the eruption \> \> \* Avoid ashfall areas if possible. If you are in an ashfall area cover \> your mouth and nose with a mask, keep skin covered, and wear goggles to \> protect the eyes. \> \* Clear roofs of ashfall because it is very heavy and can cause \> buildings to collapse. Exercise great caution when working on a roof. \> \* Avoid driving through ashfall which is easily stirred up and can \> clog engines, causing vehicles to stall. \> \* If you have a respiratory ailment, avoid contact with any amount of \> ash. Stay indoors until local health officials advise it is safe to go \> outside. \> Yikes! At least they don’t have to worry about lava, just ash. Eastern Washington really got nailed by ash during the big eruption in 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/51 "2004-10-06T19:37:40Z")
Is anyone seeing a newer image than 10:44 this morning? That’s all I’ve seen for the past two hours. ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/52 "2004-10-06T20:31:54Z")
The alert level has been reduced to 2.(In unison:aawwww) Find details at: [url=][http://www.pnsn.org/welcome.html](http://www.pnsn.org/welcome.html) Go to-Mt St.Helens volcanic advisory & updates. Then scroll down to CURRENT UPDATE. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/53 "2004-10-06T22:03:14Z")
What’s going on with the volcano-cam? Did it get hit with a piece of flying pumice or something? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/54 "2004-10-07T01:55:44Z")
> [@ageless6](#): > > The alert level has been reduced to 2.(In unison:aawwww) > > Find details at: > > [url=][http://www.pnsn.org/welcome.html](http://www.pnsn.org/welcome.html) > > Go to-Mt St.Helens volcanic advisory & updates. > Then scroll down to CURRENT UPDATE. But they said an eruption was imminent at any point! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/55 "2004-10-07T06:33:37Z")
OK, it’s been a while. The USGS lowered the Volcano Alert status to a Level II this morning: > [@](#): > > The low rate of seismic activity that followed yesterday’s steam and ash emission continued through last night, but rose slowly between about 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., before leveling off at a slightly higher level. Earthquakes are presently occurring at a rate of about one per minute with a maximum magnitude of about 1.0. No thermal observations were possible today owing to low clouds and rain, but late this afternoon scientists were able to get brief views of the vents and the area of intense uplift on the south side of the 1980-86 lava dome. They saw only weak puffs of steam coming from vents. They were able to confirm that the top of the area of intense uplift is at or slightly above the highest point on the lava dome, which suggests that some uplift has occurred during this period of low seismicity. They were also able to observe areas affected by the small lahars that spilled out of the crater and onto the Pumice Plain during last night’s rain storm. Lahars flowed a short distance toward both Spirit Lake and the North Fork Toutle River. Another crew worked on installation of broad-band seismometers on the lower flanks of the volcano. > > Information received today indicates that a light dusting of ash from yesterday’s event affected the eastern part of Mount Rainier National Park, about 70 miles north-northeast of Mount St. Helens. > > As a result of the intense unrest of the past 10 days, we infer that magma is at a very shallow level. During times of unrest, Mount St. Helens and similar volcanoes elsewhere typically go through episodic changes in level of unrest over periods of days to weeks, or even months. Such changes are in part driven by variations in the rate of magma movement. We expect fluctuations in the level of unrest to continue during coming days. Escalation in the degree of unrest and perhaps an eruption could occur suddenly or with very little warning. There may be little time to raise the alert level before a hazardous event occurs. Therefore, we continue to monitor the situation closely and will issue additional updates and changes in alert level as warranted. > > Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), combined with eruption models, show winds this evening will remain westerly and any ash clouds will drift eastward to northeastward. Of course, the media in their infinite lack of wisdom took the lowering of the alert level to mean the current event is all over and time to move on to the next news ratings story. This is far from the reality of it all. As of late this afternoon seismic activity, which had pretty much flat-lined, began to pick up. No telling when the next eruption will occur, but it will occur. In their meek defense the media fails to understand the concept of an “imminent eruption,” in geologic terms. The media thinks the phrase means in the next 24 hours or so, despite the USGS scientists carefully explaining the term. Imminent eruption means from now to hours, weeks and even months. Their is ample data to indicate Mount St. Helens is taking a breather before starting up again. During the 1980 eruption sequence, the volcano did just that several times, between its first rumblings in March 1980 and the eventual eruption in May 1980. I’m no seismologist, but viewing the seismographs this evening and there is a well defined increase in seismic activity this evening. It remains to be seen if this activity is sustained. For this event, this has been the pattern. The Mount St. Helens VolcanoCam continues to operate flawlessly. We lost a few images when the national web server became overloaded. However, we think we have that problem licked. Cross your fingers. In the next few day I might have some web stats to offer. The preliminary stats are extraordinary. Think logarithmic scale. This morning a rainstorm prevented views of the volcano. The weather is supposed to improve quite a bit tomorrow. We did have one problem when a network connection failed at a remote router. The VolcanoCam continued to transmit images, but the failed router prevented those images from making it to the national server. That was corrected in the late afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/56 "2004-10-07T14:54:28Z")
I just took a look at the cam and the sun is just hitting the top of the crater rim. Ooooo. Pretty. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/57 "2004-10-07T17:53:22Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I just took a look at the cam and the sun is just hitting the top of the crater rim. > > Ooooo. Pretty. 🙂 **WE DO NOT WANT** “Ooo, Pretty!”!! **WE WANT AN EARTH-SHATTERING** KA-BOOM! ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/58 "2004-10-07T23:51:50Z")
Or a Wily Coyote-esque “SPROING!!!” (Now I want to read that trebuchet thread again…) ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/59 "2004-10-08T16:10:04Z")
OMG! Alien ships are taking advantage of the poor weather conditions to investigate the volcanic action! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035/60 "2004-10-10T14:20:05Z")
She’s burping a bit this morning! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/volcano-cam-mount-saint-helens/267035.md?page=4)