Powerful winds sweeping across Mount St. Helens sent a towering cloud of volcanic ash into Washington skies Thursday, October 15, prompting federal aviation warnings as airborne debris climbed to approximately 12,000 feet and drifted northwest from one of the Pacific Northwest’s most closely monitored volcanoes.
The unexpected appearance of volcanic ash above the Cascade Range brought immediate attention from federal aviation and geological authorities, with satellite imagery and mountain webcams capturing the plume as it moved through regional airspace. By late Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration had issued volcanic ash advisories identifying potentially hazardous conditions for aircraft operating near the mountain.
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Cascades Volcano Observatory documented the activity Thursday afternoon, identifying powerful southeasterly winds as the force responsible for lifting volcanic material deposited during Mount St. Helens’ historic May 18, 1980, eruption. The mountain’s volcanic alert level remained Normal, while its aviation color code remained Green…