Mt. Fitzherbert

Potential ash hazards: Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coupled with eruption models, show that any ash clouds that rise above the crater rim today would drift eastward to east-southeastward.

Recent observations: The crater and growing lava dome are clear this morning above the low clouds that are covering the lowlands. As is typical on many mornings, a small vapor plume is rising from the north end of the dome. No significant changes have occurred recently in patterns of seismicity and ground deformation that are accompanying dome extrusion. Some Portland residents felt this morning's magnitude 2.7 earthquake that was centered near Laurelhurst Park. For comparison, that earthquake was much larger and much deeper (9 miles) than the several hundred earthquakes that occur each day in Mount St. Helens' crater (mostly less than magnitude 2 and less than 1 mile deep).