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 east-southeastward early in the day and southeastward later.

Recent observations: Rainfall during the past couple of days hasn't been sufficient to generate significant flows of water and rock debris from the crater. But events during the last two days of September at Mounts Rainier and Hood serve as reminders that onset of autumn rains and intense rain-on-snow events later in the autumn and winter can trigger debris flows at Cascade volcanoes. The crater of Mount St. Helens with its snow and ice, abundant debris, and a growing lava dome is susceptible to such events, which, in addition to storms, can also be generated by hot rock avalanches from the dome that swiftly melt snow and ice. Areas in the crater and on the Pumice Plain north of the volcano and upper North Toutle River valley above the Sediment Retention Structure are at greatest risk from such events