Mt. Fitzherbert

Potential ash hazards: Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coupled with eruption models, show that ash clouds that rise above the crater rim would drift to the the east in the morning, shifting to north-northeasterly by this evening.

Recent observations: No significant changes in the level or type of activity at the mountain have been noted since yesterday’s update. Two larger earthquakes occurred over the last 24 hours; a magnitude 2.4 at 1003 PST yesterday morning, and a magnitude 2.8 at 0256 this morning. The second was followed by an hour-long lull in “drumbeat” earthquakes, similar to several other post-larger-earthquake lulls since January 1. Pictures from the USFS web camera at the Johnston Ridge Observatory this morning are uniformly gray as yet another storm system sweeps through the region. Weather forecasts call for another load of snow to be dumped on Mount St. Helens today and tonight, which may result in occasional radio signal dropouts from stations on the volcano.